the peter kiewit institute omaha, ne

2011STUDENT CAPSTONE CONFERENCE

p r o c e e d i n g s

Engineering Information Science and Technology

April 28, 2011

The Peter Kiewit Institute

Omaha, NE


Keynote SpeakerDr. Mike McGinnis

Conference General ChairpersonLeah Ellis

Host OrganizationThe Peter Kiewit Institute

Primary SponsorsNorthrop Grumman CorporationUnion Pacific Railroad

http://pki.nebraska.edu/new/student-experience/student-capstone-conference.php

Responsibility for the accuracy of all statements in each paper rests solely with the author(s). Statements are not necessarily representative of, nor endorsed by, The Peter Kiewit Institute (PKI). Permission is granted to photocopy portions of this proceeding for student use providing the source is cited giving credit to the 2011 PKI Student Capstone Conference. Permission is not granted to any other type of reproduction.

The Peter Kiewit Institute1110 S. 67th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68182

Engineering Information Science and TechnologyTable of

Overview

Keynote Speaker

Judges

Conference Tracks

Student Winners

Conference Papers

Conference Abstracts

Conference Attendees

Sponsors

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9-11

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Contents

An OverviewEngineering and Information Science and Technology Capstone Conference

On behalf of the University of Nebraska, The Peter Kiewit Institute welcomes you to the first annual

Peter Kiewit Institute Student Capstone Conference inEngineering, Information Science & Technology

The Peter Kiewit Institute in partnership with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering and the University of Nebraska-Omaha College of Information Science & Technology is proud to host a student focused conference which features presentations of research and projects from students based at PKI, across the University of Nebraska and from other universities and colleges. The tracks align with the academic programs based at the Institute that are central to engineering, information science and technology as well as other research areas with emerging national significance. Assessment of student presentations at the conference will be made by independent, outside judges. The Institute welcomes attendance by faculty, students, industry partners and government representatives.

The Institute expresses its grateful appreciation to the judges, faculty, staff and students who volunteered their time to make this conference an outstanding event. PKI is also profoundly appreciative of industry companies and government agencies that generously sponsored the presentation tracks and special events of the conference. Without the support of these individuals, companies and organizations the conference would not be possible.

This handbook is designed to give all conference attendees and supporters with an overview of all events and responsibilities. Within this handbook are descriptions of student presentations, submissions, track leader duties and criteria for judging presentations.

A full understanding and appreciation of the conference’s purpose will help all those working in collaboration make the PKI Student Capstone Conference a successful event. Thank you for joining us!

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K E Y N O T Es p e a k e rDr. Mike McGinnis The Peter Kiewit Institute

Committee, and the Deputy Undersecretary of the Army for Operations Research and Systems Analysis Advisory Committee. Doctor McGinnis is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and has Masters of Science degrees in Applied Mathematics and Operations Research from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in Systems and Industrial Engineering. He attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth and the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island where he earned a Masters in National Security and Strategic Studies.

Mike’s professional and scholarly work includes three national awards and over 45 published and peer-reviewed papers published during 23 years of working in the fields of systems engineering and operations research. Reflecting his contributions to military operations research, Mike has been a regular member of U.S. delegations from the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to foreign nations and the keynote speaker at national and international conferences. Dr. McGinnis national awards include the 1995 Military Operations Research Society Rist Prize, the 2004 Military Operations Research Society Barchi Prize, and the 2005 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation & Education Conference (I/ITSEC) Research and Development Best Paper. He was inducted into Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers in 2004, Who’s Who in Engineering Education in 2005 and as a Fellow of the Military Operations Research Society in 2008.

Mike McGinnis joined The Peter Kiewit Institute as Executive Director on June 10, 2009. Prior to assuming this position Brigadier General (Ret.) McGinnis served as the Executive Director of the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center at Old Dominion University for three years, following a seven year tenure as Professor and Head of the Department of Systems Engineering Department at West Point, New York. Mike’s previous center director positions include Director of the U.S. Army TRADOC Analysis Center at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and Director of the U.S. Military Academy Operations Research Center.

He has served in key government positions and on committees dealing with engineering, modeling and simulation, and analysis to advise and bring about change. These include Chairman of the Advisory Council on Modeling and Simulation to the Governor of Virginia, Director of the Army Unit Manning Task Force, National Academy of Sciences Committee on Defense Modeling, Simulation and Analysis, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Systems Engineering Council, Army Simulation Architecture Working Group, Army Modeling and Simulation Standards Nomination and Approval

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J U D G E SJulie Huff Northrop Grumman

Julie Huff is a Northrop Grumman Senior Technical Fellow with over twenty-two years of experience in DoD-related technologies, focusing in data architecture, visualization, and cyber defense and offense.

Ms. Huff has lead engineering research activities in a variety of technical disciplines from agent-based technologies to Web 3.0 semantic data transition architectures. Her dynamic agent-based information assurance architecture developed for the Army’s Tactical Internet was patented as Security Kinetix. She later developed a PCMCIA implementation of Security Kinetix known as Sensor Kinetix to incorporate intrusion detection into unattended biochemical warning systems to protect against physical as well as network attack. This approach allowed unattended sensors transmit alerts through tactical networks to provide warning of biohazards before troops were compromised. Finally, she pursued research opportunities for leveraging Security Kinetix’s countermeasure capabilities as a delivery mechanism for CND active response or CNA warfare. Julie led a project in collaboration with the Peter Kiewit Institute (PKI) of the University of Nebraska to develop novel algorithms for a network intrusion-detection system to predict low and slow attacks through anomaly detection using hierarchical ellipsoid self-organizing map algorithms. She was also the data architect for the Battle Management Command and Control platform, designing a warehousing architecture that dynamically correlated moving target indicator data.

She is currently the lead engineer for the Cyber Network Operations Database for OUSD/I, and Principal Investigator for Integrated Target Visualization for the Global Command Integration Center (GCIC). Through these efforts, Ms. Huff is exploring the semantic integration of cyber data with other sources of intelligence and the subsequent visualization of complex interrelated networks. Her current research focus is on the practical application of semantic technologies in legacy DoD intelligence communities to support situation awareness and alternative course of action development through visual inter-domain analysis.

