AITP meeting 9/11/09

National Conference and competitions April 2-4, 2009, in Oklahoma City

Regional Conference and competitions Oct 23-25, 2008,  in San Angelo TX

Elect new officers:
New president: Chris Johnson
New secretary: Nicole Bennefeld

Volunteers for webmaster? None yet - open

Set weekly meeting times: Mondays at 1PM

• Information about the ANCC and the different competitions
• The specific avenues and rules for 2009 have not been published yet, but we can look at the previous competitions. Problem statements for the competitions will be published before the actual meeting. (2008 version) Other sources of information will be the competition forums and if needed, the contest coordinator.

Business Intelligence

Contest Description
The primary goal of the competition is to utilize geographic information system (GIS) technology and some business analysis skills to address a common business intelligence scenario.  As part of the competition student teams will be presented with a business scenario related to business continuity planning, market campaign planning, site selection, or supply chain logistics analysis. Each team will be asked to leverage a GIS based BI tool and provided data sources to recommend the best course of action based on the facts and questions proposed in the scenario. This is the second year of the competition.  Continuing last year’s arrangements, all students participating in this competition will be required to use the same BI tool to conduct the analysis.
The tool for the competition is the ESRI software Business Analyst Online (BAO).  BAO is a web-based application, which is accessed using an Internet web browser.  Participants do not install this software on their own computers, but rather access it via the Internet.  BAO is a commercially available application with fees charged for it use.  Access to BAO reports is limited by a subscription or using individual report purchases.  This competition provides participants with a unique opportunity to work with this GIS application. 
This competition is limited to 25 teams.  Early registration is encouraged for adequate preparation.  Teams of one to two individuals will be given a problem statement and approximately a three hour time frame to

   1. select data that best supports decision making for analysis,
2. conduct analysis using BAO and a spreadsheet,
3. generate a written recommendation on the best course of action, and
4. include any graphics or maps used to justify and support their proposal.

Competition Problem Scenario
Students will be required to do the following:

1.        conduct analysis (select data and reports, create buffer rings, do buffer queries, do drive time queries)

2.        prepare a multiple site summary

3.        generate supporting maps and visual displays to defend analysis (classification, labeling, exporting images)

4.        write an executive summary with supporting maps and graphs (3 page limit)

Judging will use the following criteria to determine each team’s score:

   1. Satisfy the requirement 30%
2. Effective use of the tool 25%
3. Creativity 10%
4. Proposed decision and support 35%

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MS Office Solutions      

Summary/Overview

The MS Office Solutions competition will allow students to utilize skills learned and apply them to a simulated business problem statement. In today’s business world there are all sorts of professionals who use the different platforms of MS Office Suite to help address a broad array of business processes in order to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing business environment. MS Access and MS Excel are used to gather data for creation of spreadsheets and databases, MS Power Point to produce presentations and informative slide shows, and MS Word to produce documents and reports.
Recommended Skills

Teams will be expected to be skilled in the core programs of Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007 including Access, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word, using the following guidelines:
MS Excel

... lets you develop spreadsheets that display data in various tabular and visual formats.

Recommended required skills including but not limited to:

    * export external data
* Lists
* Pivot Tables and Charts
* Charts
* Scenario Manager
* Solver
* Conditional Formatting
* Subtotals
* Sorting
* Macro’s and Buttons
* Goal Seek
* Validation

MS Power Point
... creates multimedia presentations to display information in a graphical format.
Recommended required skills including but not limited to:

    * Template Presentations
* Slide Master
* Summary Slide
* Insert Charts, Tables, clipart, pictures and drawings
* Backgrounds

MS Access
... is a database program that stores information that can be manipulated, sorted, and filtered to meet your specific needs.
Recommended required skills including but not limited to:

    * Import/export external Data
* Table creation and data Queries (Criteria, Calculated Fields, Summarization, Sorting, etc.) • Relationships
* Reports

MS Word
... is the word processing program of the Microsoft Office suite that allows you to create documents and reports.
Recommended skills included but not limited to:

    * File management and layout
* Macros
* Merges
* Tables and diagrams
* Templates

Applications Allowed

Students may use MS Office Professional 2003 or 2007 only. Student may use MS Office Professional 2007 but must save their work in MS Office Professional 2003 format.
Judging

Teams will be judged on:

   1. How well they can follow directions and how well they complete the problem statement - 15%
2. The students will be judged on their use each of the four MS Office products, 5% - Word, 10% - Access, 10% - Excel, and 20% - PowerPoint.
3. There will also be a documentation portion worth 25%. This will allow the students to explain how they completed certain phases of the problem statement and tolls used. This is the key to this competition and it will enable the Judges to better judge the final results.
4. Creativity and the Professionalism of their solution - 15%

