Projects We’ve Worked On

HCJB Radio

In September 2005, Dan Anderson of HCJB Global approached Professor Felix Aguilar about building a Radio Planting and Development Database (RPADD). The system, developed by several students under the management of Josh Gee, helps HCJB Global keep track of its partnering ministries and assists in the development of new partnerships with the intent of spreading the gospel message.

In continuing development of the RPADD system, students have worked in subsequent years to refine and integrate subsystems for equipment and project management.

WordSurv

Since the late 1990s, the CSE department has been working with Wycliffe Bible Translators/SIL in creating improved versions of WordSurv, a software-based linguistic survey research tool used for working with language survey word lists to determine linguistic relationships through comparison. Dr. Art White, other professors, and many students have worked to develop and deliver three versions (4.0, 5.0, 6.0) since 2002. Taylor CSE students also have collaborated in the development of a Palm version of the WordSurv software, called PalmSurv.

WordSurv functions in three main areas: the entry and maintenance of word lists and cognate decisions, the Comparison of lexicostatistic and phonostatistic measures of similarity, and the output of data and results in various formats.

Crescent Project

The Crescent Project is a ministry that reaches out to Muslims in North America by sharing Christ’s love. The Taylor University CSE department is helping Crescent Project develop a complete ministry tool that assists the organization in tracking its many donors, prayer partners, short-term missionaries, and students.

The project began when a Taylor student worked as an intern with Crescent Project during summer 2005. While there, he mentioned the possibility of Taylor University’s Information Systems Analysis/Information Systems Design (ISA/ISD) classes helping in the design and development of a system for Crescent. In the spring of 2006, the ISA/ISD classes began work on the system. Since then, several students have worked on the project, and two Taylor students continue to work with Crescent as part of an internship.

ICCM

The International Conference on Computing and Mission (ICCM) began at Taylor University in 1989. Then university president Jay Kesler brought a missionary-in-residence to the campus and encouraged outreach in technical areas. With the help of representatives from Serving in Mission (SIM), TEAM, Operation Mobilization (OM), and Intervarsity, the ICCM held its first conference at Taylor.

The conference provides opportunites for participants from missions organizations to interact with others who have committed themselves to missions. It provides firsthand information to both missionaries and those who serve them so that they might better understand the computing needs of those on the mission field. The conference serves as a springboard for creative solutions for these real technical needs.

Though the ICCM is not a part of Taylor University, it is one organization that will see large benefit from the missions-computing focus here. Faculty and staff are deeply invested in the annual ICCM effort. In June of 2009, the conference was held at Taylor and featured key speaker Bob Hodge.

Bingham University in Nigeria

Bingham University, located in the geographical center of Nigeria, was licensed by the Nigerian Government in January 2005. With its doors currently open for instruction, Bingham is in the midst of a 10-year, $138.2 million building campaign. Its aim is to provide a God-centered education that puts service above material acquisition.

Dr. Stefan Brandle visited Bingham University in January 2007. While there, he gave guest lectures, consulted on their computer science program, and learned more about their facilities and plans. The purpose of his trip was to investigate to what extent Taylor faculty and students can assist Bingham in becoming an established educational organization in Nigeria.