Ms. Huff is the Advanced Concepts lead for the Combat Systems department, resolving emerging customer requirements at the ―tip of the spear‖ where the constraints of a tactical environment are most challenging. As an active member of the Northrop Grumman Senior Technical Fellow organization, she mentors young engineers interested in pursuing research-related career paths.

Dawn Pielstick Mutual of Omaha

Dawn Pielstick is an IT manager in the Enterprise Architecture and Security division at Mutual of Omaha. She has been at Mutual for 12 years and has had multiple roles in the IT Operations and Enterprise Architecture areas. Enterprise Architecture areas including: Lead I/S Analyst, Systems Analyst, Programmer Analyst and Programmer Analyst Intern. She attended Chadron State College and Bellevue University.

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J U D G E SDon Wrieth Kiewit Building Group

Don joined Peter Kiewit Sons’ Inc. in 1975. Prior to joining Kiewit, Don worked as a draftsman and land surveyor for B. H. Backlund and Associates and Kirkham Michael Associates. While working at both of these firms, Don attended Omaha University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha part-time, finally getting degrees in Architectural Design Technology and Construction Engineering Technology.

Don started his career at Kiewit in the Mining District working in both Omaha and Rosebud Coal Sales in Hanna, WY. In 1985 Don was moved to the Kiewit’s Fiber Optic District as a foreman installing long line Fiber Optic cable from Kansas City, MO to Dallas / Ft. Worth, TX. In 1986, Don was transferred to Savannah, GA to take over the management of the Kiewit acquisition of Continental Mineral Sales. In 1988 Don moved back to Omaha in to work in the Corporate Business Development department. In 1990, Don was promoted to Corporate Marketing Manager assisting all Kiewit office with the development of their marketing materials and proposal preparation. In 1998, Don joined Kiewit Building Group – Nebraska Area to identify new work opportunities and manage the area offices proposal development efforts of which he has been doing a most excellent job. During his time with Kiewit Building Group Don has served as a Board Member for the Associated General Contractors of America – Nebraska Building Chapter and is currently the Past President of this organization. Other volunteer boards that Don has served on include the service organization, Omaha Exchange Club and the United Way Youth Volunteer Corp. Prior to joining the Durham School Industry Advisory Council, Don served on the University’s Construction Systems Advisory council.

Doug Knight SAIC

Doug Knight joined SAIC in 2005 and has served in the capacity of architect, system integrator, task order lead and program manager. In his current position, Doug manages an advisory and assistance services contract supporting USSTRATCOM, its components and Air Force Weather Agency covering 6 different geographic areas, 34 Task Orders and valued at over $150M. The scope of this program covers the spectrum of USSTRATCOM and AFWA mission areas to include Space, Global Strike, Missile Defense, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance, Command and Control and Cyberspace. These contracts provide a diverse set of capabilities to include architecture, modeling and simulation, technical evaluations, subject matter expert, testing and portfolio management support.

Doug Knight retired from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel with over 21 years of experience as a communications officer. He has operational and maintenance experience across a wide array of space, communications, computer and intelligence systems. Doug worked as the Defense Information System Agency (DISA) USSTRATCOM Field Office Commander, providing USSTRATCOM Liaison and access to long haul communications, data centers, and enterprise level Department of Defense systems. He also worked as the 55 Communications Group Commander and supported all Offutt AFB base communications and computer systems. Other assignments included managing a portfolio of Air Force communications and computer programs across the pacific theater, operating and managing the global positioning system (GPS) ground segment, performing as Director of IT for the Office of Secretary of Defenses Armed Forces Radio and Television Services and the Defense Visual Information Center, and operating and maintaining the communications systems at a remote site in Turkey.

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J U D G E SDoug has additional experience as an exploration Geologist, Geological Engineering and ran a Rock Mechanics Lab at the University of Arizona. The Rock Mechanics lab was used to train Graduate Students, support research projects and support commercial geological engineering companies. The test results were used to design underground and open pit mines and evaluate the adequacy of nuclear repository site locations.

Karen Krabbe Union Pacific

Karen Krabbe is currently the Assistant Vice President of Systems Engineering within the Information Technologies department at Union Pacific Railroad. She is also CEO and President of Transentric, a wholly owned subsidiary of Union Pacific Corporation providing business-to-business communications as well as other services to railroads, railroad business partners and customers. Prior to Union Pacific Karen worked for INTECK Corporation and Businessland. Karen joined Union Pacific in 1992 and has held a number of positions prior to being promoted to her current position in 2006. As AVP, she is responsible for providing the system infrastructure to host all business applications to include platforms such as: web, application servers, messaging, operating systems, and development tools. Her organization is also responsible for the infrastructure supporting the systems on board the locomotives, voice technologies, radio and video systems.

Karen is a University of Iowa graduate with a B.S. in Computer Science. She is an ICAN Influence and Leadership in Action graduate. Karen has been involved with many athletic organizations including coaching for seven years with the YMCA. She previously served locally on the Professional Association of Women in Technology board.

Karen has three children: Josh, Ellie and Jake (also a graduate of the University of Iowa).

Jeff Shomberg Johnson Controls

Jeff Schomberg is the Systems HVAC Branch Manager for the Johnson Controls Building Efficiency Division in Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana. He is responsible for leading all business segments (sales, business development, engineering, installation and customer satisfaction) of the company’s controls, HVAC equipment and technology contracting businesses. He resides in Omaha, Nebraska.

Jeff joined Johnson Controls in 2006 as the Regional Continuous Improvement Manager based out of Denver, Colorado. In that role, he was responsible for helping improve business operations for the Great Northwest Region, which is comprised of branches in sixteen states in the Northwest U.S. In 2009, he moved to Omaha to take on his current role.

