2008-2009

DEVELOPING A MOBILE INTERFACE FOR UNIVERSITY OF GHANA STUDENTS’ MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS)

Name of student:  ADJEI AUGUSTINE GYAWU

Supervisor:  Mr. Isaac K. Nti

ABSTRACT

This project is about the design and development of a mobile phone application software that would serve as a miniature form of the University of Ghana students’ Management Information System (MIS). With this, students can request and receive examination results, examination time table, register semester courses, view registered courses, and query financial status by sending predefined query syntax to a short code. The waterfall process model was used. The project was divided into three phrases: mobile interface, web handler, and database development. The mobile interface is used to send all queries and the web handler for processing the query by accessing a database for results and giving a reply to the sender. The mobile interface was developed with java programming language for java Micro Edition platform using Mobile Information Device Profile 1.1 (MIDP 1.1) on Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC). The web handler was developed on the ASP NET web development platform using C# programming language. The database was implemented in MySQL using InnoDB as the engine. At the end, the phrases were integrated. The web handler successfully processed and replied all queries from the mobile interface. 

AN INTEGRATED ASSETS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (Transportation Module) FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

Name of student:  LAUREL OSEI-ASSIBEY

Supervisor:  Mr. Isaac K. Nti

ABSTRACT

The Integrated Assets Management System is a system that has been developed to manage the activities of the transport section of the Physical Development and Municipal Services Directorate (PDMSD) of the University of Ghana. This system provides the platform for the transport section to keep records on activities of the staff, schedule of vehicles including servicing, maintenance records, and insurance schedules. It also allows users or staff of the university to make requests of vehicles as well as track their requests. To develop the system, the business or operational process of vehicle scheduling to users, tracking, maintenance, and request procedures at the PDMSD was studied and modeled. The system was developed using a three-tier architecture: database, web application, and client which comprise the user request forms and other application forms. A PHP scripting was employed to connect the GUI and the database. The system was tested and yielded expected results.

DEVELOPMENT OF A TIMETABLE SCHEDULING SYSTEM FOR UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

Name of Student: KISSIEDU BENJAMIN SAKYI

Supervisor:  Dr Godfrey A. Mills

ABSTRACT

Construction of teaching timetable and lecture hall scheduling for teaching and examinations are among the most difficult operations in educational planning. This project seeks to develop an automated software based timetable scheduler for the University of Ghana for generating timetables for lectures and examinations taking into consideration the class size and space capacity. To develop the system, the operational process of a typical timetable development for scheduling of courses and venue were studied and modeled.  The timetable system was developed using a three-tier architecture: administrator module responsible for assigning the needed information to a database, a centralised database module responsible sorting the information, and client module responsible for the actual timetabling task. The scheduling operation was based on a simple mathematical process and a look-up table rather than using a linear optimization programming. The performance of the developed system was tested using the available courses, seating capacity of lecture spaces, and Lecturers for the courses at the Department of Computer Engineering and also the Faculty of Engineering. The system was able to generate timetable without any clashes and utilized spaces in an optimal way. Further, the system was able to detect an already assigned or scheduled time slot for a course and name of Lecturer denied access to such space. The system was also used to generate a sample examination timetable which gave expected results.

WEB BASED HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR THE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Name of student: ANTHONY AWULEY