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PC Troubleshooting     

Contest Information and Guidelines

   1.      Qualifying Round: Written test that each team member will take individually and the team average score will be used for Finalist Determination 

      Test Generator - ExamView furnished by FSCreations (www.fscreations.com) - Kyle Lewis, Senior Sales Manager
2.      The written test will consist of 100 questions covering the hardware (core) and the operating system. It is randomly generated so no two tests will be the same. The student will have one hour to complete it. A test score is automatically generated and each team will get an average grade for each of the tests. No reference materials of any kind (books, notes, CD's, etc) will be allowed during the written test.
3.      The top 10 scores will move onto the second phase/the finals, troubleshooting. When teams are involved, the average score of both team members will be used. 
4.      Finalist teams will be posted online as well as in the conference registration area! 
5.      Finalists: A "Real World" PC troubleshooting exercise **For the top 10 teams based on the average qualifying test score for the team. The finals will be held Saturday Morning, 3/29/2008 from 8:30-11:30am.
6.      Finalists: The student team will be given a computer and asked to troubleshoot and the fix the machine so it will boot to Windows. There wont be any software problems with these computers. The following problems will be implemented for each team and all computers will have the same problems. These include CMOS errors and hardware problems. It will be judged on time and accuracy by a staff and faculty team from multiple colleges. The student should be able to access CMOS information and determine whats wrong and fix the problems. The hardware problems could include cabling, hard disk, floppy disk or CDROM failures, memory configuration errors, bad power supplies, connections, keyboards, mouse and adapter cards such as sound, modem, video and NICs. This phase will be one hour long.

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Contest Information and Guidelines
Teams of one or two individuals will be given a business problem statement and approximately a three hour time frame to analyze and design. Any widely used methodology may be used such as Object Oriented Analysis, Structured Analysis, Information Engineering, Prototyping, etc. The business model does not have to be fully implemented; however, a system design that allows user prototyping with screen/window/web page interaction will be considered in the over-all grading.  This contest is software and methodology independent.

Each team MUST:

• Bring your own laptop/notebook PC
• Bring your own business modeling software. This could include any CASE, I-CASE or other model-based development product. Example tools may include: Oracle Designer/Developer, Unified Modeling Language, Visible Analyst, CA Cool Gen, Cool Jex, etc.
• Bring any needed reference material(s).

The Contest Problem Statement:

• Will allow multiple analysis and design methodologies, which may include structured analysis, object-oriented analysis, information engineering, rapid application design and prototyping and any other widely accepted methodology
• Will describe a corporate problem that can be solved in approximately 3 hours
• Each team will provide a set of analysis and design diagrams for the problem statement depending on the methodology selected and/or followed. Total points will be used to determine the overall contest winners.

Contest Evaluation
The judges will use the following criteria in evaluating team your solution depending on which methodology was selected.
NOTE: Competitors are expected to utilize ONE and ONLY ONE Analysis and Design approach.  Using a combination of components from both the Structured/Information Engineering approach and the Object Oriented approach should be avoided.

Contest Resources:
www.uml.org

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Contest Information and Guidelines
Teams from one to two individuals will be given a problem statement and approximately a four hour time frame to (1) design the database, and (2) implement specified components of that database using SQL.  The database design will consist of an Entity Relationship (ER) diagram and a relational schema, which will be turned in for scoring.   
Teams may use software such as Microsoft VISIO or Visible Analyst to create the ERD or may draw it by hand. The SQL will be written using standardized SQL. Students may utilize Oracle, MySQL, SQLServer, or other approved DBMS. Each team is required to bring their own laptop/notebook PC (only one computer per team), with their own ER diagramming software. They may also bring any written reference material.
The competition will consist of:
(1) Database Design:  In this component, students must submit a database design based on the given problem statement.  The design will consist of an ERD (entities, relationships, attributes, keys, cardinality, and optionality; and the relational schema normalized to 3NF, with all keys indicated.
(2) Data Definition Language (DDL):  For this component, students will be required to write the SQL code to instantiate a components of their ERD into a physical database, including all keys.  A partial SQL script will be provided, and students will have to complete the script to create the working database. 
(3) Queries:  This part of the competition will require the students to write one or more SQL queries that will select information from the working database.
(4) Report Queries:  The students will be asked to write one or more SQL queries that produce data formatted as a report, based on the working database.
The following will be used by judges for determining each team’s score: (1) Design - 40% (2) DDL - 10% (3) Queries – 40% (4) Report Queries - 10%.