Prior to Johnson Controls, he spent sixteen years in various engineering, project management and leadership roles with The Kohler Company in Kohler, Wisconsin, Spartanburg, South Carolina and Monterrey, Mexico. Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering with a minor in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin – Platteville.

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Presentation Tracks, Track Leaders, and Judges

Conference TracksInformation Systems

Track Leads: Chris Augeri, PKIGJ de Vreede, UNO

Track Judges:Julie Huff, Northrop Grumman CorporationDawn Pielstick, Mutual of Omaha

Buildings & Infrastructures

Track Leads: Stu Bernstein, UNLTerri Norton, UNLDale Tiller, UNL

Track Judges:Don Wrieth, Kiewit Building GroupDoug Knight, SAIC

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The information systems track includes a broad range of research topics in informatics, management information systems and computer science. Presentations can cover contemporary and emerging concepts, models, techniques, and methodologies in computing and information systems. Participants are encouraged to investigate current state-of-art areas, report insights from research topics, present results and identify future research directions for an area of interest.

The building infrastructure track focuses on designing, engineering and building high quality, sustainable environments using new materials and methods. This track gives important opportunities for engineering students to present research on topics that integrate technical, economical, social and environmental factors. Presentations will be given in the fields of architectural engineering, civil engineering, construction engineering and construction management concerned with the application of scientific, mathematical, and management principles to the planning, design, and construction of facilities and structures.

Presentation Tracks, Track Leaders, and Judges

Conference TracksIT Engineering & Assurance

Track Leads:Herb Detloff, UNLKen Dick, UNORobin Gandhi, UNO

Track Judges:Karen Krabbe, Union Pacific RailroadKiranmayi Sreenivas, Union Pacific RailroadJeff Shomberg, Johnson Controls Inc.

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The information technology engineering and assurance track includes research topics and prototypes of new software products and computer applications. Student presentations will address the challenges faced in building effective IT and communication systems that are both reliable and flexible. Projects include information systems designed, engineered and prototyped by the students involved in practical, hands-on, real-world experiences. This track includes academic disciplines relevant to computer and electronics engineering, IT innovation, cyber, information assurance, modeling and simulation, visualization and analysis.

Information Systems Buildings & Infrastructures

1st Project Harmony Online Collaboration Usage System

Ali Al Ali, Ibrahim Al Jubran, Mohammed Al Saihati, Adel Al-Marhoon, Sangitha Chandramouli, Littus Dsouza, Christopher Gollehon, Adina Kunwar, Michael Pierce, Corey Schaecher

Mangagement Information Systems, UNO

2nd Video Interview Distribution System

Shonna Kadavy and Nicole Staroscik

Management Information Systems, UNO

3rd A Parallel Noise-Reducing Sampling Algorithm for Large-Scale Network

Kanimathi Duraisamy

Computer Science, UNO

1st Schewe Farms Development

James Nervig, Shane Hanson, Kristi Palik, Daniel Jones

Civil Engineering, UNL

2nd Design & Modeling of Infrastructure for Residential and Community Water Reuse

Shannon Killion

Civil Engineering, UNL

3rd Effects of Classroom Acoustical Environments on Student Achievement

Lauren Ronsse

Architectural Engineering, UNL

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W I N N E R Ss t u d e n t

IT Engineering & Assurance

1st Energy Conservation through Home Automation

John Wrobel, Taylor Whipple, Nick Lawyer, Santo Sapienza

Computer & Electronics Engineering, UNL

2nd A Domain Specific Approach for Assembling Fragments from Next Generation Sequencing Data

Julia Warnke


3rd Innovation Telemedicine Applications for Health Care Access for Rural Residents

Becky Deitenbeck

IT Innovation, UNO

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Best Paper

A Parallel Noise-Reducing Sampling Algorithm for Large-Scale Network

Kanimathi Duaisamy


Abstract: The study of real-world systems, represented as networks, has important application in many disciplines including social sciences, bioinformatics and software engineering. These networks are extremely large, and analyzing them, i.e. finding important properties in the systems is both computation and memory intensive. Two popular techniques for efficient analyzation are (i) sampling, that is identifying important regions of the network or (ii) parallelization to accommodate large amounts of data. Our research involves combining these two approaches by developing parallel graph sampling methods. Our goal is to design sampling algorithms that maintain important structural and informational properties of large unstructured networks. We focus on preserving the relative importance, based on combinatorial metrics, rather than the exact measures. Spanning subgraphs, which contain all entries but not all connections, retain many of these properties. We use a special spanning subgraph, based on finding triangles, which maintains the highly connected portions of the network while increasing the distance between less connected regions. We therefore anticipate that ourmethod would be effective in preserving high density clusters while eliminating low density ones. We have developed and implemented a scalable parallel graph sampling algorithm and applied it to analyze gene correlation networks. Our results show that even with significant reduction of the network we can obtain reliable subgraphs which conserve most of the relevant combinatorial and functional properties. Additionally, sampling also helps to filter out part of the noise in the networks thereby revealing new functional properties which were previously undiscovered in the original system.

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p a p e r sInformation Systems

A Parallel Noise-Reducing Sampling Algorithm for Large-Scale Network

Kanimathi Duraisamy


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iCTF 2010 NUCIA Results

Derek Pecka, Aaron Keck, Adam Gehringer, Aaron Hiltgen, Miles Mathias, Jeremy Dobbins

Information Assurance, UNO

Innovative Telemedicine Applications for Healthcare Access for Rural Residents

Becky Deitenbeck

IT Innovation, UNO

Towards a Low-Cost SCADA Test Bed: An Open-Source Platform for Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation

Nicholas Wertzberger and Casey Glatter

Information Assurance, UNO

a b s t r a c t sInformation Systems

A Parallel Noise-Reducing Sampling Algorithm for Large-Scale NetworkKanimathi Duraisamy

