The Control Engineering Exercises Journal – IT infrastructure costs for the startup period
We are currently piloting a mechanism aimed at promoting the sharing of open-access control education resources. This initiative revolves around a journal-like publication of conceptual exercises accompanied by their solutions. The ultimate objective is to establish a framework where exercises are published with Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), making them citable and interconnected within the academic community. Authors will be able to reference related exercises, thereby fostering a network of educational content that can serve multiple purposes:
- Source of Inspiration and Assessment: The platform will provide educators with a diverse repository of assessment materials linked to concepts in automatic control.
- Peer Sharing Mechanism: Contributors will be able to share high-quality assessment materials, promoting collaboration and knowledge exchange among educators.
- Learning Resource for Students: Students will have access to well-structured educational exercises, enhancing their learning experiences.
Platform Development and Funding
The IFAC grant has been instrumental in supporting the operational aspects of the platform, particularly through funding the web hosting costs of https://faceittools.com/. This platform functions as the searchable database that underpins the envisioned journal. While the grant has not directly funded the development of the journal itself, it has ensured the stability and accessibility of the essential database infrastructure.
Additional developments to enhance user experience have been supported by funds from other projects, alongside voluntary contributions from students primarily from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and the University of Padova. Their efforts have significantly advanced the platform's capabilities, ensuring a more intuitive and engaging user experience.
Progress and Innovations
The project is progressing toward its goal of establishing a high-quality, user-friendly journal. A notable advancement introduced in January 2024 is the feature that enables educators to search for relevant assessment materials by simply uploading a PDF or text document. This innovation is guided by the user story: "As a teacher, I want to find questions related to my slides with just a click."
Furthermore, the initiative maintains strong ties with the Control Advent Calendar project. This collaborative endeavor involves authors submitting materials, which are then reviewed by nominated reviewers before being accepted or rejected. This process mirrors the peer-review mechanism envisioned for the journal, thereby reinforcing quality standards and community engagement.
Community Engagement and Future Plans
We have actively contributed to the academic discourse by submitting two papers to the IFAC Symposium on Advances in Control Education. Additionally, we are organizing a dedicated four-hour, free workshop at CODIT 2025, targeting educators interested in innovative pedagogical tools. The workshop will provide participants with hands-on experience using the database and the integrated AI features, further fostering engagement and practical knowledge-sharing.
This initiative is designed to be a long-standing contribution to the control education community. Consequently, we do not anticipate a definitive "completion" but rather envision continuous evolution and periodic advertisement activities to sustain and expand community involvement.
Financial Overview
The operational costs for maintaining the platform, including web hosting, AI services, and domain reservations, have averaged around USD 70 per month. However, these costs may increase with the anticipated growth in user activity and platform utilization.