Download and Install Oracle 10G for Free!
To download and install Oracle 10g Express Edition:

(1)   go to http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/xe/index.html
(2)   Select your operating system (Linux or Microsoft Windows).
(3)   Select the Oracle XE Western European package.  (You will have to sign up for an Oracle account.  It is free.)
(4)   It may take a while to download OracleXE.exe.  You will probably want to save it in a folder on your C-drive.
(5)   Run OracleXe.exe and follow the instructions.  You will be prompted to enter a password for SYS and SYSTEM accounts.
(6)   Once the installation completes, un-check the “Launch the Database Homepage” box, and then click Finish.
(7)   Restart your computer.
(8)   Select Start | All Programs | Oracle DB 10g Express Edition | Run SQL Command Line.  This starts SQL*Plus.
(9)   When you see the SQL prompt (SQL>) type Connect.  Enter SYSTEM as the username and the password that you created during the installation.  This will log you in as a system administrator.  You will not have any data initially in the database.

2004 AITP NCC Database Contest Documents

• Problem Statement
• Problem Solution               
• Solution ERD Visio
• Customer CSV Datafile
• Manufacturer CSV Datafile
• Solution Access Database

2003 AITP NCC Database Contest Documents

• Problem Statement
• Solution Schema
• Solution ERD Visio
• Solution Access Database

Contest Information and Guidelines

• Competing 1 or 2 person teams will create a proposal for a network design given a problem statement scenario. Elements will include LAN design, WAN connectivity, network components, protocols used, security issues and network architecture and a budget. 
• Each team will be provided a hardware/software inventory list which includes make, model, specifications and prices.  
• Basis for Evaluation: Functionality (35%), Efficiency (30%), Creativity (20%), Organization of the Proposal (15%).   

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Summary/Overview
The Application Development Competition allows students to compete in a “language agnostic” environment to produce solutions to real-world IT business problems. This new contest combines the four language contests of prior conferences – COBOL, Java, Visual Studio.Net, and Web Design – into one event, allowing competitors a broader playing field and more flexibility in platform choice. The following goals support the purpose of the Application Development Competition:

• Display recognition by AITP that a real-world IT business problem can be solved with many different tools and applications
• Fosters a closer real-world experience with a more “team-based” approach through the use of larger teams
• Allows more advanced – and “real-world” – problems to be presented, since teams will be bigger and have more resources

Competition Model
The Application Development Competition will run the same as the other contest events. Teams will check-in and/or register as they enter into a contest lab. This event is BYOC, so teams must provide their own computers. Once everyone is settled, the problem statement will be revealed, and teams will have a short time to review it. Next, a Q&A time will take place, after which, the competition will begin.
Regarding the problem statement, because of the “language agnostic” nature of this competition, problem domains must remain generic enough to be solved within various environments. The problem will provide a portable description of the user interface and allow for flexible methods for generating output. AITP problems statement writes are taking great care to design a problem statement that is achievable regardless of preferred language or development environment.
Recommended Skills
It is recommended that teams comprise themselves of “specialists.” A good mix might be to have a student who has knowledge of solid database design and construction, another with strong UI skills, and another who is strong in project management and scheduling. Because of the increase in the size of the teams and allowance of up to two computers per team, please understand that the problem domain will be quite a bit more complicated than in the past. In fact, it may not be intended to be fully completed within the time allotted. So a diverse set of skills will be necessary to maximize the quality and output of the solution. Required Software
Generally speaking, any language or environment should be allowed to produce a solution to the problem statement. AITP will make an effort to provide several different platforms when submitting web-based solutions including HTML, ASP, ASP.Net, and PHP running under IIS 6.0. (Note: A web-based solution is NOT a requirement, only a choice.) Teams must be able to produce some sort of runtime executable as well as the raw source code. As long as source can be viewed in a text editor such as Notepad or UltraEdit, the environment choice will be valid. The Application Development Coordinators intend to make this event as open as possible and will make as much accommodations as they can to make sure a submission is reviewed. However, if a team’s submission is overly complex to execute, additional time from a team may be required to step the judges through it.
Scoring Criteria
Scoring will be based primarily on output and conformance to specifications. While exact scoring criteria have not been finalized, the structure below roughly outlines how submissions will be scored:

• Conformance to Specifications – 40%
• GUI fulfills objects and meets design criteria
• Workflow models usage specifications
• Error/exception handling works properly
• Proper Function and Output – 40%
• Calculations produce expected results
• Format of output meets design criteria
• Quality of Code and Documentation – 20%
• Well commented
• Well structured
• Well named

Note that this is simply an example. The scoring model for an actual problem statement will include more concrete/objective criteria as well as a well defined subjective portion.
Additional Rules
A few differences to note regarding the Application Development contest are:

• The timeframe is slightly longer: 5 hours
• The team size is doubled: 1-4 members
• The BYOC allotment is doubled: 2 computers
• The prize money is increased: DOUBLED!  1st ($1000), 2nd ($500), 3rd ($100)

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NCC 2007 Application Development
Norman’s Consumer Clearinghouse

Do not open until instructed

Your team has just won a bid to architect an integrated inventory management/point of sale system for up and coming retailer Norman’s Consumer Clearinghouse (hereafter known as NCCStore).