Abstract: The study of real-world systems, represented as networks, has important application in many disciplines including social sciences, bioinformatics and software engineering. These networks are extremely large, and analyzing them, i.e. finding important properties in the systems is both computation and memory intensive. Two popular techniques for efficient analyzation are (i) sampling, that is identifying important regions of the network or (ii) parallelization to accommodate large amounts of data. Our research involves combining these two approaches by developing parallel graph sampling methods. Our goal is to design sampling algorithms that maintain important structural and informational properties of large unstructured networks. We focus on preserving the relative importance, based on combinatorial metrics, rather than the exact measures. Spanning subgraphs, which contain all entries but not all connections, retain many of these properties. We use a special spanning subgraph, based on finding triangles, which maintains the highly connected portions of the network while increasing the distance between less connected regions. We therefore anticipate that our method would be effective in preserving high density clusters while eliminating low density ones. We have developed and implemented a scalable parallel graph sampling algorithm and applied it to analyze gene correlation networks. Our results show that even with significant reduction of the network we can obtain reliable subgraphs which conserve most of the relevant combinatorial and functional properties. Additionally, sampling also helps to filter out part of the noise in the networks thereby revealing new functional properties which were previously undiscovered in the original system.

Micrometer Ease of UseJay Newstrom

Abstract: Using a micrometer in the microbiology setting can be a difficult task. In order to get the correct measurements you need to calibrate the objectives on the microscope, make a conversion chart, and do the conversions. It can be difficult to know which conversion factor you need to multiply by in order to find the actual size of the organism. With STATPackTM we have simplified the use of the micrometer. We have eliminated the conversion table, and we do the math for the microbiologist. We have also helped to make measurements more accurate by using a large digital image with the ocular micrometer, allowing for easier viewing.

The Data Tango Database SystemAndrew Lescelius, Michelle Bauer, Brandon Boyd, Kelvin Chin

Abstract: The ARTery is a non-profit arts-education organization that runs Dancing Classrooms in elementary, middle and high schools. Dancing Classrooms teaches children self-esteem, self-respect and social skills through the art of ballroom dance. Support for The ARTery comes from a variety of sources, including foundations, arts councils and individual donors. The ARTery’s current means of organizing funding and donor information is insufficient to meet their needs of creating reports, organizing the large amounts of data effectively, and commercial products are not a good fit for the small organization. Access Limited built the Data Tango database system that is able to store hundreds of current database entries for processing and reporting and also takes into account the growth of The ARTery's needs.

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2011Engineering Information Science and Technology

Marshall Area Stage Company (MASC) Database Creation ProjectRenate Keimig, Samantha Sauer, Stephanie Petersen, Bryan Hrebik

Abstract: Marshall Area Stage Company (MASC) is a non-profit community theatre organization located in Marshall, Minnesota. Their organization relies on volunteer effort, but there is no centralized tracking of volunteers’ skills, history with the organization, or contact information. Their current method of tracking volunteers relies almost exclusively on the memory of a few core, veteran members. MASC is also largely funded by donations, but the contact information and history of donors is spread across different functional areas that do not communicate during the donor drive process. Our group, Fourth Wall Consulting, is creating a database for MASC to better track the information and history of its donors and volunteers. The database has been created in Microsoft Access 2010. This system consolidates their donor and volunteer information and history, allowing for easy retrieval of past data and more efficient organization of stage productions. Under the new system, cast lists can be generated and volunteers meeting specific criteria can easily be found. The donor drive process has been streamlined, giving MASC board members more immediate and accurate information about their donors

Content Architecture and Information PrivacySarah Benes

Abstract: The protection of information and data assets is crucial to the success of businesses in the Information Age. This presentation outlines the Information Privacy Project that took place at ConAgra Foods in 2010 and the impact of information architecture in the business today. With the growing size of information resources seen throughout the company, ConAgra Foods identified a need to classify information into appropriate access levels. This movement was set to prevent the misappropriation of data by any persons who may have access to company resources. The medium chosen for information classification and storage was a Microsoft application known as SharePoint. The company chose an existing application that was familiar to teams in the business, and contained all

the capabilities to fully provide the information privacy tools that were necessary for proper information resource management. A select group of managers and Business Analysts met during the 8 month period to design the architecture of the Information Technology organization’s data structure in order to meet the needs of existing demands and provide a flexible architecture for future growth. As an intern, I was able to observe the dynamics of team interaction, project planning and fulfillment, and to utilize my own education in data and information taxonomy to develop resources for teams in the business. My educational background is in Library Science as well as Information Technology, so the experience of the Information Privacy project served as a culmination for the knowledge gained during the internship as well as in higher education.

Project Harmony Online Collaboration Usage System (PHOCUS)Adel Almarhoon, Ali Al Ali, Ibrahim Al Jubran, Mohammed Al Saihati, Mohammed Alabdulmohsin, Adel Al-Marhoon, SangithaChandramouli, Littus Dsouza, Christopher Gollehon, Adina Kunwar, Michael Pierce, Corey Schaecher

Abstract: The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) ISQA 8950 Capstone course consists of students who combine education and skills achieved in pursuit of their Master of Science in Management of Information Systems (MS in MIS) degrees. Their goal was to deliver a functioning software prototype. Patrick Falke consulted with Dr. Gert-Jan de Vreede on needs of a software solution to help share information and collaboration between different organizations associated with Project Harmony. The result of this conversation was the prototype creation of PHOCUS (Project Harmony Online Collaboration Usage System). During the last four months, stakeholders meetings were conducted, requirements were gathered, technology solutions were found and development was planned over six sprints. The result was the PHOCUS system with the main goal of bringing Project Harmony together with collaboration technology.PHOCUS achieves this collaboration through:Available Access: Project Harmony consists of five different organizations which involve the Omaha Police Department, Health and Human Services,

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a b s t r a c t sTriage Center, Lutheran Family Services and YWCA combined on a common cause. However, each one of these organizations is on their own corporate networks and systems causing separation between them even though they work in the same building. PHOCUS was designed to be externally hosted and use each organization’s email systems to deliver notifications. The only system requirements to access PHOCUS are a web browser, internet connection and to be accepted as a user and assigned a username and password.Building Announcements: PHOCUS allows Project Harmony to share building announcements efficiently with all partner organizations.Contact Sharing: PHOCUS allows all members to create contact categories and subcategories to share resource contacts.Scheduling of Resources: PHOCUS allows all members to schedule building resources which includes conference rooms.Forums: PHOCUS allows all members to collaborate through public or department private forums.Document Sharing: PHOCUS allows all members to access building public documents and department specific documents.Department Assistance Requests: PHOCUS allows members to send department requests to each organization associated with Project Harmony.

Technology Infrastructures for Healthcare Access to Rural ResidentsBecky Deitenbeck

Abstract: The passage of the healthcare bill will provide the opportunity to use electronic health records to enable residents in rural areas the ability to manage, and have better access to health care. However, many rural residents lack the resources, and proper infrastructures to access the health care they desire. It appears that limited research exists on the adoption of information, infrastructures, specific to health care in Nebraska. This research seeks to investigate the technology infrastructures of rural people. The purpose of this research is to understand what is known and how the development of information infrastructure can contribute to rural residents having health care so they

have the ability to track their personal health records, communicate to health providers through telecommunication mediums, and take ownership of their personal health. The question being investigated in this research is; what technology infrastructures can provide rural residents better healthcare? This research question is investigated through a qualitative research strategy that uses a survey, and personal interviews to arrive at an understanding of what type of technology infrastructures can provide rural residents access to healthcare. This research contributes to what is known about the perceptions of rural residents as they access healthcare using IT infrastructures. This will generate an understanding of what factors need to be taken into account to enable rural residents’ better access to healthcare through IT infrastructures.

Video Interview Distribution SystemShonna Kadavy and Nicole Staroscik

Abstract: The Fall 2010 MS in MIS Capstone team was tasked with developing a working prototype of a video interview distribution system for a local nonprofit organization serving to protect victims of abuse. Our team utilized the Agile software development methodology to take the project from initiation to deployment and delivered the final product under budget, before it was due and with required functionality in place.

Developing and Applying Community Informatics to suport the Flexible Provision of Health CareBecky Deitenbeck

Abstract: A high percentage of adults living in rural areas are in poor to fair health, and many have chronic illness. This diverse group of rural people face declining access to health care because of several reasons, including lack of transportation, longer travel times to clinics, and lack of availability of health care workers. As the aging rural population grows, transportation becomes an issue as more people are unable to drive to seek medical care. In addition, if the baby boomers follow past life-cycle age related migration patters to rural areas; more adults ages 55-77 will

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in rural areas in the coming decade. In order to address these issues, this paper draws upon the literature on Community Informatics (CI) which is ―the study and the practice of enabling communities with Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs)‖ (see Journal of Community Informatics http://ci-journal.net/index.php/ciej). The research reported in this paper develops the concept of Community health informatics which can enable residents to actively participant in their health care needs. This research seeks to investigate technology infrastructures that would enable patients and health care providers greater flexibility in managing care in their communities. This is investigated through a qualitative research strategy that takes existing research to develop an IT infrastructure where community based services can be applied through the use of remote monitoring, and mobile medical carts. From existing research, emerging applications specific to rural areas will be discussed. This research contributes to what we know about the development of advanced applications to enable people who reside in geographically dispersed communities to manage health care needs in their communities.

Buildings & Infrastructures

Design and Modeling of Infrastructure for Residential and Community Water ReuseShannon Killion

Abstract: Water scarcity and deteriorating water infrastructure are of growing concern in the United States. The conventional methods of treating and transporting potable and wastewater are being challenged as new technology creates opportunities for water reuse. Instead of simply replacing the current infrastructure for centralized treatment systems, alternatives such as dual distribution and decentralized treatment systems are being investigated as more sustainable alternatives. Implementing dual distribution systems leads to benefits such as reducing the amount of water treated to potable standards and reducing freshwater withdrawals. A dual distribution system allows the non-potable demands to be shifted from the potable water supply to a lower quality water source such as greywater, rainwater, or reclaimed wastewater. Removing

demands such as fire flow, irrigation, laundry, and toilet flushing from the potable demand reduces the demand and allows potable water to be treated to higher water quality standards in a more efficient and cost effective way. A dual distribution system allows water to be treated to the levels necessary for the end use instead of treating all water to drinking water standards. Before water reuse can be widely implemented, the infrastructure requirements for dual distribution need to be understood. Once the infrastructure requirements are known, they can be evaluated using economic and life-cycle analyses to determine the overall feasibility of the systems. The infrastructure requirements are determined through the use of EPANET 2, a hydraulic model developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Scenarios utilizing systems such as using untreated greywater for subsurface irrigation require the least amount of infrastructure. As the complexity of the system increases so does the required infrastructure. In this study, the infrastructure requirements are determined for the following scenarios: greywater and rainwater for non-potable use in single-family residences, rainwater for non-potable use in an apartment building, and reclaimed wastewater use in a community.

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MC Designs Schewe Farms Development Phase IIMichael True and Michael Eskander

Abstract: The Schewe Farms property is an exciting area to be working with. The general plan is to have single family residencies in the northern half of the property. These will have a maximized amount of walkout basements and greenspaces. There will be greenway to help connect the three parts of the community (residential area, high destiny area and commercial area). In the western side of the property there will be an area for high density residences such as apartments. The southeast corner of the property contains a light commercial area such as offices, restaurants and other small businesses. There are two pedestrian bridges which will allow for foot traffic from both the single family residence and high density residential areas toward the commercial zone. One of the main concerns we will be addressing is how to

a b s t r a c t spreserve the land. One of the primary goals is to preserve the creek in its natural state. This is being accomplished by ensuring all except for the most severe of rain events will be controlled. Use of detention ponds and low impact development practices, such as grass lined channels and rain gardens, will be used to control run off. There also will be a reduction in impervious materials by having gravel biking paths and greenspaces. This will ensure that no flows above what currently exists (pre-development) occur. MC Designs feels that this path for our design will lead to the maximum benefit to the developer, resident, and the community as a whole.