Supervisor:  Dr. Godfrey A. Mills

ABSTRACT

This project is about the development of a web-based hospital management system for the University of Ghana Hospital. The motivation for the project was based on the observation of general process of patients’ health record keeping and scheduling system at the university hospital and other hospitals visited. To execute the project, the business operation logic for the university hospital was studied. This involved the record flow procedures and the inter-dependencies between the various departments in the hospital. The analysis of the process led to the selection of the waterfall model, analysis of system users, logical system operation design, system design tools and the system architecture development. The system design was accomplished using an apache Web Server, PHP and JavaScript scripting languages at server and client side respectively, MySQL database management system and HTML bases for the user forms. The project was structured into two modules. The first module involved the provision of a secured online scheduling system. This facility enables patients to book an appointment with the hospital over the internet as well as view their basic medical records. The second module integrated and coordinated activities of the various departments in the hospital: the OPD, consulting units, medical laboratories, pharmaceutical sections, mortuary unit, and the accounts section. Security was considered important to ensure confidentiality of information as well as secured payment transactions from health insurance and other systems. The functionality of the system was tested on both the Linux and Windows operating system platforms. With the developed system, registered patients could use the online facility to book an appointment with their preferred medical physician and also view their basic medical reports. Again, various departments within the hospital could use their defined functionalities within the system to accomplish their routine tasks. Queries about a patient at any department could be initiated using the patient’s folder number to access the relevant information unique to that department. Privileged staff of the recognized departments could be granted access to view files electronically as well as generate necessary report on some key activities.

AN ONLINE TRANSPORT INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR SHUTTLE SERVICES ON THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON, CAMPUS.

Name of student: DUAH SAMUEL FOSU

Supervisor:  Mr. Wiafe Owusu-Banahene

ABSTRACT

The proposed online campus shuttles information system is a web-based information system designed to give timely and accurate information about the shuttle services on the campus of the University of Ghana. The shuttles include the Legon campus shuttles, the Metro Mass Transport buses provided by the government and some buses of the hostels around the campus. The main aim of putting the services of the buses on the Web is to grant users access to information about these services in an unrestricted manner. These users include students, lecturers, non-teaching staff, workers of the University and also outsiders. The users will have knowledge of the availability of the buses, the arrival times of the buses, the routes the buses use and regular updates of the condition of the various buses and the roads The database was implemented using MySQL in the XAMPP package. The XAMPP come with the Apache as the server. PHP programming language was used at the server side. The client side was designed and developed to be user friendly interface with information to guide the user as he or she surfs about on the software. The Dreamweaver was used at the client side for the development. After the development of the online transportation information system, it was successfully tested and it gave positive output with little time lapses. But a lot could be done in other aspects to improve the software, like the inclusion of a GPS system which could track the exact location of the various buses on campus.

DEVELOPING A WEB-BASED SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM

Name of student: AMOAFO ATUOBI BENNETT

Supervisor:  Mr. Wiafe Owusu-Banahene

ABSTRACT

In our world today, the development of video surveillance systems is growing fast and as such IP based solutions are growing at a tremendous speed. A lot of manufacturers are coming out with a wide range of IP video cameras and video servers for the purpose of IP enabled video system that can be used at both the domestic and professional level to monitor homes, schools, offices, hospitals, or any place where surveillance is required. The system generally is made up of two main parts which are the server side and the client side. At the server side an application code that supports the camera was developed using the visual C# programming language, and MySQL was used to build a centralised database that holds information on the users of the system and the streamed video files as well as the archives. At the client side is the graphical User Interface (GUI) which was developed using the HTML and PHP. The camera server has features such as select camera where the camera to be used for the streaming is selected because this server actually supports more than one camera. The “save to folder” feature helps to select where the videos being streamed are to be saved, the “stream to file “determines the format of the streamed video, the “streaming port” is what provides connection at the user’s end, the maximum connections enable the selection of the number of clients to access the system, and finally, the start and stop buttons starts and ends the camera respectively. The video is then streamed live via the internet after which the video files can be saved onto the hard disk by means of the MySQL connector which is a NET platform. The platform on which this system was built is the Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600). 

