Business Commons^™

Expanding The Database Curriculum, Meg Murray, Mario Guimaraes

Faculty and Research Publications

As database concepts and technologies continue to evolve there exists a need to expand the topics included in database curricula. This is challenging given the restraints on the number of courses that can be included in a typical CS or IS program. While a set of commonly identified core concepts and principles exists, there is little consensus on what supplemental materials should be included in database courses. Through an NSF proof-of-concept grant, we designed and developed courseware incorporating the use of animations to deepen and enrich standard presentations of core database concepts and to complement database teachings as found in …

Cascading Infrastructure Failures: Avoidance And Response, George H. Baker, Cheryl J. Elliott

George H Baker

No critical infrastructure is self-sufficient. The complexity inherent in the interdependent nature of infrastructure systems complicates planning and preparedness for system failures. Recent wide-scale disruption of infrastructure on the Gulf Coast due to weather, and in the Northeast due to electric power network failures, dramatically illustrate the problems associated with mitigating cascading effects and responding to cascading infrastructure failures once they have occurred.

The major challenge associated with preparedness for cascading failures is that they transcend system, corporate, and political boundaries and necessitate coordination among multiple, disparate experts and authorities. This symposium brought together concerned communities including government and industry …