App Development Challenge

SEMI-THERM 34

Call for Apps

App Development Challenge

The goal of the Development Challenge (ADC) is to encourage SEMI-THERM attendees to develop mobile apps that would be useful to those in the electronics cooling industry.   The ADC is open to all individuals and companies within the electronics cooling community.  Students are particularly encouraged to develop apps, either individually, as part of a class project, or in collaboration with industry partners.

Submitted apps will be reviewed by members of the SEMI-THERM program committee and scored per the scoring criteria shown below.  The developer of the highest scoring app will receive a FLIR One IR imaging attachment for smartphones.  Developers of the three highest scoring apps will be invited to SEMI-THERM, with a reduced registration fee, so that they can present their app to the rest of the community.

Apps submitted for the ADC will be made available to SEMI-THERM attendees at no cost.  Developers only need to provide the executable code for their apps and have no obligation to provide any support for its use.  Please contact AppDevChal@semi-therm.org for more information or to submit your app.

Schedule:

• October 27, 2017 – Individuals who are planning to submit an app for the ADC are requested (not required) to inform SEMI-THERM of their ‘intent to submit’ by this date
• January 12, 2018 – Apps are to be submitted to SEMI-THERM by this date
• February 5, 2018 – The SEMI-THERM committee will announce which six apps received the highest scores from the reviewers and invite the top three winners to present at SEMI-THERM (if the developer of any of these three selected apps cannot travel to SEMI-THERM, the next highest scoring developer will be invited)
• March 2018 (at SEMI-THERM) – Three apps will be demonstrated by their developers at the SEMI-THERM symposium as part of a special session

Scoring Criteria
Relevance (25%): Does the app address an issue that is relevant to SEMI-THERM’s mission statement?

Ease of Use (25%)Does the app use an interface that is user friendly?  Are graphics and other outputs clear?

Commentary: This addresses how difficult it is for the user to correctly use this app.  Are the inputs clearly defined?  Does it allow different units to be used?  Are the outputs clear?  Is the procedure for actually using the app self evident?

Utility (20%): An app that users could use on a regular basis will be ranked higher than one that is highly tailored for a specific application that only rarely needs to be analyzed.

Commentary: For example, an app that calculates the thermal resistance of a liquid cooled heat sink for a specific processor will not likely to be used by as many people, or as often, as an app for a generic air cooled heat sink calculator.

Time savings potential (20%)<: Does the app solve a problem that would be difficult to do on ‘the back of an envelope’ or with a standard calculator?

Commentary: While an app that simply calculates the heat flow for 1-D conduction heat transfer through a given geometry, material and temperature drop could be useful, the calculation is simple enough that one would typically do it with a four function calculator.  This seems less useful than an app that allows the user to avoid doing a more complex calculation such as pressure drop through a system.

Robustness (10%): How well does the app deal with, or prevent, poor inputs?  Can individual inputs be changed or do they all have to be re-entered? etc.

Accuracy: Does the app consistently produce accurate results?

Commentary: Bad data can be worse than no data; occasional incorrect results with no warning is a 25% penalty in score (this may occur, for example, if a screen doesn’t clear when inputs are changed and the previous calculation still shows up); consistently incorrect result is disqualification

Multi-platform Use: Apps written for use on multiple platform (IOS, Android, Microsoft) will be ranked higher than those limited to a single platform

Commentary: + 15% score if versions of the app are available in all operating systems

Programming Environments

Call for Apps

Categories: Android, IOS or MS operating systems

+ 15% score if versions of the app are available in all operating systems

Value: Can this app be used by individuals working in the area of Electronics Cooling on a regular basis?

Weight = 20%, score =

Commentary: For example, an app that calculates the thermal resistance of a liquid cooled heat sink for a specific processor will not likely to be used by as many people, or as often, as an app for a generic air cooled heat sink calculator.

Time saved relative to using a scientific calculator?

Weight = 15%, score = Hours: 10, Hour: 8, Minutes: 6, Minute: 4, Seconds: 2

Commentary: While an app that simply calculates the heat flow for 1-D conduction heat transfer through a given geometry, material and temperature drop could be useful, the calculation is simple enough that one would typically do it with a four function calculator.  This seems less useful than an app that allows the user to avoid doing a more complex calculation such as pressure drop through a system.

Ease of Use: Weight = 20%, Score = 0-10 (low to high)

Commentary: This addresses how difficult it is for the user to correctly use this app.  Are the inputs clearly defined?  Does it allow different units to be used?  Are the outputs clear?  Is the procedure for actually using the app self evident?

Robustness: (Does it deal with, are adequately prevent, poor inputs?  Does it show inaccurate results if inputs are changed? Etc.)

Weight = 15%, Score = 0-10 (low to high)

Accuracy: -50% of score if not accurate

Criteria for judging submitted apps: