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  Using an Internet Extension to Save You from the Internet

  Yousef Abdulrahman

  Yousef Abdulrahman, CIS 494: Undergraduate Research in CIS
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Sarbani Banerjee, Computer Information System

  
  The Internet has become a major part of everyone's present-day lives, potentially engulfing one into its endless abyss of information and entertainment. Some people have become obsessed with the Internet, sacrificing their health as well as time with friends and family, and even becoming addicted. The purpose of this research project was to develop a Google Chrome Extension that monitors time spent browsing on websites like Google, YouTube, etc. It uses JavaScript, HTML and CSS. A user interface was initially created using CSS for a user-friendly view of the Extension. JavaScript is the main programming language used to implement the functionality of the Chrome Extension. It displays warnings every 30 minutes to remind the user to take a break, change posture, or hydrate. It will also send daily, weekly, and monthly statistics of the improvement on time spent on the Internet versus time spent on useful, constructive activities—for example, hours spent watching Netflix compared to hours on educational websites. The web-browser extension displays as an icon at the top of the user’s browser and may be hidden while the user is on the Internet. A pop-up window on the computer appears on the screen to tell the user to take a break, with an inspirational quote to get the user moving. This Extension is projected for publication on the Chrome Web Store site for the benefit of anyone using the Google Chrome web browser.

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  Using Oracle APEX to Solve Meetings Issues

  Yasir Alhadeethi

  Yasir Alhadeethi, CIS 494: Undergraduate Research in CIS
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Sarbani Banerjee, Computer Information Systems

  
  In this research project, Oracle Application Express (APEX) was used. APEX is a low-code development platform that enables one to build scalable, secure enterprise apps, with world-class features, which can be deployed anywhere. Oracle Application Express enables users to design, develop, and deploy responsive database-driven applications, either on-premises or in the cloud. Corporate meetings often can be overwhelming when they lack documentation. Searching for files for each meeting can take up unnecessary time due to lack of organization. This project aims to provide a better environment for efficient collaborations, and better facilitation among project team members. The APEX application for this research is used to store data from meetings, including agenda, meeting organizer, assigned presenters, and other attendees. This application contains specific details such as name, description, start and end times, location, presenters, attendees, attachments, action items, decisions, and notes. The user can click a tab and the data about the meetings is then e-mailed to participants using an Oracle client. My project uses a database to store details and information that will be entered and created by future users of the application. This action will be deployed by using database objects like Tables, Views, Indexes, SQL Queries, Shell Scripts, as well as SQL Scripts. My application will prevent users from losing documentations and missing important details of each meeting, thereby enhancing efficient communication.

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  Skip the Line and Get Your Coffee on Time

  Bandar Almutairi

  Bandar Almutairi, CIS 494: Undergraduate Research in CIS
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Sarbani Banerjee, Computer Information Systems

  
  The purpose of this research project was to design an electronic Order Application (App) system for Spot coffee at the Student Union located on the Buffalo State Campus. The coffee shop often has long queues of students during the morning hours and break times between classes. The large crowd of students gathers before and between classes; they have very little time to pay through the traditional cash register system, which is currently the only payment method available. This project projects automating the current ordering system and offer cashless payments to reduce the staff needed to take orders and payments. The project aims to develop an application for both Android and iOS smartphones so that students can order their coffee and make online payments. This project will also create an App for the coffee shop, through which the order can be processed by its staff. With this App, baristas will be able to visualize cumulative order requests and efficiently service the orders to their customers as they arrive. An “Order Ready” message will pop up on the screens of customers’ smartphones. This project will be expanded to create a website ordering system as well, with the payment system designed for PayPal and credit card payments.

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  Choose the Best Airbnb Host in NYC: A Geo-Visualization Project

  Mohammed Alzuwayyid

  Mohammed Alzuwayyid, CIS 494: Undergraduate Research in CIS
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Sarbani Banerjee, Computer Information Systems

  
  This research project focuses on analyzing datasets from Airbnb of New York City (NYC) to answer the following questions. Which hosts are the busiest and why? Is there any noticeable difference in Airbnb reservations in various areas of NYC, such as Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, etc.? What are the factors that are attributable to that difference? Is there an increase in reservations between different seasons? What can we learn about different Airbnb hosts located in the NYC areas? This project was developed using Python programming language to do the cleaning, normalizing, visualizing, and analyzing of the dataset. Jupyter Notebook is used as IDE, as well as other libraries like Pandas and NumPy, Matplotib and GeoPandas. Furthermore, a website with HTML5 coding was developed to visually display the data and the map. The poster presentation describes areas of NYC where the busiest hosts are located and shows the reasons why guests select those hosts, alongside predictions and comparisons about the prices and locations. A website will be developed for this project to show the map of NYC with the places where most reservations are made. It will also allow users to explore various details such as reviews per month, prices, room types, and reasons for reservations about the hosts who are the busiest. This will help users make educated decisions about their choice of Airbnb hosts in NYC.

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  Xylem Heat Transfers Manufacturing Coating Improvement Analysis

  Victoire Babwiriza and Nathan Moore

  Victoire Babwiriza and Nathan Moore, ENT 422: Machine Design II
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Jikai Du, Engineering Technology

  
  Xylem Inc., based in Cheektowaga, New York, is in the midst of perfecting multiple daily processes within their manufacturing department. The company tasked our design team with the following issue: How can we maximize the efficiency of the process of applying stop-off paint to various fixtures? The current process involves laying down fixtures on a table and using a paint roller to apply the stop-off application to each individual fixture one at a time. We studied various possible alternatives. Examining painting processes used at other companies gave us the idea to use an automated sprayer, because it possesses the ability of operation without human monitoring and has the capability of painting multiple fixtures at once. However, the solution we ultimately agreed upon is far more straightforward. We implemented the use of a handheld paint sprayer. While it will still require manual operation by a worker, it still has the benefits of an automated paint sprayer. When the fixtures are laid out, the paint sprayer has the ability to paint multiple fixtures at once, and the operator maintains total control over the stop-off distribution as well. Also, a process as simple as this will result in a much lower operational cost, as well as lower initial purchase costs. In order to maintain continuity, other items will be researched, designed, and purchased as well, such as a paint booth for ventilation purposes, and personal protective equipment for employees when operating the proposed system.

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  Nozzle Flange Connection Design

  Joshua Bonilla and Roohullah Maqsoodi

  Joshua Bonilla and Roohullah Maqsoodi, ENT 422: Machine Design II
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Jikai Du, Engineering Technology

  
  Xylem Heat Transfer is a world leader in heat exchangers. The company makes a variety of heat exchangers such as Brazed plate, Gasket plate, and Shell and Tube. One of the company’s products is the RolAirTrol air-water separator. The RolAirtrol mechanism is designed to slow down velocity in a liquid system, to allow for air to rise out the system and solids to sink out of the system. Our project’s nozzle to flange fixture is designed to preform tack welding processes for changing size connections. The designs for Xylem’s newly developed air water separator has connections at the center and, as a result, the geometry of the nozzle needs to be modified when compared to the old system. Through our research and engineering design, we devised a variety of possible designs. We created drawings for the company to manufacture, assemble, and disassemble the fixture. Welding fixtures will be available in different sizes, shapes, materials, and mechanisms based on their operational need. The precision of the fixture plays a major role in manufacturing. The newly designed fixture should benefit the company tremendously, as there is currently no alternative fixture available.

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  2020 ASHRAE Design Calculations Competition

  Sara Deer, Conor Mathews, Melissa Bentley, and Jazmin Black

  Sara Deer, Conor Mathews, Melissa Bentley and Jazmin Black, ENT 422: Machine Design II
  Faculty Mentors: Professor Jikai Du, Engineering Technology and Professor Raymond Johnson, Engineering Technology

  
  ASHRAE, The American Society of Heating and Air Conditioning Engineers, proposes a yearly opportunity for colleges internationally to compete to design a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system on an assigned structure in a remote location. The 2020 Design Calculations project involves calculating the heating and cooling loads on a three-floor, rare archives facility located in Mumbai, India. In addition to rare documents and books, the facility will store and preserve manuscripts, photos, as well as audio recordings, in the facility. ASHRAE codes and standards are provided along with the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) for the assigned structure, and must be closely followed to remain in compliance with the Competition. In addition to necessary load calculations, an Hourly Analysis Program (HAP) is utilized to calculate the ventilation, heating, and cooling loads on the structure during specified times. Air quality, proper ventilation, and relative humidity are only a few of the considerations that greatly impact the necessary design calculations. A detailed report is required from each participating team, including completed calculations and HVAC system drawings for the entire assigned building. The top submissions will be recognized at the 2021 ASHRAE Winter Meeting, scheduled for January in Chicago.

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  Augmented Reality Maintenance

  Tyler Lis, Ryan Lukowski, Aaron Dulniak, and Zareya Moore

  Tyler Lis, Ryan Lukowski, Aaron Dulniak and Zareya Moore, ENT 466: Electrical Design II
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Leonard Fiume, Engineering Technology

  
  For our group’s Senior Design project, we connected with representatives at Kaman Industrial Technologies to build an augmented reality application available for tablets and iPads. This application is being built for Westmatic Corporation, a large-vehicle wash system manufacturer and a customer of Kaman. Westmatic’s main problems occur with preventive and predictive maintenance of their vehicle wash systems. Using a picture recognition software designed by Schneider Electric, any operator can take a picture on a tablet or iPad of a Westmatic vehicle wash system, or a smaller section of it, and view “following data” at pre-programmed points of interest. “Following data” consists of the last service date, manuals of the components, a link to videos on how to replace said component, and any live data pertinent in preventing a malfunction of the system. Westmatic’s large vehicle wash systems have multiple control panels, and the status and data accumulated from them are relayed to a programmable logic controller (PLC), also developed by Schneider Electric. This PLC is connected via wireless networking and/or Bluetooth to the application on the tablet/iPad. The application can show all the live data in the correct locations on the system. Our team was responsible for creating the scenes and data points for the Westmatic car wash, including, but not limited to, schematics, video links, data sheets, and live data. The team delivered an augmented reality program for Westmatic and a PLC programmed by the team to simulate live data for a live demonstration of the capabilities of the augmented reality program. Not only will this project be beneficial in preventing vehicle wash system failures and downtime, but also in organizing all the parts, installations, maintenance, dates, and other paperwork that should be filed for these unique systems. Technician and all other position training will also be improved by this project as a result of the simplicity, time saving, and organized software.

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  Baja NVH Reduction DAQ

  Dalton Meyer, Tom Sayles, Clivens Fresnel, and Steven Nguyen

  Dalton Meyer, Tom Sayles, Clivens Fresnel and Steven Nguyen, ENT 466: Electrical Design 2
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Leonard Fiume, Engineering Technology

  
  SUNY Buffalo State College Mechanical Engineering students compete yearly in a BAJA SAE design-build and race competition. The student engineers’ goal is to create a single-seat buggy that can drive on all terrains and survive harsh conditions. The vehicle is meant to be reliable, maintainable, ergonomic, and economic for the recreational user market. Our goal is to aid students in their design and testing with a Data Acquisition System (DAQS). To achieve this goal, we programmed an Arduino unit to process data from an array of sensors across the vehicle. Potential locations are welded joints and bolted down devices, as well as various suspension components, in order to create the most balanced ride possible. Another location will be the engine or the oil reservoir. This allows us to determine if the engine's temperature is being properly maintained. Sensors feed data into an Arduino unit, where each sensor is given a specific designation to identify. This is to reduce each individual location of NVH. The Arduino will then record all the data onto a removable SD card which can be transferred to a computer for future viewing and interpreting the vehicle status. This system will allow the mechanical engineers to asset the vehicle needs during the competition.

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  The Baby Car Seat

  Omar Mohamed, Mohammed Alkhalaf, and Hamad Alrobayan

  Omar Mohamed, Mohammed Alkhalaf and Hamad Alrobayan, ENT 465: Electrical Design 2
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Steven Barker, Engineering Technology

  
  We devised the Baby Car Seat project to solve the issue of young children left unattended in cars in dangerously hot and cold temperatures, which has resulted in several recent deaths. Our Baby Car Seat uses various sensors to detect if a child is left unattended within the car. We use weight sensors (load cells) for weight detection, microcontrollers, and a 70dB RF module to transmit/receive data. Speakers and liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are used as output components. Switches simulate seat belts closing and opening. Our project operates in two parts, corresponding to child and adult driver. We detect whether the child is seated with the seat belt fastened. Information is transferred to the second Arduino by RF transmitter, from which the driver receives data on the child's location by RF receiver. The output is then displayed on the LCD. If the child is seated but the driver is not, the LCD displays a warning and gives the speaker 2.5 minutes before producing an alarm. If both are seated and the child's seat belt is fastened, indicating that the child has not been left alone in the car, no warning will sound. Our anticipated outcome for the project is to prevent harm or death from freezing or suffocation, due to hot car temperatures in summer and cold temperatures in winter. We hope to perform future upgrades so the system may communicate with multiple phones, send text messages, and even in extreme situations call 911.

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  Buffalo State MicroGrid

  Kyle Montreal, Nick Celini, Colin Pelton, Rana Abdel-al, and Janet Penwarden

  Kyle Montreal, Nick Celini, Colin Pelton, Rana Abdel-al and Janet Penwarden, ENT 466: Electrical Design
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Ilya Grinberg, Engineering Technology

  
  The MicroGrid Project is a legacy project, with our team being the third to work on it. At the beginning of the project, the grid was only partially operational, with only the diesel generator and the wind farm being operational. Throughout the year, we have added a two-house nanogrid, a variable dynamic load, and a battery system to the MicroGrid. We also began work on incorporating a NovaCore RTDS (Real-Time Digital Simulation) unit into the system; this unit allows for much more advanced and realistic simulation abilities. The MicroGrid model that this project represents is one that can be easily scaled up in such a way that researchers can test various scenarios, such as effects of intermittent renewable sources on stability of the systems. This is especially significant as the world continues to move away from fossil fuel generation and moves toward the “green” options that are increasingly available.

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  Multiplicative Agreement Edge Detection

  Conner Saeli

  Conner Saeli, CIS 494: Research in Computer Information Systems
  Faculty Mentors: Professor Gang Hu, Computer Information Systems and Professor Sarbani Banerjee, Computer Information Systems

  
  The goal for this research was to develop a novel edge detection method. This project originated from studying new edge detection methods using convolutional neural networks. Edge detection provides a global view of an image with the most critical outline. Robust edge detection methods would allow for concrete analysis in image processing. The applications for this are useful in a wide range of fields, from satellite imaging to medical screening. For example, medical imaging results could be examined in batches to detect anomalies without any human intervention. Modern deep neural network-based edge detection methods achieve roughly 80% accuracy, so the intended result was to improve on this baseline. This model is based on a PyTorch implementation of a current edge detection algorithm called Holistically-Nested Edge Detection (HED). HED's approach is to calculate the loss and update its weights using not only intermediate feature maps, but also with a single added result of each feature map called a fusion layer. Instead of adding intermediate feature maps together from the deep network, this approach adopts multiplication into the network. The objective is to extract more information from network layers than possible with existing approaches. By multiplying instead of adding, this project aims to find agreement between intermediate feature maps. This implementation of HED uses pre-trained parameters from the VGG-16 convolutional neural network as a starting point. The datasets used for this project are BSDS500 and NYUDv2, which are public datasets from UC-Berkeley and New York University, respectively.

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  Ceramic Screen Printer Fixture Plate

  Steven Seekins and Michael Bishop

  Steven Seekins and Michael Bishop, ENT 422: Machine Design II
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Jikai Du, Engineering Technology

  
  PCB Piezotronics is a leading manufacturer of piezoelectric quartz sensors, accelerometers, and their associated electronics designed for measurement of force, vibration, and dynamic pressure. Since their formation in 1967, PCB has enjoyed significant success, which has allowed them to expand their offerings to include piezoresistive and piezoceramic sensors. Our design project is intended to update and improve upon an existing screen printing fixture for piezoceramic sensors. PCB uses a device similar to a t-shirt screen printer to enable them to print a metallic piezoelectric slurry on to ceramic parts. The screen printer contains a fixture in which the ceramic part is loaded and allows the printing process to take place. The fixture in use is of a proprietary design, and is in disrepair. The new fixture must be designed to be easily replaceable, efficient, and operator-friendly. This project uses the topics of Machine Design I and II, Material Science and Testing, and Material Processing in the design of this fixture plate and inserts. Our project will be fabricated by PCB in-house, to increase the speed of completion of project and also decrease the potential cost of parts manufactured by a third-party machine shop. The redesign of this fixture is important to ensure that PCB is able to create a consistent product quickly and satisfy customer requirements.

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  Tin-based Perovskite Solar Cells: Simulation Studies to Critically Assess Limiting Kinetics

  Jonathan Shaffer

  Jonathan Shaffer, Mechanical Engineering Technology
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Saquib Ahmed, Mechanical Engineering Technology
  
  Perovskite solar absorbers are the most promising structures in the world of photovoltaics in the present day. They hold tremendous potential. When stacked in tandem with silicon, they have the potential to fuel the breakthrough needed to push solar to the forefront of the nation's energy industry. This research focuses on one of the biggest limiting factors of these perovskites—the inclusion of lead as a base material. In lieu of lead, I am using Tin to showcase the full functionality of the cell, and to investigate the limiting kinetics of the devices such that I can pursue more possibilities for a non-toxic perovskite. My research focuses on simulation studies, wherein I use advanced software to adjust some of the critical input parameters and analyze the results. Once these parameters are optimized, I can analyze the overall efficiency dynamics, in both the electrical and optical sense, to discover the limiting criteria of the material, as well as to discover more cost-effective and efficient solar stack configurations.

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  Roll Your Own Crypto: Use Cases for Novel Encryption Algorithms

  Joshua Stover

  Joshua Stover, CIS 494: Undergraduate Research in CIS
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Sarbani Banerjee, Computer Information Systems

  
  With data breaches on the rise and the looming threat of vulnerabilities in established encryption algorithms inching closer, data security is a growing need. Security must be considered at every step in a piece of software’s lifespan, and in every component therein. This research project employs a novel message-digest algorithm that will generate 512-bit, 256-bit, or 128-bit keys from a user selected passphrase. The message-digest algorithm uses a call to the system time to salt the hashes it generates, ensuring the uniqueness of keys even if passphrases are similar. In addition to the message-digest algorithm, it implements a unique symmetric-key encryption algorithm, using that key to encrypt and decrypt files. The software was written in C++ and compiled for use in Windows 10 and Ubuntu Linux. A simple interface for each platform allows file selection and choice of encryption level. The project was created using Visual Studio Code in conjunction with Qt Creator. My presentation shows machines running the software, encrypting and decrypting data from local and removable disks. I examine the mathematics and the code used by the algorithms, as well as an exploration of use cases. The project aims to show that creating novel encryption algorithms can increase the data security of an organization or an individual without being any more cumbersome than implementing an existing algorithm.

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  LET'S GET DIRTY! Mini Baja SAE Project

  Matthew Suchyna, Matthew Minchen, Seth Britton, Ryan Smoral, Grant Guzek, Adam Glaser, Casey Willer, Evan Shagott, Jerome Allen, Nick Walker, Josh Schaner, and Shaun Payne

  Matthew Suchyna, Matthew Minchen, Seth Britton, Ryan Smoral, Grant Guzek, Adam Glaser, Casey Willer, Evan Shagott, Jerome Allen, Nick Walker, Josh Schaner and Shaun Payne, ENT 422: Machine Design II
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Jikai Du, Engineering Technology

  
  For the Mini Baja team’s Senior Project, the group was tasked with building a Mini Baja car. The vehicle must meet the requirements laid down by the SAE International group, who will be judging our fully finished car based on a strict set of guidelines. The team’s goal was to build a car that passes its rigorous inspection. This means there was much at stake as we built this car. Once the car has been fully built, our team will take it to a competition that is attended to by various teams all across the country. There, we will be judged on how our car performs in a series of obstacle courses, culminating with a final endurance race, going head-to-head against cars from every state, with the winner crowned as champions. This feat is not to be taken lightly, for the competition is fierce, with multiple skilled racers. We strive to be able to put together a car that we can shower with champagne and go down in the annals of Buffalo State engineering history.

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  Robotic Arm Design for Heavy Round Disks

  Kevin Vaval and Meseret Gebremariam

  Kevin Vaval and Meseret Gebremariam, ENT 422: Machine Design II
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Jikai Du, Engineering Technology

  Xylem Inc. is a large American water technology provider, founded in 2011 as a spinoff from ITT Corporation, that enables customers worldwide to transport, treat, test and efficiently use water in public utility, residential, commercial, agricultural and industrial settings. The company does business in more than 150 countries and has teamed up with the likes of Manchester City athletes to inform the public about the struggle for clean water. Xylem is committed to producing highly efficient water technologies that use less energy, reduce lifecycle costs, and provide environmental benefits to buyers and communities. A Xylem plant experienced an incident involving lifting a final sphere design where an employee was injured. Our team was assigned this project in the hope of avoiding another such accident. The goal was to design an idea or mechanism that can lift a heavy round disk and flip it. The sphere-shaped disks could weigh from 35 to 1000 pounds, with a thickness up to 44 inches. Xylem’s employees use the company’s current system with a clamp and lift disks at 90 degrees, then turn the surface around. Xylem specified that our design incorporate increased safety and operate without damage to the final product.

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  Closed-Loop Speed Control and Protection Circuit for an AC Induction Motor

  Andrew Walkowski, Daniel Breloff, and Joshua Evans

  Andrew Walkowski, Daniel Breloff and Joshua Evans, ENT 466: Electrical Design II
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Leonard Fiume, Engineering Technology

  
  This project will solve the dual problem of speed control and motor protection of an unloaded operating Induction motor. A Variable Frequency Drive or (VFD) is used to provide 3-phase AC power to a 1 HP motor. A graphical user interface (GUI) written in the LabVIEW programming language will control the motor speed and direction, as well as monitor the voltage, current, temperature, and actual RPM of the motor shaft. A national instruments Data Acquisition Device or (DAQ) will measure all real-world signals previously mentioned. Four main components comprise this system. First is a VFD enclosure that receives a single-phase input power and outputs 3-phase power to the next enclosure. The Voltage/Current measurement enclosure then uses high-voltage and high-current transducers to measure the VFD output power, converts these signals into a lower voltage to be measured by the DAQ, and passes through the high voltage and high current into the motor. The third enclosure contains the DAQ device, the temperature measurement circuit, the RPM feedback measurement circuit, and four solid state relays and receives the low voltage signals from the Voltage/Current measurement enclosure. The solid-state relays in the DAQ enclosure take program commands to the VFD enclosure to determine motor RUN/STOP and FWD/REV operation. The last component is the Induction motor itself. The RPM feedback circuit is the critical component to allow for a Proportional, Integral and Derivative (PID) control of motor speed. This circuit will accurately measure the motor shaft rotation speed and feed a proportional DC voltage signal into the DAQ, as the program incorporates the signal into its PID loop and varies the analog output voltage from the DAQ device into the VFD to set the user defined speed in HZ. Accurate real-time data from all signals will be displayed and recorded in the GUI to ensure proper system operation. Five failure modes will be monitored by the LabVIEW program. Preset values and control logic from the GUI and solid state relays will disable the output of the VFD should any of the failure modes occur.

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  Server Room Environmental Monitoring and Control

  Thomas Wallen, Brandon Kohn, Farhanul Islam, and Tre'Shon Black-Presley

  Thomas Wallen, Brandon Kohn, Farhanul Islam and Tre'Shon Black-Presley, ENT 466: Electrical Design II
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Stephanie Goldberg, Engineering Technology

  
  Our goal was to design and prototype a microcontroller-based system for the monitoring and control of temperature and humidity in a small-scale server room. Our team projected testing the prototype at a site in Alden High School. The environmental data was collected and displayed on a local LCD screen inside the server room as well as transmitted wirelessly to the internet. Control of the temperature and humidity was accomplished by a set of digitally controlled relays that activate appropriate AC appliances when conditions fall out of range. The focus of the project was to build a more cost-effective version of these monitoring systems for smaller scale server rooms. This cost-effective system will help companies save money, as well as help protect their assets. An Arduino microcontroller system drives the application programming to continuously monitor the humidity and temperature of a server room. This is accomplished by using a sensor module (DHT22) available for the Arduino, which displays environmental data on an LCD screen. The readings are available online, using a Wi-Fi module to transmit the readings to a website called ThingSpeak. The Arduino also controls the relay switches for outlets used by AC appliances, such as a dehumidifier and a cooling system to maintain environmental conditions.

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  Off-Market Real Estate Investing: Exploring Data Analytics

  Evinn Wheeler

  Evinn Wheeler, CIS 494: Undergraduate Research in CIS
  Faculty Mentor: Professor Sarbani Banerjee, Computer Information Systems

  
  There are many real estate investors looking to invest in off-market properties. Many investors have trouble trying to maintain their current properties, as well as finding new good deals, all at once. This research project will help investors to search for these deals and offer them all the information they need to secure a great deal. American homeowners go through foreclosures and lose their homes every day. Instead of their losing everything, the current project aspires to connect them with investors to sell their home; at the same time, the data will offer buyers an opportunity to make a great return on investment. This project was built with Python programming language. The Python modules used in this project Pandas, NumPy, Matplotlib, and Altair. The data input will comes from several database sources, including Buffalo City, Erie County Surrogate, Zillow, and Prop Stream Data. These databases contain data related to property and tax records, mortgage information, foreclosure and probate lists, high-equity lists, projected home prices, the actual repair value of the home, and more. The project then cross-references all these lists and corresponding values to predict the likelihood of a homeowner facing foreclosure, possible sales price range, and the profit percentage of each home. This web-based project may be accessed by investors through the Google cloud platform. My presentation includes key aspects of the project, as well as a presentation of its software design.