wwwdev@monash.edu.au
Tue Apr 13 14:11:13 EST 1999
Auth: C Whip, University Webmaster's Office
Copyright © Monash University 1998 - All Rights Reserved - Caution
The
Peninsula School of Computing and Information Technology has two interrelated
roles: the provision of quality courses and the conduct of research in network
computing. It has become increasingly apparent that a new computing paradigm is
emerging with the rapid evolution of computing and computer networks. Much
computing is now done in a networked context and relies on access to hardware
and software resources that reside on many geographically dispersed computers.
Network computing is now a specialised area of study within computing
that draws on knowledge of data communications, computer equipment and
operating systems, computer networks, internet and Web technologies,
distributed computing, software engineering, computer security and information
systems.
The school's undergraduate degree is the Bachelor of Network Computing. As well
as this degree, the school offers the Graduate Diploma in Computing, the
Graduate Certificate in Health Informatics, Master of Computing (by research or
coursework) and Doctor of Philosophy.
The aim of the school is to provide students with a quality learning
environment, which includes not only good teaching from a committed and
competent staff, but also the necessary physical resources together with a
pastoral and administrative infrastructure which guides and serves its
students. The school seeks to develop its students so they are ready to enter
the computing profession. The school aims to provide an environment for its
staff that will both support and challenge them: support them with the
facilities and environment conducive to productive achievement and challenge
them with the opportunities to develop themselves professionally.
The school is actively involved in research in areas of computing associated
with the school's focus on network computing. The teaching and research aspects
of the school's mission complement each other. To teach courses that are both
pedagogically sound and relevant to current theory and practice invites avenues
of research. The research, in turn, energises the teaching with a freshness and
breadth of ideas.
The school teaches three semesters a year with the inclusion of a summer
semester. The summer semester offers a full range of computing subjects.
Students can use these summer semesters in several ways: to accelerate the
degree, to spread subject load more evenly throughout the year, or to catch up
on previously failed subjects.
The school advisory board, composed of staff and senior computing industry
representatives, ensures the relevance of subject offerings to current industry
practice.
The school is housed in modern accommodation and offers excellent teaching and
computing facilities. The school is geared to the needs of international
students, with a significant proportion of its students coming from overseas
countries.
The
Peninsula School of Computing and Information Technology is actively involved
in research in emerging computing technologies, with a particular focus on
network computing. Current research concerns fundamental methods and techniques
in network computing, together with novel applications of such methods and
techniques in solving real world problems in various application domains,
ranging from industrial, governmental, and financial to health care sectors.
Within the networking computing initiative, research is carried out in the
following principal areas/groups with significant interactions among them:
This
research group conducts research in information security, cryptography, and
security engineering. Current projects are provably secure private key
encryption systems, one-way hashing algorithms, secure public key encryption
systems, hierarchical information access control, security in databases,
digital cash, electronic commerce, multimedia watermarking and intellectual
property protection, security issues in smart cards, information sharing and
dispersal, and security in mobile computing and communications.
Research in this group is conducted at the newly established Laboratory for
Information and NetworK Security (LINKS), which is partially funded by
Canon Corporation.
This group is undertaking research in two main areas: methods of developing subjects for flexible delivery and models of web-based distance education. A methodology has been developed for approaching the development of new subjects for delivery in flexible modes. The model aims to provide a series of steps or phases that course developers can follow in preparing the delivery of courses using various electronic and print based media. A prototype is under development and testing for the delivery of a subject over the World Wide Web. The prototype includes innovative features such as real time video and audio contact between lecturer and students.
The distributed information systems engineering group conducts research in information systems engineering methods, system modelling techniques, CASE tools and their interoperability, and information systems method engineering. Current projects include integration of system modelling techniques, computer-assisted method engineering, integration of information systems through architectures, the impact of integrated CASE tools on system development and integration of hypermedia and CASE, all in the context of emerging network computing.
In cooperation with staff from the Faculty of Medicine's Centre of Medical Informatics and School of Nursing, school staff are working on a number of projects, including security and privacy enhanced medical information systems, web based access to patient information, health information repositories and development tools for health information systems in community health nursing.
This group conducts research in multimedia support for concurrent engineering, management of multimedia objects, synchronisation in multimedia systems, and multimedia information systems. Current projects include a framework for multimedia synchronisation with agents, human perception of multimedia synchronisation, and synchronisation of multimedia streams in a distributed environment with CORBA DSOM.
The
software systems group conducts research in software engineering environments,
software traceability and consistency, software object management systems,
software process modelling and enactment, computer-supported cooperative work,
object-oriented technology, and software components and architectures. Current
projects include a document-based approach to software engineering
environments, traceability support for object oriented software development, an
object management system for software engineering environments,
computer-supported group work in software development, document-based software
process modelling, and software composition and integration.
Research is also being carried out into models for web-based course delivery,
with emphasis on technologies for the implementation of human interaction as
part of the learning environment.
Further information on the Peninsula School of Computing and Information Technology can be obtained at the following web site: http://www.pscit.monash.edu.au/
wwwdev@monash.edu.au
Tue Apr 13 14:11:13 EST 1999