Enclosed you will find specifications for three separate but related applications:
1 – Inventory Management System
2 – Point of Sale Application
3 – Line Manager Web Site

Each team may choose to work on one, two, or all three of the applications.  It is not required that any team complete (or attempt) multiple paths - each team may attempt whichever application(s) are best suited to their programming expertise.  The team may chose to work on multiple paths simultaneously or to focus all efforts on one problem.  Each path will be scored independently with the highest scoring path receiving full credit and the secondary path(s) receiving depreciated credit.

Each application is composed of multiple function points of varying difficulty and point value.  There is no inherent advantage to choosing one path over another, and each path can be completed in multiple languages (though some combinations will make more sense than others).

Conceptual screenshots are provided in the competition resources.  These mock-ups were designed during initial planning meetings with management.  These designs are NOT set in stone, they are only provided to indicate a direction you could follow.

Each team will also be expected to provide documentation.  This includes a run book, technical reference and end user manual.   The run book is REQUIRED for your submission to the scored.  The technical reference and user manual will enhance the score of your submission.

While not required, one strategy for attacking this complex statement would to divide the team members into distinct “roles” – Programmer, DBA, Project Manager, etc…

Good Luck!

You may take the problem statement with you, but please remember to leave your run book and anonymous survey!
Inventory Management System
The inventory management system is designed to be used primarily by warehouse workers.  The system must use a simple command line driven interface as the only method of interaction will be by keyboard.

The application needs to perform the following functions:

Welcome Screen
The user is presented with a welcome screen stating the name of the franchise, Norman’s Consumer Clearinghouse.

Store Identification
At the bottom of the welcome screen, the user is to be prompted to enter a StoreID number (look in provided file STORES.TXT for pre-populated store information).  If the StoreID is valid, the store’s name, address, city, state, zip, and phone number is printed to the screen.  If the ID is not valid the user is to be presented with an error and returned to the welcome screen. 

Menu
Upon successful verification of the StoreID entered at the welcome screen, the user is presented with a menu containing the following options:

• Add to Inventory
• Remove from Inventory
• List Inventory
• Lookup UPC
• Exit

There should be a simple and intuitive way to navigate to each menu selection.

Add to Inventory
This function is to be used when new shipments arrive.  Each pallet of merchandise is accompanied by a fixed with text file (see ADD.TXT for an example file) with the following information:

• UPC
• Item name
• Quantity to add
• Price per unit

If the UPC is not in the master inventory file (see INVENTORY.TXT) the UPC, name, quantity, and price is added as a new entry.  If the UPC already exists in the master inventory file only the quantity is to be updated (the name and price already in the master inventory file should be considered authoritative).

Remove from Inventory
Items that have been in stock for too long may be sold back to the manufacturer and need to be removed from inventory.  When items need to be removed from inventory management will provide the warehouse manager with a fixed width file containing UPC and quantity to remove.  If all the UPC and quantity values are valid the program removes the specified quantities from the master inventory file and outputs an updated inventory.  If a UPC is not found in the master inventory file or the quantity to be removed is greater than the quantity on hand the program prints an error report.

Lookup UPC
Management often asks about the status of a particular product.  This function allows the user to enter a UPC for look up.  If the UPC is valid the application displays the name of the product, the quantity on hand, and the price per item.  If the UPC is not valid the application should return an error.

List Inventory
This function should at a minimum list each item that is in inventory, the price per item, and the quantity on hand.

If there is time, the report could be enhanced by adding the extended value of each item (price x quantity on hand) followed by summary lines listing the total number of items in inventory, the total value of all goods in inventory, and the average price per item.  For example:

UPC                            Item                             Quantity          Price    Value
1234567890123456    Altoads Mints             10                    $1.50   $15
1234567789012343    Cherrios Cereal           25                    $4.20   $105
1234929399231233    Crost Toothpaste         20                    $2.50   $50
Total Items in Inventory: 55
Total value of inventory: $170
Average price per item: $3.09

Exit
The application should verify if the user really intended to quit the application.  If not, the user is returned to the main menu.  If so, the application gracefully exits.

Point of Sale Application
The point of sale application is designed to be used by cashiers at point of sale kiosks with attached cash drawers (a computer based cash register).  This application must be easy to navigate and use with minimal training.

