Welcome to my portfolio. My name is Catriona Cornett and I am currently a senior at The Pennsylvania State University at University Park. I am majoring in Information Sciences and Technology and minoring in Information Sciences and Technology for Telecommunications. I have been creating personal websites for over eight years. This particular site serves as a space to share my work from Penn State.
The about me page has a short biography about me. This will let you know a little more about me and will show you some of my interests. On the resume page, I have pdf and .doc formated copies of my resume. On the classes page I give a description and overview of the classes I have taken at Penn State. I also state the final grade I earned in each class. On the projects page I have descriptions and copies of the projects I have done both in and outside of my major. The experience page describes experiences I have had in the information technolgy field. Finally, the press releases page lists various press releases that I have been mentioned in.
If you have any questions about me, feel free to contact me.
5/3/05
University Park, Pa. — A class assignment has turned into a virtual gallery exhibition for three sophomores in the Penn State School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST).
For the past academic year, the three — Catriona Cornett, Jason Scott and Robert Shedd — have been working on what they call a “framework for digital media sharing” or F.R.O.G. that will enable Internet photo sharing as well as advanced image searching and retrieval.
Developed with non-proprietary software tools, the site is similar to other Internet sites because it allows users to upload digital photographs. But fotofrog.com differs from other sites as it incorporates the content-based image-searching and retrieval technology developed by James Wang, assistant professor of information sciences and technology, and Jia Li, assistant professor of statistics. The University has a patent pending on their technology that can “learn” to annotate and retrieve digital images from text queries.
The connection with Wang was made when Cornett, Scott and Shedd were first-year students in IST. In spring semester 2004, they met in Wang’s database class, during which they created the predecessor of fotofrog.com. The actual assignment: To develop a dynamic database-driven Web site in PHP, a programming language, using the database-management software MySQL.
Read More:
[PSU Live] [IST Networker] [IST News and Events]
- Adobe PDF Version
View my resume in pdf format. This page opens in a new window.
- Word Format (.doc)
View my resume in a Microsoft Word formated document. This page opens in a new window.
Fall 2004 - Spring 2006
www.fotofrog.com
This project involved developing an online photo sharing service that would incorporate advanced content based image retrieval technologies. FotoFrog utilizes a framework that my group developed called “Framework for Digital Media Sharing,” also known as F.R.O.G. Our goal is to create a community based digital media sharing soluiton that integrates SIMPLIcity in order to allow for more accurate image retrieval.
In version 1 of this service, this service utilized the open source dynamic portal engine and content managment system MAMBO.
The next generation of FotoFrog was built from scratch in order to design an interface that is easy to use. Visit www.fotofrog.com to view the results of this project. This site utilizes SIMPLIcity to search for similar images uploaded by users.
This project aims to track pandemics across the world. Users can submit instances of an infectious disease via an online article that describes the instance or through an unofficial observed report. The website displays these reports on a map powered by Google Maps. Pandemic Watch will utilize data mining techniques on the data collected by user reports to analyze pandemics worldwide.
IST 420 - FUNDAMENTALS OF SYSTEMS AND ENTERPRISE INTEGRATION ( 3) Introductory course on integration of information technology into different venues, including the planning, development, and implementation of the integration. Final Grade: A
IST 331 - ORGANIZATION AND DESIGN OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS: USER AND SYSTEM PRINCIPLES ( 3) Interdisciplinary survey of topics related to the use and usability of information systems. Final Grade: A
COMM 490 - ISSUES IN ELECTRONIC COMMERCE: POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION ( 3) Analysis of policy, strategic issues, and implications raised by the rapid growth of electronic commerce over the Internet. Final Grade: A
ENGL 202C - EFFECTIVE WRITING: TECHNICAL WRITING ( 3) Writing for students in scientific and technical disciplines. Final Grade: A
ART 002 - INTERACTIVE LEARNING AND WEB-DESIGN ( 3) Introduce students to research on-line, preparing verbal, visual and other elements for presentation of outcomes and posting them to the Internet. Final Grade: A
IST 296 - IST QUALITY TEAM FOR IST 301 ( 1) “Quality teams meet once a week to critique the learning process in their course. During the week they interview colleagues, apply fast feedback instruments like one-minute papers, and solicit suggestions. Once they pinpoint an issue they prepare survey instruments to establish if there is a significant problem. During the semester they share findings with their classmates.” Final Grade: A
IST 301 - INFORMATION AND ORGANIZATIONS ( 3) Overview of organizational structures and functions. Includes information processing and analytic perspectives of organizations. Final Grade: A
IST 302 - IT PROJECT MANAGEMENT ( 3) Exploration and application of the basic concepts, methodologies, and tools of project management in the field of information sciences and technology. Final Grade: A
COMM 484 - EMERGING TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES ( 3) Overview of technology of electronic media and related societal issues. Final Grade: A
CAS 252 - BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION ( 3) Interviewing, briefing, conferring, and decision making; analyzing and evaluating formal and informal patterns of communication in organizations. Final Grade: A
PL SC 003 - INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS ( 3) Introduction to study of comparative government and politics: normative/ empirical theories; government functions in modern societies; representative structures and processes. Final Grade: A
IST 240 - INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER LANGUAGES ( 3) Introduction to the specification and application of languages and language paradigms that interact with computers. (JAVA Programming) Final Grade: A
COMM 180 - SURVEY OF BROADCASTING AND CABLE ( 3) Introductory study of American broadcasting system; history and technological development; societal compulsions and constraints on programming and practices. Final Grade: A
STAT 200 - ELEMENTARY STATISTICS ( 4) Descriptive statistics, frequency distributions, probability, binomial and normal distributions, statistical inference, linear regression, and correlation Final Grade: A
ANTH 045 - CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY ( 3) Beginnings of human culture; economic life, society, government, religion, and art among traditional peoples. Final Grade: A
ART 090 - INTRODUCTION TO PHOTOGRAPHY ( 3) An introduction to the aesthetics, history, and science of photography including practical and critical approaches to the art of photography. Final Grade: A
NUTR 100 - CONTEMPORARY NUTRITION CONCERNS ( 1.5) Interpretation of nutrition principles in relation to contemporary problems in selecting a diet to promote a healthy lifestyle. Final Grade: A
IST 230 - LANGUAGE, LOGIC, AND DISCRETE MATHEMATICS ( 3) Introduction to formal languages, mathematical logic, and discrete mathematics, with applications to information sciences and technology. Final Grade: A
STS 101 - MODERN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND HUMAN VALUES ( 3) Relationships of science and technology to human aspirations, values, and arts. Final Grade: A
ANTH 021 - INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY ( 3) The role of human biology and evolution in culture, society, and behavior. Final Grade: A
SOC 005 - SOCIAL PROBLEMS ( 3) Current social problems such as economic, racial, and gender inequalities; social deviance and crime; population, environmental, energy, and health problems. Final Grade: A
IST 210 - ORGANIZATION OF DATA ( 3) Introduction to concept of databases including the storage, manipulation, evaluation, and display of data and related issues. Final Grade: A
IST 220 - NETWORKING AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS ( 3) Introduction to digital network topologies; transmission media; signal modulation; digital packet switching and routing; systems integration; communications management; security. Final Grade: A
ENGL 015 - RHETORIC AND COMPOSITION ( 3) Instruction and practice in writing expository prose that shows sensitivity to audience and purpose. Final Grade: A
ECON 002 - INTRODUCTORY MICROECONOMIC ANALYSIS AND POLICY ( 3) Methods of economic analysis and their use; price determination; theory of the firm; distribution. Final Grade: A
GEOSC 021 - EARTH AND LIFE: ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION ( 3) Introduction to the origin and evolution of life on Earth from the perspective of geologic time and the fossil record. Final Grade: A
IST 297 - TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM ( 1) Technology Learning Assistant. Final Grade: A
IST 110 - INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY ( 4) Introduction to information systems including social implications, and the creation, organization, analysis, storage, retrieval, and communication of information. Final Grade: A
CAS 100B - EFFECTIVE SPEECH ( 3) Principles of communication, implemented through group problem solving, with some attention to formal speaking and message evaluation. Final Grade: A
PSU 017 - FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR SCHOOL OF INFORMATION SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY ( 1) Facilitate student’s adjustment to the high expectations, demanding workload, increased academic liberties, and other aspects of the transition to college life. Final Grade: A
MATH 110 - TECHNIQUES OF CALCULUS I ( 4) Functions, graphs, derivatives, integrals, techniques of differentiation and integration, exponentials, improper integrals, applications. Final Grade: A
CMPSC 101 - INTRODUCTION TO ALGORITHMIC PROCESSES ( 3) Properties of algorithms, languages, and notations for describing algorithms, applications of a procedure-oriented language to problem solving. Final Grade: A
In addition to the new design, I have added new content to the following sections: IST 240, IST 301, IST 302, COMM 484, CAS 252, NSF Research, Spring 2006, and Press Releases. I also updated my resume.
