The Department of Information Engineering (KII) was set up in autumn 1998 by the split of the Department of Informatics into two independent entities, in response to the need of specialised education in engineering studies in Informatics, and at the same time to the need of teaching the core of informatics in other faculties and courses at the University of Life Sciences Prague (CULS). KII´s main focus has been on teaching activities. The Department provides education at all levels of studies at the university, i.e. in the BSc, MSc and PhD courses. Currently, the Department has 11 academic staff, 2 technical workers and 19 PhD students.
Focus:
The faculty staff are involved in research and consultancy. The overall KII research interests have been oriented in the following topics:
° methods of information systems introduction
° information systems quality assessment and measuring
° object modelling
° computer typography
° geographic systems for decision-making support
° expert systems
° e-learning problems
° artificial intelligence application
° marginal agricultural acivities information support
A possibility of the application of data processing methods and of mathematical modelling in the agri-food sector with respect to specific attributes of the agricultural environment has been a common principle of all the above topics. A further common principle has been the consideration of the geographic character of the majority of agricultural data and the need to seek proper tools for their efficient analysis and application in the decision-making support of top management.
Educational activity:
The Department of Information Engineering offers a total of 30 specialist informatics subjects for the BSc and MSc courses at the CULS Faculty of Economics and Management and at Technical Faculty. Of the total, ten subjects are taught entirely in English.
Research activity:
The KII academic staff have been involved in the research project "Data Processing and Mathematical Modelling in Agriculture", and in projects which KII has been granted in recent three years. The following topics are hereby given as examples:
° development concept and methods of developing university IS
° selected aspects of distance studies
° SW products and services licensing
° some generalisations in measurement methods
° e-trade
° information systems quality and security
° software quality international standardisation
° object-oriented development environment
° object-oriented business modelling process assessment and business-process
re-engineering
° Smalltalk and object databases application
° transition from conceptual model to sofware objects design using BORM
° neuron networks application in decision making
° knowledge modelling methods
° spatial data application in regional administration and development
° geographic modelling
° multicriterial classification and symptom space modelling
° certain aspects of image processing as the most widespread data source for GIS
° expert system for mushroom cultivation and bee management
° expert elements of agricultural multimedial systems
° feedback in e-learning
International contacts:
KII has been cooperating with similarly orientated departments at Czech Tech University in Prague, Chem Uni in Prague, AgUni Brno and VŠB TechUni in Ostrava.
Among the other partners in research and education have been the following institutions:
- Radiomobil ČR
- EUNIS-CZ
- University of Agriculture Athens
- University and Research Wageningen
- University at Loghborough, Faculty of Science, Dept. of Computer Science
- Technical University Košice, Dept. of Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence
- International cooperation results annually in a number of incoming visits and a number of KII outgoing staff.
Other activities:
Among the other activities have been
° publishing work
° work on scientific grants
° organisation of scientific and specialist events
° membership in scientific councils
° membership in scientific journals´ editorial boards
° membership in grant agencies´ committees
° membership in scientific societies
° membership in international organisations
° membership in organizing and programme committees of national conferences
° external lecturing at other universities
° cooperation with research institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences
° other activities