AN INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR THE SECURITY SERVICE OF UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

Name of student: GUNU SENYO AMENYENU YAO

Supervisor:  Dr. Godfrey A. Mills

ABSTRACT

This project is aimed at developing a web-based management information system for the security service unit of the University of Ghana to aid the security service to carry out the management of the daily scheduling and reporting routine of the unit. To execute the project, the operation logic of the security services unit and the procedures for staff scheduling and reporting as well as requests procedures from the university community were studied and modeled. The system development was structured into three layers namely: Client (front end), Application (middle), and Database (back-end) system architecture. The development was done using a centralised relational database management system – MySQL to store all data within the security service unit, Apache web server for the communication over the web, and a user friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) client-end which was developed using HTML, PHP and CSS to access the database. The performance of the system was tested and expected results were obtained. Security personnel of the university were scheduled to the various security stations on campus and reports were created directly for the immediate viewing by the chief security officer and any other authorized officer of the university. The system also provides opportunity for members of the university community to report of any observed crisis on campus for attention and also tracks the requests.

DEVELOPING A TICKET RESERVATION SYSTEM via SMS

Name of student: KLU KOFI EVANS

Supervisor:  Mr. Wiafe Owusu-Banahene

ABSTRACT

This project aims at designing and implementing a ticket reservation system which would be implemented by sending a simple SMS (Short Message Service) message from a user’s phone to a specified short code. The user then receives a response via his/her phone which is used in the reservation process. This should enable the user to book a place in a bus without being physically present at the transport yard. This is to help reduce the congestion that is characteristic of transport companies in Ghana most especially during festive seasons. A database was implemented using MySQL Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) to store information about the bus schedules. A web handler and a desktop application were implemented using C# programming language which runs on Microsoft’s NET platform. The web handler was responsible for processing the SMS which would be sent by the user providing the appropriate response. The desktop application was to serve as a monitoring system for the transport company’s system administrators. A mobile phone was used to send SMS messages and a Personal Identification Number (PIN) was received accordingly to serve as the bus ticket.

WEB BASED RECRUITMENT SYSTEM FOR THE GHANA ARMED FORCES

Name of student: GOKAH OSCAR

Supervisor:  Dr. Godfrey A. Mills

ABSTRACT

The emergence of information technology has made it possible for management processes to be automated to make operational processes quite transparent and easy. The recruitment process into the Ghana Armed Forces is characterised by paperwork with considerable human involvements. The system is confronted with a number of problems ranging from congestion of applicants at the headquarters during submission, limited access to application forms through to challenges of timely delivery of application forms for early processing and missing of application forms in transit among others. This project is aimed at developing a web-based automated recruitment system for the Ghana Armed Forces to enhance the recruitment process and also provide a comprehensive database for all the recruits. To develop the system the operational process of the recruitment from the purchase of the application form through to the body selection, medical process to the final selection was studied and modeled. The system development was divided into five modules: voucher module for generating randomly distributed numbers for the vouchers, authentication module for verifying the legitimacy of the vouchers used by applicants, user interface to capture the details of applicants and supporting documentation as well as feedback mechanism for tracking, database for the storage of the records, and the automated scheduling process which allows applicants to be moved from one stage to the other upon meeting a set of stated criteria at a particular stage. The system also took into consideration some of the security requirements for online recruitment over the internet, including multiple applications, completeness, impersonation, soundness, privacy, eligibility, transparency and verifiability. Provision was also made for defining the number of vouchers to be released for a recruitment year or season. The performance of the system was tested and it yielded expected results. To ensure that only authorised personnel have access to specific, different levels of access systems was incorporated. Further, the system has provision for keeping the records of both selected and non-selected applicants.

