Eagle Informatics
Real-World Projects for Students
Introduction
Eagle Informatics provides high quality software engineering and usability testing services to outside parties, while at the same time allowing Georgia Southern graduates to enter the marketplace with strong technical skills, industry knowledge and meaningful software development and/or usability testing experiences. Moreover, many students are afforded opportunities for research and interships in computer science, information system and information technology. Because we use the talents of students, we can provide our business partners with high quality services at a competitive cost. The College of IT provides a state-of-the-art computing environment, which allows us to develop a wide range of software technologies. Moreover, given our educational mission, we are often able to teach our students new technologies quickly.
History
In 2001, one of NCR's retail point-of-sale (POS) systems was in need of significant enhancements to remain competitive. After detailed discussion with Georgia Southern representatives, NCR became convinced that donating the software to the university was the most logical solution. NCR maintained the software's marketing rights while involving students in the project as employees who worked toward creating the next generation of the system.
In early 2002, NCR began transferring the application software consisting of more than 1 million lines of code,
to Georgia Southern. Since that time, the GSU teams have released several system upgrades,
internationalized the software for distribution in foreign markets (Spanish, French, and Simplified Chinese),
completed its first prototype of the touch screen version,
as well as developed a customized version of the software for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service.
In 2004, Coastal Business, Education and Technology Alliance (BETA) presented the College of IT with the Innovative Use of Technology in Education Award because of its accomplishments with NCR. "The situational learning environment afforded by the joint Georgia Southern/NCR project makes it possible for our students to mature professionally and to enter the workforce with a unique competitive advantage." said Dr. James Bradford, dean of the college.
Since our initial project with NCR, which is still ongoing, we have embarked on a number of additional projects, including a customization of the NCR POS system for US Customs and Border Protection Service, the development of business intelligence applications for CogentWare, Inc., the development of electronic store fronts for ColorMaria, Inc., and, in partnerships with Morris Technology, the development of a web authoring tool that allows editors of newspapers to effortlessly re-purpose material for their print editions for their web sites. In addition, Eagle Informatics houses an active Open-source Development Group that has created a range of applications for internal clients, such as our Alumni Tracking System. More recently, we have also branched out into usability testing.
Contacts
Companies interested in exploring the possibility of establishing a relationship with Eagle Informatics
are encouraged to contact the Dean
Dr. Ronald Shiffler
Interim Dean of the College of Information Technology
Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, GA 30461
shiffler@georgiasouthern.edu
912.478.5106
Students interested in joining the Eagle Informatics team may submit a resumé or get more information by contacting:
Richard Chambers, Project Manager
Georgia Southern University
Information Systems/Eagle Informatics
P.O. Box 7998
Statesboro, GA 30460-7998
Email: rchamber@georgiasouthern.edu
Last updated: 2008.03.27