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From the Division of Information Technology’s Story Team

Kent State’s Division of Information Technology (DoIT) has helped the College of Aeronautics and Engineering (CAE) soar to reach new heights with innovative technology. Reserving aircrafts has become significantly more efficient for students with the new implementation of an automated flight reservation application.

The college originally organized aircraft reservations through a Google Doc created by a former student. Once this student graduated and was no longer operating the document, the college sought out a more automated formula.

Wayne Fincher and Jason Dunfee of the Systems Development and Innovation team had previously collaborated with CAE on another project. Knowing that they would be well suited to help solve the problem, they were contacted by the Assistant Dean of Flight and Operations, Brian Neff.

The process of building the app involved Power Apps, which was different than a typical programming language like HTML or PHP. According to Wayne Fincher, this was one of their biggest challenges. The app was built to give users access to a flight schedule through SharePoint. With this link, students can fill out a form to request an aircraft during their designated time slot.

The new app updates about eight times a day whereas the Google Doc was only updated about once a day. This improves the workflow for students and lessens the likelihood of any mix-ups. Dispatchers can now manage scheduling more easily by supervising any current reservations for future knowledge.

The collaboration between CAE and DoIT was described as positive and informative. “Brian and I worked together quite a bit to hash out his ideas and how they would translate into an application. He was very helpful with having his folks test it out,” Wayne Fincher said. He and Jason Dunfee made sure to check in with Brian Neff every so often to make sure everything was up to par.

With the help of DoIT, over 53,000 aircraft reservations were made on the app within the last year. The use of SharePoint leverages tools that have made the students’ experiences with reserving flights much more efficient. “Brian has told us the app is very intuitive. It's really sped up their workflow and we’ve had a lot of positive feedback,” said Wayne Fincher.

DoIT has worked with several divisions within the university to streamline their workflows through technology developments. Start flying beyond limits with DoIT today.