Dr Suraj Ajit: Recent Publications

ConEditor: Tool to Input and Maintain ConstraintsSuraj Ajit, Derek Sleeman, David W Fowler, David KnottDOI:Ajit, S., Sleeman, D., Fowler, D. W. and Knott, D. (2004) ConEditor: Tool to Input and Maintain Constraints. In: EKAW 2004. pp. 466-468.Source: OAIABSTRACT We present a tool which helps domain experts capture and maintain constraints. The tool displays parts of an ontology (as classes, sub-classes and properties) in the form of a tree. A number of keywords and operators from a constraint language are also listed. The tool helps a user to create a constraint expression. Additionally, the tool has a facility which allows the user to input tabular data. The expressed constraints can be converted into a standard format, making them portable. It is planned to integrate this tool, ConEditor, with Designers’ Workbench, a system that supports human designers.



Acquisition and Maintenance of Constraints in Engineering Design. InSuraj Ajit, Derek Sleeman, David W Fowler, David Knott, Kit HuiDOI:Ajit, S., Sleeman, D., Fowler, D. W., Knott, D. and Hui, K. (2005) Acquisition and Maintenance of Constraints in Engineering Design. In. In: KCAP-05. pp. 173-174.Source: OAIABSTRACT The Designers' Workbench is a system, developed by the Advanced Knowledge Technologies (AKT) consortium to support designers in large organizations, such as Rolls- Royce, by making sure that a design is consistent with the specification for the particular design as well as with the company’s design rule book(s). Currently, to capture the constraint information, a domain expert (design engineer) has to work with a knowledge engineer to identify the constraints, and it is then the task of the knowledge engineer to encode these into the Workbench's knowledge base (KB). This is an error prone and time consuming task. It is highly desirable to relieve the knowledge engineer of this task, and so we have developed a tool, ConEditor, that enables domain experts themselves to capture and maintain these constraints. The tool allows the user to combine selected entities from the domain ontology with keywords and operators of a constraint language to form a constraint expression. We hypothesize that to apply constraints appropriately, it is necessary to understand the context in which each constraint is applicable. We refer to this as "application conditions". We plan to make these application conditions machine interpretable and investigate how they, together with a domain ontology, can be used to support the verification and maintenance of constraints.



Capture and Maintenance of Engineering Design ConstraintsSuraj Ajit, Derek Sleeman, David W Fowler, David Knott, Kit HuiDOI:Ajit, S., Sleeman, D., Fowler, D. W., Knott, D. and Hui, K. (2005) Capture and Maintenance of Engineering Design Constraints. In: Research and Development in Intelligent Systems, Springer.Source: OAI


The role of ontologies in creating and maintaining corporate knowledge: a case study from the aero industryDerek Sleeman, Suraj Ajit, David W Fowler, David KnottDOI:Sleeman, D., Ajit, S., Fowler, D. W. and Knott, D. (2006) The role of ontologies in creating and maintaining corporate knowledge: a case study from the aero industry. In: FOMI-06 Workshop.Source: OAIABSTRACT The Designers’ Workbench is a system, developed to support designers in large organizations, such as Rolls-Royce, by making sure that the design is consistent with the specification for the particular design as well as with the company’s design rule book(s). The evolving design is described against a jet engine ontology. Currently, to capture the constraint information, a domain expert (design engineer) has to work with a knowledge engineer to identify the constraints, and it is then the task of the knowledge engineer to encode these into the Workbench’s knowledge base (KB). This is an error prone and time consuming task. It is highly desirable to relieve the knowledge engineer of this task, and so we have developed a tool, ConEditor+ that enables domain experts themselves to capture and maintain these constraints. The tool allows the user to combine selected entities from the domain ontology with keywords and operators of a constraint language to form a constraint expression. Further, we hypothesize that to apply constraints appropriately, it is necessary to understand the context in which each constraint is applicable. We refer to this as “application conditions”. We show that an explicit representation of application conditions, in a machine interpretable format, along with the constraints and the domain ontology can be used to support the verification and maintenance of constraints.