2011 Earthquake Engineering research Institute (EERI) Undergraduate Seismic Design CompetitionSean Bergstedt

Abstract: The presentation will be an overview of the design concepts developed in creation of the 2011 UNL seismic design tower as a part of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Undergraduate Seismic Design Competition.

Assessment of Structural Damages Using Thermal Imaging Matija Radovic

Abstract: Applications of thermal imaging include nondestructive inspection and evaluation of structures.Using thermal imaging methods, scientists have successfully detected defects in man-made structures.Research that involved assessment of structures using thermal imaging mostly addressed corrosion of the steel in concrete structures. However, there is a little research regarding assessment of concrete structure’s capacity after being exposed to an extreme unpredictable stresses (hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis). These structures might develop a critical internal stresses that could not be seen on structure’s surface. We propose a development of the nondestructive method for evaluating structure’s capacity using thermal imaging. Five concrete testing specimen will be made and tested for compressive capacity. Thermal images of the concrete blocks will be taken before, during and after compression test. Concrete blocks’ thermal maps will be evaluated to determine relationships between block’s compressive capacity, distribution (magnitude) of thermal lines and concrete block’s crack dispersion.

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Schewe Farms DevelopmentJames Nervig, Shane Hanson, Daniel Jones, Kristi Palik

Abstract: This presentation, created by the Next Generation Design team, describes the design process and aspects of a mixed use development. The theoretical development was designed for a real space in Papillion, NE and is referred to as the Schewe Farms Phase II Development. Key features of the design include over 140 residential lots, low impact development for storm water, and a small commercial area featuring 32 apartment units, two (2) retail bays, and a 3-story office building. Design procedures for all aspects of the civil engineering design as well as the conceptual vision for the development will be described.

Land Development of Residential NeighborhoodTim Zach and Brandon Lundborg

Abstract: Maverick Engineering has been asked by Twin Lakes, LLC to develop Schewe Farms Phase II Residential Subdivision for a single family home residential subdivision. Located between 120th Street and 123rd Street from Cornhusker Road to Lincoln Road in Papillion, Nebraska, this 79 acres of farmland is extremely hilly, with about a 100-foot drop in elevation from the west side to the east side. This subdivision will have 85 residential lots and one large commercial lot. The goal of this design is to create a residential subdivision with a green space located behind a majority of the homes. The goal is achieved by dividing the subdivision into three green spaces. Each green space has a bicycle trail encircling it. All of the lots, except for eight, are adjacent to green space. Rain gardens will also be installed in


Seismic Investigation for the Temple of Antioch ReconstructionBrad Petersen

Abstract: Founded in the middle of the 1st century A.D., Antiocheia ad Cragum was one of the larger Roman cities of the Mediterranean coast region of modern Turkey. This coastal region of Anatolia was known as Rough Cilicia in antiquity. The ancient city, now in a state of ruin, includes an imperial Temple, which was first identified by archaeologists in the 1960s. In 2004, a new project started, with the goal of studying, excavating, and perhaps partially restoring the Temple to a state of ―site museum‖. Several theories have been postulated regarding the collapse of the original temple. Since the temple is located near the East Anatolian Fault, it is highly probable that a seismic event aided in the collapse. In order to better understand the performance of the temple under seismic loading, virtual and physical models of the temple are being created. This paper provides an overview of the project and details the progress being made in seismic analysis. The first author is the architectural engineering director of this project that is conducted in collaboration with art historians and archaeologists, and under the observations and rules of the Turkish Ministry of Culture.

Schewe Farms Phase IINoah Johnson

Abstract: The residential portion of the development lies to the northwest of Schram Creek. The current master plan for the development includes 142 residential lots with sizes ranging from 70’x120’ to 70’x130’. Streets have been lain out to provide access to the residential lots as well as to connect Phase I and Phase II at both 120th and 123rd Streets. Necessary

information to complete the design in the residential area has been identified and located, including: Geometric design of the streets, design of the paving plan, design of the water supply network, management of storm water for fully developed and post-construction states, design of a culvert at the crossing of 120th Street and Schram Creek, layout and design of a sanitary sewer system; additionally, design of a pumping station to carry sanitary flow to the Papillion outfall sewer. Design of the commercial district to the southeast of Schram Creek is equally important to Core Concepts. A well designed commercial district will be attractive to both developers and home buyers, and will improve the quality of life of residents. Currently, the commercial district is platted to allow for six retail stores and two restaurants. A typical building will be designed to give potential developers an idea what could be done in the commercial district. Sustainable design and low impact development are concepts that are central to the design processes of Core Concepts. The expertise and experience of organizations such as the U.S. Green Building Council and Complete Streets are being used extensively to realize the full potential that the development has.

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each green space for low impact development. This residential neighborhood will be appealing to families because of the common green space that each home will have access to, and the network of bicycle trails that connect the green spaces. Also, being located to a grocery store, which will be built in the adjacent commercial lot, will add to the convenience of living in this neighborhood.

Effects of Classroom Acoustical Environments on Student AchievementLauren Ronsse

Abstract: This research investigates the relationships between unoccupied classroom acoustical conditions and elementary student achievement. Acoustical measurements have been gathered in a range of elementary school classrooms in two midwestern United States Public School Districts. Classroom acoustic parameters from these measurements have been correlated to the standardized achievement test scores from students in the surveyed classrooms. The results from this research suggest that elementary student language and reading subject areas may be negatively impacted by higher unoccupied background noise levels. Also, a perception-based acoustics metric was found to be significantly related to the student language achievement test scores.

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Mini-Mobile Environmental Monitoring (MMU)Spencer Witt, Zach Booth, Brett Miles, Chris Thompson

Abstract: The Mini-Mobile Environmental Monitoring Unit (MMU) is a system designed to be deployed remotely to monitor the effects of a natural water source on aquatic life. Specimens are placed inside an inner tank to expose them to the aquatic environment in a controlled manner. This tank is surrounded by an outer insulating tank that is used to regulate specimen tank temperature. To increase time between battery replacements, the system is charged by an array of solar panels. This creates a green solution for power generation. The system is designed to increase power efficiency by using intelligent control. This is achieved by using a microcontroller to monitor the system status with an array of sensors. Water flow through the system is controlled by two pumps and two valves. The microcontroller enables pumps individually and adjusts the valve ratio between the two tanks accordingly. System status is checked every 30 minutes, and the data is stored with a timestamp in non-volatile memory for at least 24 hours. Because the system is deployed remotely, wireless communication is required to monitor the unit. Information about the system state is transmitted via a GSM network. The network is accessed using a standard cellular SIM card. The user interface for the system makes use of the SMS protocol over the telecommunications channel. The system notifies the user if an alert state is detected. The user has the ability to request status updates or set alert threshold values via SMS commands.

Residential Zone Heating Control SystemJohn Peters, Matthew Raimondo, James Ferguson, Claude Climer

Abstract: The Residential Zone Heating Control System is designed to monitor temperatures and heating in residential environments on a per-room basis, using conductive concrete as a radiant heating element. This process entails the use of two control units: the Central Control Unit

(CCU) and the Zone Control Unit (ZCU). The CCU is tasked with wirelessly controlling and monitoring the temperatures of all active zones via a touchscreen, web, and USB 2.0 interface. A web interface allows users to remotely control and monitor all active zone temperatures, while a USB 2.0 interface allows users to locally control and monitor all active zone temperatures via PC. The ZCU is tasked with controlling and monitoring the temperature of a specific zone. Digital ambient room temperature sensors are utilized to provide accurate room temperature readings for each zone. Each zone will contain a LCD which will display the zone’s current temperature, the user’s desired temperature, and whether or not the unit is being controlled remotely by the CCU or locally by the ZCU. When the desired room temperature is at, above, or below the current room temperature, a signal is sent from the microcontroller to the latching relay to indicate the power condition. If the room temperature is below the desired user setting, then the latching relay is turned on, and 30 amps of current is supplied to heat the conductive concrete; otherwise, if the room temperature is at or above the desired user setting, then the relay is turned off and the conductive concrete is powered down.

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Wireless VulnerabilitiesUjjwal Bhattarai

Abstract: Wireless communication has become one of the most widely used and demanded forms of communication over the past 20 years. Many homes and workplaces today take advantage of wireless communication through the use of wireless access points (or routers). Establishing a wireless environment within the home or workplace eliminates the need for wires by transmitting information over the air in order to connect to a network and also the Internet. During the days of wired connections, hackers had to physically ―tap‖ into a network to have access. However, that method is not necessary in a wireless environment. A malicious user only needs a wireless communication device to capture information from a network. To secure the information that is being transmitted over the wireless network, encryption standards were created. These standards are: Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), Wi-Fi Protected


Access (WPA), and Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2). In order to demonstrate the vulnerabilities of these standards, we set up a lab in which students were able to use common tools that allowed them to break into the access points, secured by those standards. The students were fascinated with the lab and several of them were able to successfully break the WEP encrypted access points. The purpose of this lab was to demonstrate the vulnerabilities of the wireless standards. The students will be able to break the WEP and WPA encrypted access points, WPAII has been proven to be more difficult to attack successfully.

Project IvoHannah Franks

Abstract: Project Ivo is a web-based application developed by me and four others for a local charity called Mission for All Nations. Initially, Mission for All Nations had several disjointed methods for administrative tracking of donations and volunteers, mostly involving isolated desktop databases and Excel spreadsheets. This system streamlines administration for the charity by offering both volunteer and donation tracking and reporting. Project Ivo is completely web-based and is third-party hosted, ensuring easy access from any computer—with correct credentials—as well as data backup and integrity. Project Ivo has many capabilities that were specifically designed based on user requirements. The system has the ability to ―clock-in‖ and ―clock-out‖ volunteers who need to keep track of their hours. It also has a reporting mechanism that queries donations and volunteers based on a number of criteria. The reports generated are viewable online or can be downloaded to an Excel spreadsheet. The system also provides three different tiers of access based on the user’s role in the organization. This allows for fine-grain control of the system based on user permissions. Project Ivo started as a school project but was extended beyond the class in order to meet all the customer’s requirements as well as to eliminate system bugs. The project is currently live on the Mission for All Nation website and is maintained by me.

Innovative Telemedicine Models for Health Care Access for Rural ResidentsBecky Deitenbeck

Abstract: People living in rural areas need access to health care. However, many rural people lack the health care they desire. Innovations in information technology infrastructures for health care provision are needed to enable rural residents to gain access to the care they need. Research suggests that the new health care law will change the model of how health care is delivered. The focal point will transform from a business-centric focus to health-based. The health-based model will be important for residents in rural areas that are already faced with declining access to health care. Due to funding constraints of health care institutions, and the shortage of health care workers, the need for more mobile services are needed. Innovations in telemedicine have many promising applications in health care. This form of innovation termed ―frugal innovation‖, enables the development of technologies to support larger populations in underserved communities. Little research has been done on the use, effectiveness and perception of telemedicine, especially in Nebraska. This research seeks to investigate information systems for telemedicine adoption for rural residents, and offers innovations in this area that would enable rural residents to access health care. The purpose of this study is to analyze telemedicine models that could be implemented in rural areas. The question being investigated in this research is, what telemedicine information systems could be adopted in rural areas in Nebraska? This question is investigated through a qualitative research strategy that gains knowledge from existing research to arrive at an understanding of what information systems can provide people living in rural areas access to health care. From existing research, advanced applications of telemedicine will be discussed. This research contributes to what telemedicine information systems could enable rural resident access to health care.