The POS application performs the following functions:

Welcome Screen
The user is presented with a welcome screen stating the name of the franchise, Norman’s Consumer Clearinghouse.

Cashier Identification
The welcome screen contains two text fields, one for the user to enter their ChasierID and one to enter a PIN (look in the provided file EMPLOYEES.TXT for pre-populated cashier information).  The PIN is not to be displayed on the screen in clear text.

If the CashierID and PIN do not match an existing employee in the system, the application returns an error and presents the user with the welcome screen.  If the CashierID and PIN match a user in the database the application displays the cashier’s first and last name followed by the main menu.

Menu
Upon successful authentication, the user is presented with the following options:

• Price Check
• List Inventory
• Check Out
• Exit

There should be a simple and intuitive way to navigate to each menu selection.

Price Check
This function is used when a customer would like to check the price of a specific item or find out how many units of an item are available.  The user is prompted to enter a UPC code.  The application is to return the UPC code, product name, quantity available, and price.  If the UPC was not found in the system the application returns an error message.

List Inventory
This function lists each item that is in inventory, the price per item, and the quantity on hand.

If there is time, the report could be enhanced by adding the extended value of each item (price x quantity on hand) followed by summary lines listing the total number of items in inventory, the total value of all goods in inventory, and the average price per item.  For example:

UPC                            Item                             Quantity          Price    Value
1234567890123456    Altoads Mints             10                    $1.50   $15
1234567789012343    Cherrios Cereal           25                    $4.20   $105
1234929399231233    Crost Toothpaste         20                    $2.50   $50
Total Items in Inventory: 55
Total value of inventory: $170
Average price per item: $3.09

Check Out
This function is used when a customer is finished shopping and it ready to pay for their goods.  The cashier is prompted for UPC and quantity of each item.  If the quantity entered is in excess of what is in inventory or the UPC code is not valid an error is displayed and the cashier is prompted to enter the appropriate UPC and quantity.  If the entries are valid the name, price, and extended price (quantity * price) of the item is displayed and the items are removed from inventory.  After each item the cashier has the opportunity to either enter another UPC and quantity or complete the sale.  When the sale is complete the terminal should display a sales summary, one item per line, with the UPC, item name, price, quantity, and extended price.  At the bottom the application is to display the subtotal, 7% tax, and total.  For example:

At this point in time NCCStore accepts only cash payments.

Exit
The application should verify if the user really intended to quit the application.  If not, the user is be retuned to the main menu.  If so, the application gracefully exits.

Line Manager Web Site
The Line Manager Web Site is designed to allow the manager to remotely monitor and administer the inventory from any internet connected PC without installing any additional software.

The web site is to contain the following features:

Welcome Screen
Upon initial load, the user is presented with some franchise information such as logo, store name, short introduction, etc.

Menu
From the welcome screen there should be an easily identifiable menu containing the following options:

• Log In
• Lookup Product

Once a user has successfully logged in, the Log In option is removed and the following three options are added:

• List Inventory
• Add to Inventory
• Log Out

Lookup Product
This function is available without requiring the user to log in.  The application prompts the user to enter part or all of the name of a product.  The application then displays the UPC, name, thumbnail picture, and price of all products containing the search string.  If no results match the search string the application is to return an error

Log in
The user is prompted for a username and password (see USERS.TXT).  If the username/password combination is invalid the application is to present an error and return to the login screen.  Otherwise the application will display the user’s full name, remove the Log In option, and present the List Inventory, Add to Inventory, and Log Out options.

List Inventory
This option is only be available once a user has successfully logged in.  The application is to list all products alphabetically (see INVENTORY.TXT), 10 entries per page, with a thumbnail picture, name, quantity on hand, and price.  The application will provide a button or link to invoke the Update Inventory function.

Update Inventory
This function is invoked from the List Inventory function and therefore is only available once a user has successfully logged in.  The application should present a larger image (between 100x100 and 500x500 pixels) of the item and allow the user to update the name, quantity on hand, price, and image.

Add to Inventory
This option is only be available once a user has successfully logged in.  This function allows the line manager to add a new product to the inventory.  The user is prompted for UPC, product name, price, quantity, and image.  If the UPC is already found in the database the user is presented with an error, otherwise the product is be immediately added to the inventory.

Log Out
This function is only available when a user is logged in.  The application is to verify if the user really intended to log out.  If not, the user is returned to the main menu.  If so, all personal information is cleared and the user is returned to the initial log in screen.

Documentation Requirements

Three types of documentation are to be provided:

Run Book (REQUIRED)
This document has specifications filed with management for maintainability of the application.  The following information should be supplied:

• Languages used
• Database/Data file schema information
• Any applicable user/login information
• Any special features of the application(s)

There is a Run Book form enclosed in the packet.  This MUST be filled out and turned in for your submission to be scored.