ConEditor+: Capture and Maintenance of Constraints in Engineering DesignSuraj Ajit, Derek Sleeman, David W Fowler, David Knott, Kit HuiDOI:Ajit, S., Sleeman, D., Fowler, D. W., Knott, D. and Hui, K. (2007) ConEditor+: Capture and Maintenance of Constraints in Engineering Design. In: IJCAI-07 Workshop on Knowledge Management and Organizational Memories. pp. 6-11.Source: OAIABSTRACT The Designers' Workbench is a system, developed to support designers in large organizations, such as Rolls-Royce, by making sure that the design is consistent with the specification for the particular design as well as with the company’s design rule book(s). Currently, to capture the constraint information, a domain expert (design engineer) has to work with a knowledge engineer to identify the constraints, and it is then the task of the knowledge engineer to encode these into the Workbench's knowledge base (KB). This is an error prone and time consuming task. It is highly desirable to relieve the knowledge engineer of this task, and so we have developed a tool, ConEditor+ that enables domain experts themselves to capture and maintain these constraints. The tool allows the user to combine selected entities from the domain ontology with keywords and operators of a constraint language to form a constraint expression. Further, we hypothesize that to apply constraints appropriately, it is necessary to understand the context in which each constraint is applicable. We refer to this as "application conditions". We show that an explicit representation of application conditions, in a machine interpretable format, along with the constraints and the domain ontology can be used to support the verification and maintenance of constraints.



Constraint capture and maintenance in engineering designSuraj Ajit, Derek Sleeman, David W Fowler, David KnottDOI:Ajit, S., Sleeman, D., Fowler, D. W. and Knott, D. (2008) Constraint capture and maintenance in engineering design. AI for Engineering Design, Analysis & Manufacturing, 22 . pp. 325-343.Source: OAIABSTRACT The Designers' Workbench is a system, developed by the Advanced Knowledge Technologies (AKT) consortium to support designers in large organizations, such as Rolls-Royce, to ensure that the design is consistent with the specification for the particular design as well as with the company's design rule book(s). In the principal application discussed here, the evolving design is described against a jet engine ontology. Design rules are expressed as constraints over the domain ontology. Currently, to capture the constraint information, a domain expert (design engineer) has to work with a knowledge engineer to identify the constraints, and it is then the task of the knowledge engineer to encode these into the Workbench's knowledge base (KB). This is an error prone and time consuming task. It is highly desirable to relieve the knowledge engineer of this task, and so we have developed a system, ConEditor+ that enables domain experts themselves to capture and maintain these constraints. Further we hypothesize that in order to appropriately apply, maintain and reuse constraints, it is necessary to understand the underlying assumptions and context in which each constraint is applicable. We refer to them as “application conditions” and these form a part of the rationale associated with the constraint. We propose a methodology to capture the application conditions associated with a constraint and demonstrate that an explicit representation (machine interpretable format) of application conditions (rationales) together with the corresponding constraints and the domain ontology can be used by a machine to support maintenance of constraints. Support for the maintenance of constraints includes detecting inconsistencies, subsumption, redundancy, fusion between constraints and suggesting appropriate refinements. The proposed methodology provides immediate benefits to the designers and hence should encourage them to input the application conditions (rationales).

Related

• Dr Ali Al-Sherbaz: Mobile
• Dr Scott Turner- robots, genetic algorithms and pr...
• Dr James Xue: distributed and cloud computing
• Dr Yinghui Zhang: haptics and virtual reality
• Gary Hill: solving problems
• Dr Suraj Ajit: Recent Publication

Northampton - Babylon strategic partnership potential

Taken from: The University of Northampton lays down the foundations of a strategic partnership with the University of Babylon  http://www.northampton.ac.uk/news/article/446/the-university-of-northampton-lays-down-the-foundations-of-a-strategic-partnership-with-the-university-of-babylon

The University of Northampton’s School of Science and Technology was pleased to welcome visitors from the University of Babylon in Iraq.

Led by Professor Dhirgham Alkhafaji, Director of Scientific Affairs & Cultural Relations, the visit, which took place on 19 February, is the culmination of several months of discussions between colleagues in the School of Science and Technology and their counterparts in Babylon.

During the visit, discussions took place, and agreements were reached on several initiatives, including a package for PhD supervision, 2+2 (two years at Babylon, two years at Northampton) in Computing, staff exchange, consultancy and knowledge transfer in the area of solid wastes management.