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A Domain Specific Approach for Assembling Fragments from Next Generation Sequencing DataJulia Warnke

Abstract: Next generation sequencing (NGS) has become a major focus in many recent biological research applications. NGS produces thousands to millions of short DNA fragments in a single run. Individually, these fragments represent only a small fraction of an original biological sample. To obtain any useful information, overlapping fragments must be assembled into long stretches of contiguous sequence. Various assemblers have been developed to address the fragment assembly problem. The majority of current assemblers were developed to fill an important gap; however, they were developed with a pure computational focus without taking the properties of the input datasets into consideration. NGS dataset characteristics such as fragment coverage and underlying genome complexity varies dramatically from project to project. Generic assemblers that are data independent are unlikely to produce accurate solutions in all problem domains. In this study, we propose a graph theoretic approach to develop a domain specific assembler. The proposed assembler analyzes the input dataset and captures optimal parameter configurations as a function of assembly domain. Results from this study will allow for the assembler to be applied in an intelligent and customized manner to a wide variety of datasets, resulting in more efficient assembly tactics and improved assembly quality.

IA Student AssessmIA Student Assessment of UNO STATPack SystemDerek Pecka, Aaron Keck, Adam Gehringer, Aaron Hiltgen, Miles Mathias, Jeremy Dobbins

Abstract: The students in the current Information Assurance Capstone course are evaluating the security of the UNO STATPack (Secure Telecommunications Application Terminal Package) system. STATPack is a collaborative effort of experts at UNO/IS&T/Si2 at PKI, UNMC, and NPHL. STATPack is an emergency response system for public health laboratories

currently deployed in hospitals and diagnostic laboratories in Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma. A copy of STATPack Server and STATPack Client have been re-hosted into Virtual Machines within STEAL so that can be aggressively tested in a safe environment. The students will report on their methods and results from these two perspectives: (1) Vulnerability discovery using Penetration Test techniques; and (2) How well the application complies with NIST standards using a combination of approaches that include document reviews, interviews, inspection, code review, technical tests, and collaborative teamwork.

UNO Team Experiences from 2010 International Capture the Flag CompetitionDerek Pecka, Adam Gehringer, Aaron Keck

Abstract: In December, 2010, approximately 20 PKI NUCIA students competed against 900 other students from 16 countries in the UCSB iCTF(international Capture The Flag). This competition was a scored game of hacking, challenge-solving, and state-sponsored warfare. The NUCIA team finished second among U.S. teams and seventh among all 72 teams. In this presentation, three of the students who were key to this effort and are currently enrolled in the Information Assurance Capstone course will discuss their experiences with respect to solving challenges the offensive compromise they developed for this cyber exercise.

Energy Conservation through Home AutomationJohn Wrobel, Taylor Whipple, Nick Lawyer, Santo Sapienza

Abstract: Our Mission is ―to Intelligently and Conveniently Conserve Power." The purpose of this project is to reduce the overall energy consumption of a home by making intelligent, automated decisions in regards to the state of specific home electrical and HVAC devices. The user is able to provide rules to the system via an easy to use web interface to automate the task of energy conservation. One way in which this system can be considered intelligent is its ability to sense the environment. These sensors, which act as the ―eyes and ears,‖ include

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light, temperature, humidity and presence sensors. With the ability to continuously provide status feedback to the main controller, which acts as the ―brain‖ of the platform, intelligent decisions can be made based upon the user defined rules. Rules that can be based on any of the four sensor inputs, as well as time, date, etc. In addition to this automated functionality, the user can also manually control the devices in his or her home by means of the web interface. Such things as lights, devices connected to standard electrical outlets, and heating and cool vents can be controlled just as they would be by automatic rules. This task is achieved by the device or vent controller, the ―arms and legs‖ of the system. This system is the ideal retrofit for consumers who are looking to reduce overall home energy consumption without unnecessary renovations and high costs. In addition to this, the user adds convenience to his or her life while minimizing environmental impacts.

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a t t e

n d

e e

sTrack Leads

Chris Augeri PKIGJ de Vreede UNOStu Bernstein UNLTerri Norton UNLDale Tiller UNLHerb Detloff UNLKen Dick UNORobin Gandhi UNO

Speakers

Mike McGinnis PKI

Judges

Julie Huff Northrop GrummanDawn Pielstick Mutual of OmahaDon Wrieth Kiewit Building GroupDoug Knight SAICKaren Krabbe Union PacificKiranmayi Sreenivas Union PacificJeff Shomberg Johnson Controls

Students

Kanimathi Duraisamy UNOJay Newstrom UNOAndrew Lescelius UNOMichelle Bauer UNOBrandon Boyd UNOKelvin Chin UNORenate Keimig UNOSamantha Sauer UNOStephanie Petersen UNOBryan Hrebik UNOSarah Benes UNOAdel Almarhoon UNOBecky Deitenbeck UNOShonna Kadavy UNOShannon Killion UNL

Michael True UNLMichael Eskander UNLSean Bergstedt UNLJames Nervig UNLShane Hanson UNLMatija Radovic UNLTim Zach UNLBrandon Lundborg UNLBrad Petersen UNLNoah Johnson UNLLauren Ronsse UNLSpencer Witt UNLZach Booth UNLBrett Miles UNLChris Thompson UNLJohn Peters UNLMatthew Raimondo UNLJames Ferguson UNLClaude Climer UNLUjjwal Bhattarai UNOHannah Luedeke UNOBecky Deitenbeck UNOJulia Warnke UNODerek Pecka UNOAaron Keck UNOAdam Gehringer UNOAaron Hiltgren UNOMiles Mathias UNOJeremy Dobbins UNOJohn Wrobel UNLTaylor Whipple UNLNick Lawyer UNLSanto Sapienza UNL

Sponsors

Chuck Holderness Northrop GrummanKaren Krabbe Union Pacific

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Conferences p o n s o r s

PKI would like to sincerely thank the Student Capstone sponsors, Northrop Grumman and Union Pacific, for sponsorship of meals, refreshments, certificates, mementoes, and cash awards ($500, $300, $200) presented to the students and participants.

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1110 S. 67th Street Omaha, NE 68182pki.nebraska.edu

402.554.3333

the peter kiewit institute omaha, ne

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