DEVELOPMENT OF A WEB BASED CUSTOMER ACCESS POINT FOR UTILITY COMPANIES

Name of student: EMMANUEL SARBAH

Supervisor:  Mr. Wiafe Owusu-Banahene

ABSTRACT

A Customer Access Point (CAP) is an office or point of call where potential and existing subscribers to services (in this case utility providers) organisations can receive client services such as reporting faults, making enquiries and applying for new services. In this project activities at customer service points for utility companies in Ghana were analysed and problems detected. To solve these problems a web based CAP was designed and implemented based on the Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited customer access point concept. The web based customer access point allows customers to carryout activities at the customer access point such as fault reporting and application for new service via the internet (or online) without being physically present at the customer access point. In this project, the activities of customer access points of Ghana Telecom (GT), Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) were analysed. A database was designed and implemented with the MySQL database management system to store data on faults and service applications as well as users. User friendly graphical user interfaces were also created to provide a friendly means for users to interact with the database. This graphical user interfaces allow users to report new faults , check on the status of reported faults, apply for new services, check on the status of new applications and so on. Administrators of the system can also carryout various updates of data in the database via the graphical user interface. The business logic and database connection was programmed and implemented.

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR UNIVERSITY OF GHANA HOUSING UNITS

Name of student: KODUA FERDINAND APPIAH

Supervisor:  Dr. Godfrey A. Mills

ABSTRACT

This project seeks to develop an information management system for the management of staff housing units for the University of Ghana to resolve the challenges confronting the Housing Unit of the Physical Development and Municipal Services Department (PDMSD). To facilitate development of the system, the operational process of the Housing unit of the PDMSD and the procedure for application for housing on campus as well as off-campus, maintenance of the facilities, and occupancy by staff was studied and modeled. The housing management system was developed using Java Server Pages (JSP) and MySQL on the NetBeans Integrated Development Environment (IDE) 6.1 and MySQL Enterprise 5.1 platforms respectively. The user interface (front end) was developed using Java Server Faces (JSF) while the JSP was used for the server–side scripting. The database (back-end) for the system was developed using MySQL. The system ran on GlassFish server provided by the NetBeans IDE 6.1. The functionality of the system tested and it provided quick access, availability and management of data regarding the housing units. In addition to management of housing units, the system provided inventory of university properties in the housing units such as mowers, electric heaters, air conditioners, and furniture as well as maintenance status. With this system the tenureship of an occupant in a particular house is known since information regarding the date of entry and date of exit of the occupant is recorded.  The system also provides update information to the university community on vacant houses on the campus and application form for requesting for the housing accommodation and a feedback mechanism to the applicant on the status of the application.

NETWORK MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

Name of student: ADELEKE ADEDAMOLA ODUNAYO

Supervisor:  Mr. Isaac K. Nti

ABSTRACT

The aim of this project was to design, develop and implement network monitoring and management software. This software monitors computer systems on a network, manages the systems and also checks for any intrusion on the network with full report system to report problems to the administrator of the software. The software was developed using an object oriented software design approach which uses Java as the programming language. In this software, different programmes run together to provide the services for monitoring and managing. The software was developed to be optimised particularly for monitoring computer systems on any network. The various programmes which were developed were the report center, intrusion detector, device monitoring programmes and device management programme which provides a framework for the development of the reset of software. Software which has the capabilities to monitor and manage devices on the network was achieved. The software is platform independent, monitors the performance and availability of the computer system on a network, provides logs of activities  that were preformed and errors that occur in the software as well as provides report messaging to the administrator  from the users in case any problem arises. Although the system performed as expected it can be enhanced.

FACE IDENTIFICATION AND RECOGNITION SYSTEM FOR STUDENTS IDENTIFICTION

Name of student: JOSEPH ATTA BENNIN

Supervisor:  Dr. Godfrey A. Mills

ABSTRACT

The growing demand for accurate recognition of people over the last few decades has given rise to the development of a number of biometric systems to accomplish the task. One of the favourable biometric systems known to have gained recognition is the face identification, which is gradually replacing some of the traditional identification systems such as cards, passwords, PIN among others. This project is aimed at developing a simplified face identification and recognition system for identification of students in the University of Ghana to reduce the problem of false identity registration of students. The eigenface approach which is a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method was used to implement the project. The eigenface approach is based on the idea of principal component analysis and decomposition of the face images into smaller sets of characteristic feature images called eigenfaces which are used for the face recognition task. The system development was divided into five main modules: data capture or acquisition, preprocessing, feature extraction, pattern matching, and identification and display. The system was implemented using the Matlab simulation package. Face data of level 400 students of the Computer Engineering Department (2008 year group) was used for as test data. Only one face data per student was used as against the general practice of many face data per candidate to get the different postures and features. The implemented system was able to adequately recognise students in the database and those not in the database.