User Manual
This document should provide information useful to the end user.  It specifies how the user is to authenticate to the system and explains the use of each function.  A description of all error cases, what might cause them, and what is required to correct the error is provided.  System requirements and “Frequently Asked Questions” sections are to be included.  Screenshots of the application should be incorporated into the manual.

Management Reference
This includes project management documentation such as Unified Modeling Language diagrams, data flow diagrams, PERT and/or Gantt charts as well as any other relevant development documentation. 

Team# _______ Runbook

THIS MUST BE TURNED IN FOR
YOUR SUBMISSION TO BE SCORED

Please check which paths the team attempted:
□ Inventory Management                 □ Point of Sale             □ Line Manager Web Site

Specify what languages were used and for which interface:________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Specify what data storage mechanisms (flat files, databases, etc) where used and for which interface:___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Provide any usernames and passwords necessary, indicating which interface they are to be used with: ____________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please list any special features of the application(s):______________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Contest Information and Guidelines

• Teams will consist of up to 2 students.

• Blade Servers Growing in Acceptance
  The server blade market showed continued growth in the quarter, with factory revenue gaining 18.2% YTY and shipments increasing by 16.9% compared to Q4 2005. Overall, bladed servers, including x86, EPIC and RISC blades, accounted for $788 million  in Q4, representing 5.2% of quarterly server market revenue. HP moved into the number 1 spot in the server blade market in Q4 2006 with 41.9% revenue share and IBM finished with 37.0% revenue share. For the full year 2006, worldwide blade server revenue grew 29.8% YTY and IBM continued to hold the #1 position with 40.0% followed by HP with 37.4% revenue share. Participants are encouraged to contrast popular 1 and 2 U servers to blades in the same footprint.

• You are strongly encouraged to attend the Fri aft 1:30-2:30pm session by Dennis Carlson of the Blade Systems Alliance to help gain more knowledge.

• Thoroughness of research and presentation will be the main scoring factors each weighted at 40 points each.  An additional 20 points will be given for creativity. Participants are encouraged to reach out to companies that manufacture and resell blade servers, storage companies, and other peripherals that connect to blades.

• Students should have a word processing program to create a paper in either .DOC or .RTF format. Student should also have a graphics program to create a presentation with diagrams. The format should be PowerPoint, paper with .JPG graphics or in a .PDF format.

Contest Resources

• http://www.itfacts.biz/server-blades-up-182-in-q4-2006/8163
• http://www.bladesystems.org/home
• Read the presentation below on “Why Haven’t You Moved”

                        Download "Why Haven't You Moved" Document

Previous Design Contests:

• This is the first year for a Blade Server contest so there is no historical contest data.

• Winning team will get their design information posted to the Blade Systems Alliance web page as well.

Contest Information and Guidelines  
Individually authored and presented undergraduate student papers are solicited dealing with contemporary and important issues in business information systems. Topics include, but are not limited to, software engineering issues, the use of CASE tools, user interfaces, client server, database systems, expert systems, decision support systems, applications of object-oriented, graphical, or visual programming languages, data communications and networks, ethical and social issues, security, and multi-media environments.

Papers for review and publication are limited to fifteen (15) typed, double-spaced pages including figures, tables and references. Paper must use 12 point Times font, be right and left justified, and have 1 inch margins all around. Paper must include a separate cover page with title, name, college and/or university, address, and e-mail address for the author. The first page of the paper must have the title and a list of appropriate keywords such as those presented as suggested topics, but NO NAME or EDUCATIONAL AFFILIATION of the author. A 250 word maximum abstract must immediately follow the keyword list. The body of the paper must contain NO NAME or EDUCATIONAL AFFILIATION of the author. References must appear in alphabetical order at the end of the paper as follows:

Adams, D., Wagner, G., and Boyer, T. (1983) Computer Information Systems: An Introduction, Southwestern Publishing: Cincinnati, OH.

Liebowitz, J. (1995) Integrating Expert Systems Throughout the Undergraduate Curriculum. Journal of Information Systems Education, 7 (1) 34-36.

Senhouse, C. (1995) An Entity-Relationship Design for Graphical Software Development. Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Southeast Conference, Clemson University, SC, 37-41.

They are referred to in the body of the paper as (Adams et al., 1983), (Liebowitz, 1995), and (Senhouse, 1995) respectively.
PAPERS NOT CONFORMING TO THESE RULES WILL BE DISQUALIFIED
Referees are instructed that they are reviewing what is essentially a final paper. The referees will assign point values to the papers. On the back of this flyer, you will find both the criteria for initial paper evaluation and the onsite presentation evaluation points. The combination of these two scores will determine the ultimate student paper contest winners.