Professor Kamal Bechkoum, Executive Dean of the School of Science and Technology, commented: “This is a significant partnership that fits in with the School’s internationalisation plan and we are delighted about progress thus far.”

More news stories can be found at: http://www.northampton.ac.uk/news

Computing Courses

BSc and HND Computing Provision (click on the links below for more details of the courses)

• BSc (Hons) Computing (also available part-time)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Computer Networks Engineering)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Computer Systems Engineering)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Graphics and Visualisation)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Internet Technology and Security)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Mobile Computing)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Software Engineering)
• BSc (Hons) Computing - One Year Top-up
• BSc  Computer Games Development
• HNC Computing (part-time)
• HND Computing (Computer Networks Engineering)
• HND Computing (Computer Systems Engineering)
• HND Computing (Graphics and Visualisation)
• HND Computing (Internet Technology and Security)
• HND Computing (Mobile Computing)
• HND Computing (Software Engineering) 
• HND Computing
• HND Computer Games Development

The University of Northampton's, Department of Computing and Immersive Technologies offers five courses within the MSc Computing postgraduate provision (shown below) all available either part-time or full-time. 

• MSc Computing
• MSc Computing (Internet Technology and Security)
• MSc Computing (Computer Networks Engineering)
• MSc Computing (Software Engineering)
• MSc Computing (Immersive Technologies)

China and Europe coming to Milan

9th China-Europe International Symposium on 

Software Engineering Education. 

The conference will be held in Milan, Italy 

13th and 14th May 2013

Theme: Software Engineering Education for Global 

E-Service Economy

The conference website is http://camellia.unipv.it:15000/

The deadline is currently March 10 2013
Call for papers: http://camellia.unipv.it:15000/web/guest/topics-call-for-paper

Background to the conference: http://camellia.unipv.it:15000/web/guest/background-objectives

Provisional schedule.

• May 13 - Morning:  Opening ceremony and  Keynote Speech
• May 13 – Afternoon: Parallel sessions
• May 13 – Evening:  Banquet and Social Event
• May 14- Morning:  Industry Track, Software Engineering for the Industry
  • University and Industry cooperation in a global world 
  • Field education of Software Engineer and Enterprise Architects: internships, stages and post-graduate education; 
  • Panel Session Education on Software Engineering and Services Science for Global E-Service
•  May 14- Afternoon (optional): Visit Politecnico di Milano or University of Milano Bicocca

Further information is on the website:http://camellia.unipv.it:15000/

Cricket AI - Artificial Intelligence in a Framework

Samuel Gibbs

 The task that has been undertaken in this project is that of determining what type of artificial intelligence is the best one to be used in a cricket game. The aimed type of cricket simulator is one for the twenty over (Twenty20) format because this is the newest and as a result least well simulated (in the author’s opinion) of all the formats of cricket by commercially available simulators and games.  The project is using Sun Microsystems Java as the programming language of choice. This will be done by testing a variety of artificial intelligence techniques and finding out which is best.  Also, by building the framework itself, working out what features it needs to make it playable and interesting. These will include at least artificial intelligences that can play the game against a human and if possible a way of selecting which players will play the game. There will also be some technical research done into the different artificial intelligence techniques to help decide which methods should be attempted. To make the framework better there will be testing done of other commercial products in the cricket management and simulator field, this will also give a better understanding of what should be included within the project. The simulator should simulate a game if cricket with batting, bowling and fielding all simulated. The game simulated will initially be between England and Australia, although there is no reason why other teams couldn’t be used.

Computing Courses

BSc and HND Computing Provision (click on the links below for more details of the courses)

• BEng/MEng Computing (Computer Networks Engineering)
• BEng/MEng Computing (Computer Systems Engineering) 

• BSc (Hons) Computing (also available part-time)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Graphics and Visualisation)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Internet Technology and Security)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Mobile Computing)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Software Engineering)
• BSc (Hons) Computing - One Year Top-Up 
• BSc  Computer Games Development
• HND Computing (Compute​r Net​works Engineering)
• HND Computing (Computer Systems Engineering)
• HND Computing (Graphics and Visualisation)
• HND Computing (Internet Tech​nolog​y and Security)
• HND Computing (Mobile Computing)
• HND Computing (Software Engine​ering) 
• HND Com​puting

The University of Northampton's, Department of Computing and Immersive Technologies offers five courses within the MSc Computing postgraduate provision (shown below) all available either part-time or full-time. 

