In Engineering Computing, much of what we do is related to automation – making computers do the work that otherwise people are forced to do. An obvious example is Nexus, where software is automatically distributed to workstations, but there are others.
We are involved in several database-related projects which replace paper-centric processes. The biggest of these projects is OFIS (Online Faculty Information System).
OFIS has information about all faculty members, grants, research, publications, appointments, etc. It is used for yearly evaluations of faculty members, CEAB accreditation submissions, managing sabbaticals, and much more.
On the student front, we have been doing web based PDEng surveys for a few terms, and now that has expanded to some graduate courses critiques. This removes the paper process and reduces effort by the Dean’s office.
In many ways, UW relies on paper or scanned images of paper. Probably later this year UW will acquire a certificate server and implement a PKI public key infrastructure. Then it will be possible to electronically sign documents and avoid having to print/sign/scan as we do today.
The goal of automation is not to reduce the number of employees. The Faculty of Engineering is in an exciting growth phase; automation will make people’s jobs easier, and may reduce the number of new people we have to hire. Computers should reduce the repetitious work and increase efficiency. That is our goal.