This goal of this project was to describe in detail an emerging telecommunications technology. This paper describes a variety of aspects relating to an important emerging technology: Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). The paper covers the history of VoIP, VoIP uses, the technology behind VoIP, global trends, VoIP providers, effects on the telecommunications industry, challenges of VoIP, regulations, and the future of VoIP. This project also involved a presenation covering the main aspects of the paper.
View final paper here
View presentation here
This project involved finding a solution for improving the reputation of Penn State through the use of a fictional large monetary donation by an alum. My team decided to use this donation to build a monorail system for the University. Our presentation discusses the reasons behind this choice, its goals, as well as aspects such as the planned monorail stations and possible benefits and consequences.
View PowerPoint presentation here
This assignment required giving a presentation on a subject of importance to business and professional communication. I chose to do my presentation on the aspects of cross cultural nonverbal communication, and how it can impact business communication.
View PowerPoint presentation here
This was a semester long project that involved planning the redesign of an organization’s website using IT project management techniques. Our team developed a project plan that included 398 tasks including tasks in the initiating, planning, executing, deployment, rollout, controlling, and closing stages. We analyzed the different aspects of project management, including: project integration management, scope management, time management, cost management, quality management, human resource management, communications management, and risk managment.
View full project assignment here
View final document here
View work breakdown structure and Gantt chart here (Microsoft Project .mpp file)
View final presentation here
This project involved analyzing a fictional fantasy football company, Yourteam.com. This company has faced problems of productivity, cost, and lawsuits. In addition, they have a poor organizational culture that has led to the problems mentioned above. This paper addresses cultural problems that can be found in an information technology work environment.
View full project description here
View final paper here
This project involved analyzing a fictional fantasy football company, Yourteam.com. This company has faced problems of productivity, cost, and lawsuits. In addition, they have a poor organizational culture that has led to the problems mentioned above. This paper addresses aspects of organizational control systems.
View full project description here
View final paper here
This project involved describing, in detail, various organizational aspects of the School of Information Sciences and Technology. Aspects of this paper include: organizational life cycle, SWOT analysis, legitimacy, forces of change, resistance to change, decision making models, and innovation.
View full project description here
View final paper here
This project involved describing, in detail, the structure of the School of Information Sciences and Technology. Aspects of this paper include: type of structure, response to design challenges, principal functions, centralization, differentiation, standardization, core competencies, hierarchy levels, span of control, bureaucracy, role of technology in shaping the organization, and level of technical competency.
View full project description here
View final paper here
This project involved describing, in detail, the aspects of the School of Information Sciences and Technology as an organization. Aspects of this paper include: environment, history, stakeholders, challenges, competing goals, authority structure, linkages, and dependencies.
View full project description here
View final paper here
This project was a semester long project that involved the development of a JAVA based game. In addition to developing the JAVA files for the actual game, our team was also responsible for developing an XML program that replayed the game after it has been played. We also produced a UML diagram that illustrates the various processes of the game.
View full project description here
View the game’s manual here
View UML diagram here
Download the complete game here (read the readme.txt file for instructions on how to run the game)
Download Sample .java files:
action.java (the primary file that runs game processes)
start.java (defines game settings)
XMLJPanel.java (includes the processes that make the XML execution work)
This project required our group to analyze the following statement: “All undergraduate students in Information Sciences and Technology should/should not be required to show serious competency in the common core of logic and discrete mathematics topics”. The argument included a clear statement of the argument’s premises and required deductive reasoning to make our conclusions.
Full project description is located here
View final project paper
In this project, our group evaluated demand forecasting methods, and presented evidence that would help convice store managers that a forecasting system would improve demand forecasts. We also recommend a forecasting system which uses different forecasting methods for different types of products.
Full project description is located here
View final project paper
This project involved doing mouse-movement experiments to see how Fitts’ Law can be applied to a firm’s website design. In this paper we recommend a set of guidelines for designing different types of web pages, with respect to ‘usability’ and ‘aesthetics’, for different types of users and clients.
Full project description is located here
View final project paper
This project involved investigating either a small business or department on campus and analyzing their network design.
View final project report
This lab involved the hands on creation of a local area network as well as the testing of different transfer rates based on LAN setup.
View final lab report
This lab involved the hands on creation of a wide area network. This included the configuration of a Cisco router, the construction of two LANs to create the WAN, as well as the testing of different transfer rates based on the configuration.
View final lab report
This project was a semester long project involving the creation of an online photo sharing service. In order to create this website, our group had to create and manage a database using mySQL and utilize PHP to connect the website to the database.
