Education Awards on Google App Engine
By Andrea Held,
Google University Relations
Cross-posted from the Google
Research Blog
Last year we
invited
proposals for innovative projects built on Google’s infrastructure. Today we are pleased to
announce the 11 recipients of a
Google
App Engine Education Award. Professors and their students are using the award in
cloud computing courses to study databases, distributed systems, web mashups and to build
educational applications. Each selected project received $1000 in Google App Engine
credits.
Awarding computational resources to classroom projects is always gratifying. It is impressive
to see the creative ideas students and educators bring to these programs.
Below is a brief introduction to each project. Congratulations to the recipients!
John David N.
Dionisio, Loyola Marymount University
Project description: The objective of this undergraduate database systems
course is for students to implement one database application in two technology stacks, a
traditional relational database and on Google App Engine. Students are asked to study both
models and provide concrete comparison points.
Xiaohui (Helen)
Gu, North Carolina State University
Project description:
Advanced Distributed Systems
Class
The goal of the project is to allow the students to learn distributed system concepts by
developing real distributed system management systems and testing them on real world cloud
computing infrastructures such as Google App Engine.
Shriram Krishnamurthi,
Brown University
Project description:
WeScheme is a programming environment that runs
in the Web browser and supports interactive development. WeScheme uses App Engine to handle
user accounts, serverside compilation, and file management.
Feifei Li,
University of Utah
Project description: A graduate-level course that will be offered in Fall
2013 on the design and implementation of large data management system kernels. The objective
is to integrate features from a relational database engine with some of the new features from
NoSQL systems to enable efficient and scalable data management over a cluster of commodity
machines.
Mark
Liffiton, Illinois Wesleyan University
Project description:
TeacherTap is a free, simple
classroom-response system built on Google App Engine. It lets students give instant, anonymous
feedback to teachers about a lecture or discussion from any computer or mobile device with a
web browser, facilitating more adaptive class sessions.
Eni Mustafaraj,
Wellesley College
Project description: Topics in Computer Science: Web Mashups. A CS2 course
that combines Google App Engine and MIT App Inventor. Students will learn to build apps with
App Inventor to collect data about their life on campus. They will use Google App Engine to
build web services and apps to host the data and remix it to create web mashups. Offered in
the 2013 Spring semester.
Manish Parashar,
Rutgers University
Project description: Cloud Computing for Scientific Applications --
Autonomic Cloud Computing teaches students how a hybrid HPC/Grid + Cloud cyber infrastructure
can be effectively used to support real-world science and engineering applications. The goal
of our efforts is to explore application formulations, Cloud and hybrid HPC/Grid + Cloud
infrastructure usage modes that are meaningful for various classes of science and engineering
application workflows.
Orit Shaer,
Wellesley College
Project description:
GreenTouch
GreenTouch is a collaborative environment that enables novice users to engage in authentic
scientific inquiry. It consists of a mobile user interface for capturing data in the field, a
web application for data curation in the cloud, and a tabletop user interface for exploratory
analysis of heterogeneous data.
Elliot
Soloway, University of Michigan
Project description: WeLearn Mobile Platform: Making Mobile Devices
Effective Tools for K-12. The platform makes mobile devices (Android, iOS, WP8) effective,
essential tools for all-the-time, everywhere learning. WeLearn’s suite of productivity and
communication apps enable learners to work collaboratively; WeLearn’s portal, hosted on Google
App Engine, enables teachers to send assignments, review, and grade student artifacts. WeLearn
is available to educators at no charge.
Jonathan White,
Harding University
Project description: Teaching Cloud Computing in an Introduction to
Engineering class for freshmen. We explore how well-designed systems are built to withstand
unpredictable stresses, whether that system is a building, a piece of software or even the
human body. The grant from Google is allowing us to add an overview of cloud computing as a
platform that is robust under diverse loads.
Dr. Jiaofei
Zhong, University of Central Missouri
Project description: By building an online Course Management System,
students will be able to work on their team projects in the cloud. The system allows
instructors and students to manage the course materials, including course syllabus, slides,
assignments and tests in the cloud; the tool can be shared with educational institutions
worldwide.
Andrea Held is a Program Manager on the University Relations team at Google. She
grew up in Germany and has lived in California for almost 30 years.
Posted by Scott Knaster,
Editor
