Western Alliance to Expand Student Opportunities (WAESO)

Brief Description of Proposed Activities

The purpose of this proposed project is to build a collection of applications using Microsoft Windows CE Toolkit for palmtop and handheld PCs. These will be used in a selection of programming courses at New Mexico Highlands University.

An emerging area of importance in computer programming is programming embedding systems, especially those for palmtop computers, game consoles, television set-top boxes, and other hardware platforms. The Microsoft Windows CE Toolkit for Visual C++ is rapidly becoming a standard platform for developing these types of applications.

Initially, the participating students will be expected to become comfortable with the Windows CE Toolkit programming environment. The students will need to familiar with the Toolkit’s version of Visual C++ as well as the accompanying debugger. In their research, the students will be expected to investigate the use of programming for palmtop computers and the feasibility of using these at New Mexico Highlands University.

Once the students are comfortable with the programming environment, they will be expected to develop a collection of programs ranging from simple dialog box-based applications to more sophisticated programs like simple games that will run on the palmtop PC. These programming examples will be used in several courses conducted at New Mexico Highlands University including courses for Computer Science majors as well as service courses for teachers and students at regional high schools. The hope is that programming for palmtop computers will inspire more high school students to major in Computer Science. The faculty member serving as Project Director has written a grant proposal to Microsoft to support the course offerings to the regional high schools.

The Computer Science Department at New Mexico Highlands University will supply the computers and software for conducting this research on Windows CE programming. The Project Director has requested several palmtop PCs for testing the results of this research from Microsoft. If this request is not granted, then the Department will purchase at least one palmtop PC for testing.

This proposal seeks funding from WAESO to hire two students. Both students have experience in programming in C++, but not with the Windows CE Toolkit. Each student will spend between ten and fifteen hours of work each week throughout the Spring 2000 semester. The students will meet once a week for 1-2 hours with the project director to present their work, discuss their progress and discuss the next week's efforts. In addition, the project director will work individually with each student as needed. Initially, the students will spend time reading several books using Windows CE to familiarize themselves with what is possible for this environment. A copy of Microsoft Windows CE Developer’s Kit will be available for the students’ reference. Once the students have developed sufficient background, they will design and program a variety of programs for the Windows CE environment. This will initially be conducted on a departmental computer running the Windows CE emulation under Windows NT. After running the programs in emulation mode, they will then download the programs to a palmtop for final testing. Upon completion of this project, the students will be expected to document their work and produce a report of their findings include a web site outlining their results.

IT is anticipated that the students in this project will produce between five and ten debugged, tested, and fully documented programs in C++ for the Windows CE computers. These programs will range from simple to more complicated programs and will provide examples for students in other courses. The main objective of this project includes providing minority students with research and design experience. This project will also promote the students' interest in graduate school and in careers involving computer science research.

Western Alliance to Expand Student Opportunities (WAESO)

Materials and Supplies Description

Reference Books:

Windows CE Clear & Simple

Windows CE 2 for Dummies

Windows CE 2 for Dummies Quick Reference

Windows CE Developer’s Handbook