A WEB BASED LIBRARY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Name of student: PRAH GEORGE EBO FYNN

Supervisor:  Mr. Isaac K. Nti

ABSTRACT

The web based library management system is a software that is meant to provide both the users of the library and librarian with the ease of accessibility to the library resources and information on the resources. The patrons of the library can make reservations for books or journals online and view notices from the library as well. The librarian can also have access to all administrative rights such that it will be possible for him/her to perform all administrative tasks online .The method of approach employed is the iterative and incremental model of software development. This involves producing different versions of the software implementation out of every iteration: with each version having an increment of functionality toward the desired final functionality of the product. The main focus of the project is to create a facility where patrons of the faculty of engineering sciences can comfortably make reservations over the internet for books and journals. Because the system is centralised, the main sections of the library including the catalogue, and circulation sections are accessible online. Finally, the web based library management system that has been developed will be capable of automatically taking requests, registering validated patrons and keeping records both on the patron and library assets. Suggestions for future work include the capability of the system to send notifications as e-mails to students, informing them about due date for return of borrowed assets, outstanding fines and library notices.

DEVELOPMENT OF A WEB BASED EMPLOYEE APPRAISAL SYSTEM

Name of student: NYAKPO ANDREW KWAME

Supervisor:  Mr. Wiafe Owusu-Banahene

ABSTRACT

The issue of employee performance and how to measure their inputs on a set out project has come up several times in many organisations. In institutions where managers want to measure the progress of employees, it becomes difficult to determine who is and who is not performing by monitoring without any data being recorded. The web based employee appraisal system seeks to solve this problem by providing a means of performance management. It allows the administrator to rate employees based on certain set out performance criteria. With the performance scores recorded, the appraisal system uses mathematical modules to calculate a total score and the administrator can view the results graphically to aid in making accurate judgments. This topic was chosen to help solve the problems in corporate institutions pertaining to performance management. The approach employed was to build a web based system based on the XAMPP web server and PHP scripting language. The development of the system was divided into two sections i.e. the front-end thus the graphical user interface which was developed with the aid of the Adobe Dream Weaver Software and the backend which is basically the business logic and the database which was developed using PHP and MySQL. The two sections were put together using the PHP scripting language to realise the web based employee appraisal system. It is believed this web based employee appraisal system will go a long way to assist in corporate institutions, governmental and security institutions and also sports teams for the management of their respective employees. Finally, further work such as addition of a more dynamic grading scheme could be incorporated to improve the system.

DEVELOPING A FLOSS BASED DISTRIBUTED APPLICATION WAREHOUSE

Name of student: WILSON FRANCIS NORTEI

Supervisor:  Mr. Wiafe Owusu-Banahene

ABSTRACT

Floss are distributed free of charge and are also liberally licensed to give users the ability to study, change and improve its design through the availability of its source code. This research deals with conceptualising and implementing a fully functional distributed application warehouse hosted on a Linux server (Ubuntu 8.0.4) for open source software based on the data warehousing concept. Further work was done to categorise the software in the application warehouse based on some common characteristics and also to provide a full text search engine. Users are able to easily find software by typing either the full name or part of it. Interaction with the system is through graphical user interface designed to create the platform for users to easily query and update the warehouse. Queries and updates include adding new categories of software, upholding and developing of software and searching for software. Testing of the system was done on a distributed platform using two servers  each running Ubuntu 8.0.4 and several other clients some running on the windows platform (windows xp and windows vista) and others running on the Linux platform (Ubuntu 8.0.4).