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Press Releases
For Immediate Release
May 21, 2008
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Virginia Campbell
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The College at Brockport Students Give Back to Local Businesses - Game Players Unlimited Newest Business to Receive Custom Designed Software
The College at Brockport computer science students created software that will make running Jason Graham's Brockport, NY Game Players video and game store much easier. The students worked under the guidance of Associate Professor Sandeep Mitra.
Brockport, NY — The College at Brockport, State University of New York, computer science students are giving back to the community, creating real-life solutions for real-life applications.
Since 2003, computer science students, working closely with their mentor and Associate Professor Sandeep Mitra have had an opportunity rarely available to undergraduates — to work with small businesses on computer technology projects. Through the unique program, Mitra’s students gain valuable hands-on, practical experience while providing a service that benefits local businesses.
“The success of these projects has been due to the use of a unique software development methodology I co-developed with colleagues I met while working in the Rochester hi-tech industry. This methodology emphasizes modeling of software systems and includes techniques to systematically map these models to software code,” said Mitra who teaches the technique to his students. “The technique enables the development of extensible and maintainable software that then can be modified easily in response to constantly changing customer needs.”
Since Mitra developed the program, student teams have created solutions for the business operations of the Rochester area India Market Video Store Rental System and Mercy Outreach Center, which continue in use today. Penny Gardner, former executive director of Mercy Outreach Center, commented on the program and Mitra’s contribution to Mercy, saying “I believe he is to be commended for his expertise in his field, his professionalism in working with us, and certainly for his generous commitment to the mission of Mercy Outreach Center.” Gardner also commented that, “This has been a collaborative project that I hope will be a model for other collaborations between The College at Brockport and other nonprofits in Rochester. It is a win-win!”
The innovative program continued this semester as computer science majors Tyler Swanger, Matthew Swanger, Patrick Wright and Joseph Tyson worked with Mitra to provide Game Players Unlimited, located in the Village of Brockport, with a customized software application for use in day-to-day operations. The Game Players project began in fall 2007, with the students taking responsibility for identifying needs and designing, implementing, testing and ultimately deploying the application at the Game Players Unlimited store in May, which provided the small business with a quality application free-of-charge.
Jason Graham who owns Game Players Unlimited was more than delighted when the program was installed at his Brockport location last week. He and his wife Kathy co-own shops in Brockport and Batavia. “With this software, I can manage my inventory quickly and easily. We buy and sell games and videos, and this software has completely reduced the time it takes to process transactions. This software tells us the value of the item, both used and new, and automatically adds it to the inventory for immediate sale. We can keep track of sales, customer credits, and inventory all at the same time. This software will save me hours and hours of work each year,” said Graham about the software, which will eventually interface with printers and other peripherals. It also will make it possible to search the databases at both store locations when the Web-based search feature is incorporated.
In addition to giving back to the community, the students also are moving forward with their academic and professional development, including the building of an impressive resume and achieving a competitive advantage over other job-seekers. “The best part of working on this project has been gaining real-world experience for principles we have learned in the classroom,” said Wright, a 2008 graduate and who is already receiving invitations to interview with area companies. “I have learned to work as a team and complete tasks within deadlines, apply knowledge from many different classes, and help out a member of the community. Since adding it to my resume, I have been called for four interviews. I would recommend other students try to get involved in projects that can help them apply their education.”
Tyler Swanger was involved in the Game Players project from the start. “My brother Matt and I have been patrons at Game Players Unlimited for many years and have become friends with Jason. One day in passing we mentioned what we had been doing with Dr. Mitra.”
After that first conversation the brothers spent time learning from Graham how he was doing things in his shop and how he would like to do things differently. “Last fall the design documents were created, in December or January we recruited former group member Pat Wright, and newcomer Joseph Tyson,” said Swanger who graduated last week and who will be continuing his education at The College at Brockport in the computational science graduate program.
Tyler’s twin brother, Matthew, also a 2008 graduate of Brockport, valued the opportunity to get some “real-world experience” on a project that took more than a year to complete. “This is much more involved than anything I have ever done before and has really put things into perspective for me. Working well with a team is always a good characteristic of a person and this project has shown me that working as a member of a team is far more productive. This never could have been done if we had all worked individually.”
In describing his time working on the project, Tyson a senior who will complete his degree in December, said, “Coding I had done before, but coding on a real-world, large application has been new and exciting. The amount of collaboration for the four of us plus Dr. Mitra has been amazing. One major difference between school projects and projects for businesses is the changing requirements. In real-world projects vs. classroom assignments, specifications are not set in stone. They’re more likely to change (throughout the process) as the customer/business is the one deciding how the project will look, feel or function, and not the programmer.”
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