Authors will receive notification of acceptance or rejection by February 22, 2008. Only the top ten (10) papers in the competition will be accepted for presentation at the conference. All finalists must register for the conference in order to present. Information on presentations will be sent with notification of acceptance. A group of judges, different from the previous referees, will attend each student presentation at the conference and make the final determination as to first, second, and third place winners who will receive at $500, $250, and $100 respectively.

Email a Word or PDF document of your paper to: aitpncc@aitp.org AITP 2008 NCC Student Paper Contest

Papers must be emailed no later than February 15, 2008 to aitpncc@aitp.org.  Finalists will be notified on or before March 7, 2008.  There is a form for submission so as to capture ALL your contact information.  That form can be found by clicking HERE.

Student Papers Evaluation Criteria
INITIAL STUDENT PAPER EVALUATION
A panel of reviewers will review your "blind" paper (meaning all identification of the author will be removed) and score the papers on the following points and scale:
Undergraduate: Total possible score of 120 (maximum of 20 points for each category):

• Significance and/or originality of ideas
• Clarity of paper presentation, including tables, figures and references
• Quality of paper organization, including punctuation and grammar 
• Quality of concept and contribution to the field
• Appropriateness and soundness of methodology
• Quality and accuracy of research

ACCEPTANCE AS A FINALIST
You will be notified via email/phone/mail if your paper has been accepted as a "finalist" for presentation at the 2008 AITP National Collegiate Conference in Memphis, Tennessee. In order to present your paper, you must register and attend the conference and appear at the scheduled breakout session Saturday, March 29, 2008, to present your paper.

ONSITE STUDENT PAPER PRESENTATION EVALUATION
A panel of judges will objectively evaluate your live presentation of your paper during the scheduled breakout sessions on Saturday, March 31, 2008 and each paper will be give a time block of 15 minutes.  There will be timers and setup time will be available.

The setup process for your presentation involves the following steps (to be completed ahead of time):

1. Bring your presentation to the BYOC checkup booth, stored on a flash drive, to be installed on the "official" NCC contest computer Friday between 1pm and 4pm.
2. Presentation must be PowerPoint 2003 Compatible.
3. Presentation should be optimized for 800x600 resolution.
4. No changes will be allowed to the presentations once they are loaded onto the "official" NCC contest computer.

Total possible score of 120 (maximum of 20 points for each category):

• Preparedness
• Introduction
• Clarity and Organization
• Coverage of Topic
• Depth of Analysis
• Use of Visual Aids and Time

DETERMINATION OF WINNERS
The combination of the two scores (paper evaluation and presentation evaluation) will ultimately determine the overall student paper contest winners with the top three scores being awarded first, second and third place.
Contest Resources
Download past papers here. 
Back to competitions

Tthe Web Project contest is a two-semester competition which encourages local community involvment.  Student teams will seek out a local non-profit organization who requires an IT solution and then submit detailed requirements to the Web Project Contest Judges.  Upon approval, teams will be given the "green light" to begin implementation of the solution.  At the NCC event in Detroit, finalists will be given the opportunity to present their solutions for final judgement.
Contest Resources
For more details about this exciting new contest, the following resources are available for download.
The Web Application Project Competition is a 2 semester/quarter, real-life design and implementation project.  All teams(may be composed of any number of team members) are expected to complete all 3 phases of this competition in order to qualify to present the final product for judging at the National Collegiate Conference in March 2008 in Memphis.

The 3 phases are:

• Phase 1:  Proposal and Requirements:
• Determine/obtain client.  Complete a contract.
• Determine client’s requirements:
• Document Analysis process including interviews.
• Determine and document site’s requirements and specifications.
• Develop a project plan, which must include a database.
• Phase 1 judging will focus on how well the team followed system analysis and design practices to determine the site’s requirements.  The judges will look at the feasibility of the proposal and its realistic aspects.  Enough detail should be supplied for the judges to make this determination.  (This phase is worth 33% of the final score)
• Deliverable: On or before 01/10/08.  Submit all documentation for Phase 1 and wait for return comments/judging before proceeding.

• Phase 2:  Design
• Site layout
• Site architecture (page hierarchy, etc.)
• Other supporting systems analysis and design documentation as needed for database and software selection and development process.
• Phase 2judging will focus on the design logic, feasibility, and degree of professionalism displayed.  It is important for teams to convey that they have a well thought out design utilizing good logic. (This phase is worth 33% of the final score)
• Deliverable: On or before 01/26/08. Submit all documentation for Phase 2 and wait for return comments/judging before proceeding.

