Activity reference No.2
Year(s) in which the activity takes place: 1995/96
Type of activity: Introduction to Distributed Systems Course

Description of the activity:

The course should present various technically new features of distributed systems with particular stress on object-orientation. The lecture should address each level of the distributed system beginning with the design of the microkernel. Next, distributed virtual memory implementation strategies should be presented. The application aspects should be discussed on the theoretical ground so the students should study the algorithms of time synchronisation, consistent checkpointing, election and testing the end of processing in distributed environment. Next, the most important concepts in the security model and naming architecture in distributed systems should be described. Fault tolerance techniques and crash recovery strategies should be discussed as very important issues in distributed systems. Hence, the students should obtain a good knowledge of all system software aspects, necessary for understanding and implementating modern object-oriented distributed applications. This activity will be carried out in cooperation with the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, which has a profound knowledge and long-term experience in distributed systems. Distributed systems are researched and taught by a very active group of high qualified people there. However, the experience of Cambridge University and the University of Westminster will also be resorted to. The Olivetti Research Limited will be consulted about graduate profile with regard to his extensive computer network knowledge as well as other industrial cooperants. At the aim of providing the Distributed Systems course the following steps are going to be taken:
  1. Retraining Academic Staff
    A person to lecture Distributed Systems will attend an intensive course four-week-long at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in order to update his knowledge and gain experience in how such a course should be organized. He will be expected to become acquainted with the newest technology as well as the newest and the most successful teaching methods. \\ Two assistants will be sent to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and take part in a four-month-long retraining course.
  2. Comparing diverse syllabuses
    The lecturer will also pay a short visit to the University of Westminster and Cambridge University. After his comeback, his knowledge will be used to compare different Distributed Systems syllabuses and teaching methods.
  3. Consulting with non-educational cooperants concerning the employee profile they require
    At this stage consulting will be carried with the Olivetti Research Limited, as the leading EC research division as well as with Polish enterprises (Solidex Ltd.~and others). It will concern in what direction industry develops and what graduate profile will be in demand in the next few years. This will perfectly fit the UMM's restructuring goals. professors The best and most suitable ideas will be exploited in the process of designing the new teaching programme. This will be discussed with didactic body of the University of Mining and Metallurgy to be adapted to the UMM's development strategy.
  4. Discussing the course subjects and teaching methods with lecturers and professors The course syllabus will be detailed in cooperation with the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven teaches during their two teaching assignments (four-week-long each). The new syllabus should coordinated with the Computer Network course (activity 1) and Parallel Programming course (activity 3).
  5. Preparing presentations for students and teaching aids
Staff responsible for conducting the Distributed Systems course is going to be selected by the management body of the project based on the merits of candidates. Their experience as well as educational and research activity will be crucial factors. Computer Science students (over 100 each year) will be the main beneficiaries of the course. It is, however, expected that the course will be an advantage for over 50 students (yearly) from other faculties, too.

Outcome of the activity: