The objective of this project is to change the way in which the topics of computer networks, user interfaces, and Web-Ware are viewed and taught. Not only do students need to understand the important concepts in each domain, but students need to better understand the effects of the interaction between the domains. Sophisticated user interfaces are contributing network traffic that is more varied in its type, amount, and quality of service needs. With computer networks potentially separating the user, interface, and underlying application, the design of user interfaces must take into account network delays as well as interfaces to special-purpose devices available only over the network. The development of web-ware technology naturally occurs at the interaction between user interfaces and computer networks. The approach taken in this project is to develop a single laboratory for Computer Networks, Human Computer Interaction, and Web-Ware courses. The working name for this lab is the Web-Ware, Interfaces, and Networking Experimental Laboratory, or the WINE Lab for short. It is used by students enrolled in each of the three courses and by students choosing to use its facilities for their senior projects. It is estimated that 200 to 250 students each year can make use of this laboratory. The WINE Lab improves these three courses because students have the opportunity to complete projects, experiment with relevant techniques, and make connections between topics that would be impossible in a general-purpose computing environment. There is a real need expressed by industrial contacts for such experience by students while at the same time little related work was found at other institutions. These findings suggest that these are increasingly important areas of the computer science curriculum for which students are not being adequately prepared.