• MSc Computing
• MSc Computing (Internet Technology and Security)
• MSc Computing (Computer Networks Engineering)
• MSc Computing (Software Engineering)
• MSc Computing (Immersive Technologies)

The contents are the opinion of the author(s) and not necessarily the view of the University of Northampton.

opinion: Good time for teaching computer science

In the last few months there have been some changes to the suggested curriculum in schools that will be pleasing to those interested in Computing and what is being taught in UK schools.

With Computing added to the National Curriculum for England and Wales for Key Stage 1 to 3. The draft Curriculum (see http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/n/national%20curriculum%20consultation%20-%20framework%20document.pdf) on page 152-156 has Computer Science at its core and ICT  longer offered as an initial teacher training (ITT) teaching subject (see the UK Government's own website: Department of Education (2012) for more details). 

This "approach to rigorous computer science teaching in schools is supported by The British Computing Society (BCS – The Chartered Institute for IT), along with Microsoft, Google and Facebook" (Department of Education, 2012). Evidence of this is the BCS has partnered with the Teaching Agency to offer £20000 Teaching Scholarships (BCS, 2012). This scholarship scheme is backed by several large computing-related companies (including Microsoft, BT and Facebook)  "to be part of a range of activities that nurture future computer science Master Teachers who will lead innovation both within their own school and in collaboration with other schools"  BCS (2012)


The application form for the Teaching Scholarship can be found at: https://apps.bcs.org/Scholarship/


To take this further, there is ample evidence that Universities, including University of Northampton, are serious about helping schools with computing. For example:

• computing helps school (http://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/computing-helps-school.html)
• computing students and public engagement skills (http://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/computing-students-and-public.html);
• the junkbots project http://junkbots.blogspot.co.uk/.

To learn more about how The School of Science and Technology, University of Northampton can help schools contact scott.turner@northampton.ac.uk or stem@northampton.ac.uk


References
Department of Education (2012) "Become a computer science teacher" [online] URL: http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/subjects-age-groups/computer-science.aspx [accessed on: 16th February 2013].
BCS (2012) "Teaching scholarships" [online] URL: http://academy.bcs.org/scholarships [accessed on: 16th February 2013].

BSc and HND Computing Provision (click on the links below for more details of the courses)

• BSc (Hons) Computing (also available part-time)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Computer Networks Engineering)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Computer Systems Engineering)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Graphics and Visualisation)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Internet Technology and Security)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Mobile Computing)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Software Engineering)
• BSc (Hons) Computing - One Year Top-up
• BSc  Computer Games Development
• HNC Computing (part-time)
• HND Computing (Computer Networks Engineering)
• HND Computing (Computer Systems Engineering)
• HND Computing (Graphics and Visualisation)
• HND Computing (Internet Technology and Security)
• HND Computing (Mobile Computing)
• HND Computing (Software Engineering) 
• HND Computing
• HND Computer Games Development

The University of Northampton's, Department of Computing and Immersive Technologies offers five courses within the MSc Computing postgraduate provision (shown below) all available either part-time or full-time. 

• MSc Computing
• MSc Computing (Internet Technology and Security)
• MSc Computing (Computer Networks Engineering)
• MSc Computing (Software Engineering)
• MSc Computing (Immersive Technologies)

Blast from the Past: Arts vs Computing

Details of a short paper on the motivational differences in learning internet programming between arts and computing students. 

Minai, A, Turner S, and Hill. G (2008) "Motivational Differences in Learning Internet Programming Between Arts and Computing Students" 9th Higher Education Academy-ICS Annual Conference, Liverpool Hope University, 26th August - 28th August 2008. pp. 197 ISBN 978-0-9559676-0-3.