• Phase 3:  Construction and implementation
• Phase 3 judging will review the application site and focus on functionality, usability and navigation.  A key element will be to convey that the site is user friendly, easily updated by non-technical individuals and it meets all user requirements. (This phase is worth 34% of the final score)
• Deliverable: 03/15/08 Preliminary site judging.

Note:  If there are any questions anytime during the this process as pertaining to any aspect of this competition please contact either Larry Friedlander (flarry@oakton.edu) or Richard Kraas (rkraas@kvcc.edu), who will respond as soon as possible with an answer.

Back to competitions

Problem Statement Specifications

• A school may enter more than one team.  A team may consist of any number of team members.  A student can be on only one team. The team competing in this contest can be part of an academic class. However, each member of the team must be an AITP member, and at least 2 of the members of the team must be present at the AITP National Conference to participate in the presentation".

• Teams are expected to submit complete and readable documents, charts, etc. for each phase. Please note that all due dates are for those phases only, you may continue to work on all aspects of the project until the final due date.

Phase 1:

• Identify a non-profit organization as the client.  The organization may want to replace their current website or want a new site designed by the team.  A contract/or letter of understanding will be required to be signed by the organization and the design team which will stipulate:

• All work to be done by the design team.
• The website will be turned over to the organization at the end of the project/competition.
• All maintenance and running of the website becomes responsibility and property of the non-profit organization.

The non-profit organization may not include fraternities or sororities.  Other organizations may include a local YMCA, LifeSource Blood Bank, Boy/Girl Scout troops, civic clubs or organizations.  If in doubt of your choice, contact the contest organizer(s) named above.

• The first deliverable will be a completed Requirements Document which is to include:

Systems analysis: This includes the basic desires and needs of the organization, and how the team will meet those stated needs and desires.

ERD documentation, structure charts, interview questions and answers, and the proposal to the organization of team’s findings and recommendations.

The above items will be submitted to the judging team on or before 01/10/2008. 

The judges will then look at the proposals and grade them accordingly; no team will be disqualified at this point, but the better the documentation the better Phase 1 score.

• Once the team’s Requirements Document has been submitted for scoring and any comments that might require changes have been returned, the team will be given a week to make those changes and resubmit for additional comment.

Phase 2:

• When the team has been given the green light to continue, the team will then enter Phase 2 of the project design for the proposed web application.  During this phase the team will design the site in conjunction with the needs of the organization as laid out in the Requirements Document and formulate a project timeline for completing the coding, testing and implementation of the website application.  Teams will be given until the end of January 2008 to complete phase 2 of the project.  The design documentation and project schedule for completing the website are to be submitted at this stage.  The final day for submitting this part of the project will be 01/26/08.

Phase 3:

• Phase 3 of the project will start February 1, 2008.  Teams will have received graded designs with any comments or change requests prior to the start date.  If changes are requested or required the team will be given a week to make the needed change and return them to the judging team.  Once the team has been given the go ahead, it may commence coding and testing the website with the goal of completion by approximately March 15, 2008 (the due date for Phase 3).  The Phase 3 deliverable will be submitted with the final judging URL of the website application.  The site will be scored based on site appearance, ease of site navigation, the content of the website and how well it meets the original design submitted at the end of the previous semester. There will also be a questionnaire given to the client requesting feedback covering the overall impression of the work done and how well it meets the original needs specified.

• Phase 3 submittals will be scored and a one-week timeline will be allowed for any major questions or suggested changes to be resolved.  With the completion of any allowed resolutions the website application will be frozen and the finalists will be selected to present at the 2008 Conference.  Any site not selected as a finalist should be completed and turned over to the client by the date of the 2008 Conference.

• Team representatives for the website applications selected as finalists will present results at NCC on March 29, 2008.  The presentation should include an overview of the site and the creation process.  During the presentation be sure to reference how the site met the user requirements and any special technical considerations.  Once all of the finalists have presented, the judges will then make their final determinations.  Winners and honorable mentions will be announced at the Awards banquet.

WEB APPLICATION PROJECT COMPETITION
RULES, REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES FOR 2008

RULES:

The following rules apply to all teams entering the Web Application Project Competition:

• Participants must be AITP members and members of the student chapter.
• Each school may enter multiple Web Application Project teams.
• A Web development team is not limited as to the number of participates as long as each member meets the chapter membership criterion and is not now or has been a practicing Web developer or Design professional, and members only participate on one website if the school has more than one entry.
• The Web Application must comply with legalities for a public Web presence.
• Each team must comply with all submission requirements and deadlines as outlined in the problem statement or it will be eliminated.
• The client must be a qualified non-profit organization.  If a team has a question as to whether an entity qualifies it should ask the competition coordinators.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• The site must have an update feature easily assessable by the client and utilizing a database platform.
• The site may be designed and constructed using any languages or Web development tools.