Computer conferencing is an important emerging technology that promises to have dramatic effects on coordinating the development of large-scale engineering projects. The technology provides instant inexpensive access to all those involved in a project, thereby reducing project costs and enhancing quality. This article outlines key principles that are necessary to realize the full potential of c...

Value-based software engineering (VBSE) is an emerging stream of research that addresses the value considerations of software and extends the traditional scope of software engineering from technical issues to businessrelevant decision problems. While the concept of value in VBSE relies on the well-established economic value concept, the exact definition for this key concept within VBSE domain i...

The use of problem-based learning (PBL) is gaining attention in the engineering classroom as a way to help students synthesize foundational knowledge and to better prepare students for practice. In this work, we study the discourse interactions between 27 student teams and two instructors in an engineering PBL environment to analyze how participation is distributed among team members, paying pa...

Aesthetic and ethical issues of building design are presented here to encourage meaningful discussion among today’s archi­ tectural engineering students and practitioners. The evaluative aesthetic ideas of scale, simplicity, and surprise are applied to two important structures designed by Fazlur R. Khan. Khan’s profound understanding of load flow in his buildings influenced his aesthetic ideas....

With the recent appearance of netbooks and low-cost tablet PCs, a study was undertaken to explore their potential in the classroom and determine which of the two device types is more suitable in this setting. A collaborative learning activity based on these devices was implemented in 5 sessions of a graduate engineering course of 20 students, most of whom were aged 22 to 25 and enrolled in unde...

This study presents an initial set of findings from an empirical study of social processes, technical system configurations, organizational contexts, and interrelationships that give rise to open software. The focus is directed at understanding the requirements for open software development efforts, and how the development of these requirements differs from those traditional to software enginee...

after 50 years of  hegemony of  the  mubarak authoritarian discourse in egypt, the people of this country were able to challenge the hegemony of authoritarian discourse. with the fall of the mubarak regime, the muslim brotherhood seized power. a year after  that muslim brotherhood coming to power, the group, due  to the  incompetence in accordance with the political and economic conditions, lac...