Abstract

This poster discusses the observations on learning differences of teaching internet programming to Arts and Computing students on a common undergraduate programming module

Full details of the paper can be found at:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/31872049_Motivational_differences_in_learning_internet_programming_between_arts_and_computing_students?ev=prf_pub

BSc and HND Computing Provision (click on the links below for more details of the courses)

• BSc (Hons) Computing (also available part-time)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Computer Networks Engineering)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Computer Systems Engineering)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Graphics and Visualisation)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Internet Technology and Security)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Mobile Computing)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Software Engineering)
• BSc (Hons) Computing - One Year Top-up
• BSc  Computer Games Development
• HNC Computing (part-time)
• HND Computing (Computer Networks Engineering)
• HND Computing (Computer Systems Engineering)
• HND Computing (Graphics and Visualisation)
• HND Computing (Internet Technology and Security)
• HND Computing (Mobile Computing)
• HND Computing (Software Engineering) 
• HND Computing
• HND Computer Games Development

MSc Computing: February 2013 update

The University of Northampton's, Department of Computing and Immersive Technologies offers five courses within the MSc Computing postgraduate provision (shown below) all available either part-time or full-time. 

•  Department of Computing and Immersive Technologies offers five courses within the MSc Computing postgraduate provision (shown below) all available either part-time or full-time. 
  
  

  • MSc Computing
  • MSc Computing (Internet Technology and Security)
  • MSc Computing (Computer Networks Engineering)
  • MSc Computing (Software Engineering)
  • MSc Computing (Immersive Technologies)

  
  

Two new courses to be run in September 2013

MEng Computer Networks Engineering (120 credits):

• Visual Objects Software (20)
• Computer Networks (20)
• Mobile Device Software Development (20)
• Group Industry Project (60)

MEng  Computer Systems Engineering (120 credits) from:

• Distributed Systems (20)
• Visual Objects Software (20)
• Modern Computer Architecture (20)
• Group Industry Project (60)

The dissertation is an important element of the MSc courses. The range and nature of the dissertations on MSc Computing  varies, below are some links to blog postings that I hope give a flavour some of the topics other students have  investigated:

• Web Analytics
• http://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/analytics-enhancements-using-rankings.html
• http://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/msc-dissertationanalysis-of-web.html
• IT in developing countries
• http://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/msc-student-workefficacious-adoption-of.html
•  Augmented reality
• http://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/development-of-augmented-reality-ar.html
•   Investigation into ‘Comet’
• http://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/msc-student-work-use-of-http-push-in.html
•   Combining web-based technologies
• http://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/msc-student-work-generic-google-maps.html

One ex-student has turned his dissertation into a book.

From the MSc program as a whole,  where successful student end up working varies; but I would say lot work in areas that are internet intensive some examples include becoming a consultant in optimising websites to be more likely to be picked up search engines; another is a lecturer. At least one has gone to further study at Universities such as the University of Oxford.

There is a strong practical element to the courses. The emphasis of the whole MSc Computing programme is on developing both technical and Master’s level academic skills through practicing these skills, but after being taught the necessary underpinning theory.

UKPass details can be found by clicking here.

Apply for this course through: https://pgapp.ukpass.ac.uk/ukpasspgapp/login.jsp?institution=N38&course=31469&source=www.ukpass.ac.uk

For more details contact: Scott Turner

Computing Courses

BSc and HND Computing Provision (click on the links below for more details of the courses)

• BEng/MEng Computing (Computer Networks Engineering)
• BEng/MEng Computing (Computer Systems Engineering) 

• BSc (Hons) Computing (also available part-time)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Graphics and Visualisation)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Internet Technology and Security)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Mobile Computing)
• BSc (Hons) Computing (Software Engineering)
• BSc (Hons) Computing - One Year Top-Up 
• BSc  Computer Games Development
• HND Computing (Compute​r Net​works Engineering)
• HND Computing (Computer Systems Engineering)
• HND Computing (Graphics and Visualisation)
• HND Computing (Internet Tech​nolog​y and Security)
• HND Computing (Mobile Computing)
• HND Computing (Software Engine​ering) 
• HND Com​puting

The University of Northampton's, Department of Computing and Immersive Technologies offers five courses within the MSc Computing postgraduate provision (shown below) all available either part-time or full-time. 

• MSc Computing
• MSc Computing (Internet Technology and Security)
• MSc Computing (Computer Networks Engineering)
• MSc Computing (Software Engineering)
• MSc Computing (Immersive Technologies)

The contents are the opinion of the author(s) and not necessarily the view of the University of Northampton.