Miscallanous Academic Projects

Role: Developer and Supervisor.
Tools and skills used: Academic tool design, Django, Python, LabVIEW, Resource Management, etc.
Organization: UConn
Released in: Ongoing

About:

1. Cloud Labs

In this project, I am developing a cloud-based platform that could help students around the globe take courses remotely that require hardware-based learning without having to purchase expensive hardware equipment.

This project also targets a firsthand issue faced by Computer Engineering students at UConn’s regional campuses, who are currently required to travel to the Storrs campus to attend hardware-based labs.

2. Automated TA Allocation Tool

I took a voluntary initiative to automate the problem of TA allocation in the UConn School of Computing. There are hundreds of TAs that need to be assigned to different courses depending on multiple parameters. I have been developing an algorithm to automatically assign TAs to courses based on enrollments, TA applications, and minimum requirements that can be customized.

Figure D10(a) and Figure D10(b) describe the process of automated TA allocation.

Figure D10. Tool to allocate TAs automatically. (a) List of TAs who applied and their information. (b) Left window shows how many TAs have been allocated based on class size and specifies the details of allocated TAs on the right-hand side.

Figure D10(a) shows who has applied for the course, their grades, GPA, and whether they are returning (R) or new (N) in the course. Figure D10(b) shows how the algorithm determines the minimum number of TAs required for a course based on enrollments and then allocates TAs to the course according to the minimum TA requirements.

There are still additional parameters to incorporate into the algorithm, and I am continuously improving the tool to make it more user-friendly for non-technical staff. The tool would be very helpful for administrative staff and could relieve a significant operational burden from them.