University of New BrunswickGeodesy and Geomatics Engineering

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High School Co-Op Student Develops
Web-Based UNB Class Locator

Craig Wood, a Grade 12 student at Fredericton High School, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, has developed a Web-based class locator. Its development took place while Craig was completing his part-time co-op training program with the Department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering at UNB.

During his co-op training, Craig completed a self-paced introductory course in geographic information systems (GIS) using the CARIS GIS software developed by Fredericton's Universal Systems Limited. Using a previously digitized and structured map of the UNB campus, Craig refined an application within CARIS which enabled him to highlight different buildings in response to specific requests.

Combining this training with an introduction to the Internet World Wide Web (WWW) - and a few days of "Internet surfing" practice - it was decided that Craig would tackle a project which combined aspects of both geographic information retrieval and the Web. In this project, Craig designed a WWW application that would give newcomers to UNB the ability to locate, in advance, the buildings in which specific classes were to be held. Two items of information were required: a series of softcopy map files Craig generated using the CARIS GIS, and the 1995 official course timetable dataset for UNB's Fredericton campus. Craig designed the type of inquiry system he wanted to create, developed batch processes and interactive methods to edit the input datasets, introduced himself to the art of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) programming, and then developed the necessary HTML scripts and inquiry screens required to implement his design.

In engineering terms, what did Craig Wood do? Craig saw a problem that needed solving. He looked at different ways to solve the problem, decided on a suitable method, and then pulled together the tools, information, and procedures needed to do the job. He designed his Web page, tested it under different conditions, and modified it where he thought it could be improved. That's what engineering is all about.

We think that Craig Wood has done a pretty good job (especially for a Grade 12 student) and, through his work, hope he has also received a better idea of the design, technology integration, and testing aspects of geodesy and geomatics engineering.

During his stay at UNB, Craig received advice and assistance from Marta Wojnarowska and Dr. David Coleman, in the GGE department, and Rob Murray in Computing Services.

At the end of the project, UNB issued a press release which included the impressions of some of the people involved.

To find out more about the interesting field of geodesy and geomatics engineering, contact:

The Chair
Department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering
Room E-54 Head Hall
University of New Brunswick
P.O. Box 4400
Fredericton, N.B.
Canada   E3B 5A3
Phone: 506-453-4698 E-mail