Awards for research on Cloud Computing and human-machine interface

Nijmegen, March 7, 2011 – Aia Software gave out awards to the most compelling theses by computing and information sciences students at the Radboud University Nijmegen for the eighth year in a row. Martijn Moraal's thesis entitled 'Optimal Deployment of Distributed Systems' won the Master Thesis Award, while the thesis entitled 'Aan de hand van hersenactiviteit reconstrueren wat iemand ziet' [Using brain activity to reconstruct what someone sees] earned Marco Henrix the Bachelor Thesis Award. The jury was made up of lecturers from the Computing and Information Sciences faculty of Radboud University Nijmegen and Aia Software's CTO Jeroen Huinink. The Master Award comes with a € 4,000 purse, while the winner of the Bachelor Award can count on a windfall of € 1,000.

Master Award -  Optimizing Cloud Computing

In the not too distant future, computing power will, just like electricity, come out of wall sockets, courtesy of Cloud computing. The Cloud comprises massive centralized computing centers floating somewhere in cyberspace, running applications you can use all over the globe. When you start developing applications made up of components running at different locations, the way these work together becomes crucial. A neatly designed and built so-called distributed system can in practice jam up completely when one crucial component that all other components rely on fails to respond on time. In his thesis entitled “Optimal Deployment of Distributed Systems”, Martijn Moraal looked at the deployment aspect by asking the question how you to roll out or install a distributed system in such a way that performance and availability expectations are met. Aia Software CTO Jeroen Huinink: “This thesis deserves this year's Master Award for its highly relevant subject, for which research was done at a foreign university and using sound and innovative methods.

Bachelor Award - Seeing with the brains of someone else

In his thesis Marco Henrix shows that it is possible with relatively simple means to use MRI scans of a person's visual cortex to determine which picture a person is looking at. The practical value of this breakthrough for a real-time man-machine interface is still limited – the App Store does not yet offer an MRI app for your mobile phone, to name but one constraint – but it does constitute the first step towards applications that we until now only ever saw in science fiction movies and books.  Aia Software CEO, Leon Pillich says “We are therefore extremely pleased to award this prize to Marco Henrix for his thesis entitled ‘Aan de hand van hersenactiviteit reconstrueren wat iemand ziet’ [Using brain activity to reconstruct what someone sees]. Marco displayed great ability in combining a number of different techniques to approach this subject matter and produce a compelling end result.”

About Aia Software

Aia Software is a leading global supplier of documentation solutions. Their ITP Documentation Platform helps staff create relevant and personalized business-critical documentation. Over 1,000 organizations use ITP as their integrated total solution for large-scale automated generation of standard documents, individualized snippet-based correspondence, and dynamic form-based data entry. ITP interfaces seamlessly with existing business applications. Aia Software is a fully independent company with its head office in the Netherlands and branch offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany,  and Australia. www.aia-itp.com.