Students to Showcase Real-World Business Software Projects April 29

Students in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's J.D. Edwards Honors Program in Computer Science and Management have completed the design and implementation of eight major computer software solutions for sponsoring organizations in Nebraska.

As part of the Design Studio course, the students meet with clients and work as teams using knowledge and skills gained in the classroom to develop software for real-world applications.

Each design team will provide a 15-minute overview of their work between 1 and 4 p.m. April 29 during a year-end Design Studio celebration in the Kauffman Center Great Hall, 14th and Vine streets. The public is welcome but is asked to register online.

The eight software solutions completed by the UNL students are summarized as follows:

-- Lincoln Electric System, Outage Visual Information Display: This software system quickly alerts utility employees of potential power outages and drives a visual map display that helps LES track and respond quickly to outages. LES has partnered with the J.D. Edwards Honors Program for three years, resulting in three major software solutions for the utility.

"We are impressed with the innovative curriculum of the J.D. Edwards program, which is effective in teaching the process of analysis, design and implementation of complex business problems and then puts that education to immediate, practical use," said Terry Bundy, LES administrator and CEO. "It is a great educational opportunity for students and a great resource for businesses needing to put some bright minds on technology related problems."

--Nebraska Department of Agriculture, Nebraska Animal Verification Project: A Web-based information system that allows agricultural producers and the Nebraska Department of Agriculture to track livestock born, raised, sold, and slaughtered within the state of Nebraska. In the event of a disease outbreak, tracing the history of an animal will take less than 48 hours, instead of weeks. It is expected that NAVE will become a component in a nationwide standard solution.

-- Mutual of Omaha Insurance Co., Web Bill Collection: This system enables the company to accept bill payments via the Web. With interfaces for customers, agents, brokers, third parties and services representatives, the program provides customers easy access to financial services.

-- Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital, Digital Medical Records: The software allows Madonna to establish an electronic medical record capability that will serve researchers as well as clinicians. It includes converting paper-based patient evaluation forms to computer-based forms.

-- Nebraska Rural Initiative, BizFind: A Web site that serves as the meeting point for rural business owners who want to sell their business, entrepreneurs who want to start a business in a rural community, and small business owners looking for assistance from the Nebraska Business Development Center.

-- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Integrated Survey Information System: This system serves as an enhancement to the ISIS data collection and reporting tool that was developed previously by J.D. Edwards Honors Program students. ISIS is a nationwide data-collection tool which functions on personal computers and hand-held personal digital assistants to allow for quick and easy data entry to document and track new or exotic plant pests in the United States. The ISIS system is currently being rolled out to USDA agents nationwide.

-- University of Nebraska Press, E-Commerce Web Site: The students streamlined and updated the current University of Nebraska Press Web site with improved online merchandise ordering, message center subscriptions, content enhancements, and online journal subscriptions.

-- Allied Strategy L.L.C., Decision Support Network: Software to facilitate the integration of verification information into a real-time quoting process for Allied Strategy's prospective customers, who include property and casualty insurers. Allied Strategy is a venture-funded partnership founded by three UNL undergraduates who also worked on the software project. The team won this year's Donald Duncan / Duncan Aviation Undergraduate Business Plan Competition and was the first UNL team to win the award in the competition's 17-year history. The team placed second last weekend in Colorado State University's Venture Adventure Business Plan competition.

CONTACT: Anne Sweet, J.D. Edwards Honors Program, (402) 472-9097