“The best undergraduate student project in the last 4 years of Prof Wangs teaching at Penn State.” - Dr. James Wang, Professor of IST 210
View final project website
View final project report
This project involved the creation of an online music distribution prototype website that sells traditional records through secure systems, distributes legal MP3 versions of all songs, creates a community of music lovers, allows users to make their own CD out of SonicJamz titles, and allows users to create their own MP3 radio station from SonicJamz titles.
This project earned our group Dr. Santoro’s “Snickers Award” for the best group project.
Full project description is located here
View final project documentation
View final project presentation
(Project website has been removed.)
This project involved envisioning a car of the future. Our group developed a web-based prototype of the design that include’s the system’s key features. These include a safe and intuitive user interface, secure wireless and mobile networks, and wireless and mobile databases. In designing this car, one had to keep in mind aspects of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), plans for usability testing, as well as ethical and policy issues.
This project also earned our group Dr. Santoro’s “Snickers Award” for the best group project.
Full project description is located here
View final project documentation
View final project presentation
View final project website
This lab involved researching a company that has incorporated information technology into their business practicies. For this lab, I chose to analyze WalMart. The purpose of this lab was to fine tune one’s skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint while learning more about how information technology impacts businesses.
View final paper
View final presentation
Our team was given a business scenario had to come up with a reason for problems in a group in the business. We determined the main problem was a lack of cohesion with the group, and this presentation explained the importance of cohesivness.
I created the Powerpoint presentation for this presentation
View final project presentation
This project involved taking pictures throughout the semester that represented important team building and communication terms.
I was primarily involved with creating the template for the presentation and worked with my team to write up the descriptions of the terms.
View final project (7.6mb file)
This paper explores the definition of “progress” and whether or not new technology can always be considered “progress”
View final paper
This paper explains the problem with computer dependence in today’s society
View final paper
This paper explains how in order to effectively protect our environment, there must be a combination of the use of new technologies to control environmental problems as well as social and political change
View final paper
The entire site has been redesigned! This portfolio now uses WordPress to mangage the site. Feel free to browse through the categories on the left.
In this paper I describe the consequences of majoring in Information Sciences and Technology
View final paper
In this paper I describe my reasons for choosing to major in Information Sciences and Technology
View Final paper
Introduction
During the summer of 2005, I completed an internship with the New Media Department of AccuWeather in State College, Pennsylvania. I served as a New Media Programmer from May 23, 2005 to August 12, 2005. During my time at AccuWeather, I gained real world experience in the information technology field, and learned how to apply skills that I have learned in my Information Sciences and Technology courses in a business environment.
About AccuWeather
Read about AccuWeather’s history and business philosophy here
Projects
Below is a list of some of the projects that I worked on at AccuWeather.
- Assisted in the design and development of an online photo gallery for weather photographs
- Utilized PHP and SQL
- Integrated the gallery for AccuWeather’s free, premium, and professional services
- Customized off-the-shelf software to fit AccuWeather’s needs
- Fixed bugs
- Customized the CSS Stylesheets for the gallery
- This gallery is available here
- Implemented the exclusive “Frizz Index”
- Utilized an algorithm that used relative humidity and dewpoint values to determine how “frizzy” one’s hair will be on a given day
- Created the ASP process page for this form
- Worked with a hair product company to properly implement the form, which submitted user input to a Flash “Frizz-O-Meter”
- This index was available on the AccuWeather.com website for several weeks
- Developed weather webpages for a major television network affiliate in New York City, NY
- Created ASP pages that displayed AccuWeather forecast data
- Fixed bugs
- Integrated AccuWeather components into the network’s new site design
- Researched and implemented a solution for keeping track of bugs on AccuWeather’s websites and services
- Evaluated solutions for source control management
- Analzyed both open source and commercial source control software
- Presented possible solutions to development team
- Considered features that the developers needed as well as budget
- Worked on the development of AccuWeather.com’s Wireless website
- Developed the admnistrative backend to add and edit wireless services
- Assisted in the design of the page flow for the site
- Worked on several inhouse projects to assist employees
Skills Used and Developed
My internship helped me develop many technical and business skills.
- Technical/Programming: HTML, ASP, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, CSS
- Problem Based Learning
- Teamwork
- Communication
- Presentation skills
- Organization
- Time Management
Conclusion
My time as an intern at AccuWeather was overwhelmingly positive. I worked with an excellent team of programmers and designers who were always willing to help me with my projects. In only a few months, I was able to work on many different and interesting projects that helped introduce me to the professional field of information technology.