Flash analysis of speed camera data
E-Government student wins first semester computer science competition
Once again, numerous students of the Bachelor degree programmes "Media Computing" and "E-Government" of the Faculty of Communication and Environment took part in the annual internal computer science competition for freshmen. E-Government student Sarah Schmitz was able to prevail against all fellow students and won first place.
The annual competition is part of the "Fundamentals of Computer Science" module, in which Professor Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Greveler teaches the technical fundamentals of computer science and the structure of computer networks.
In this year's competition students had to evaluate a large open data set from the city of Moers on administrative offenses in flowing traffic. This data set contained e.g. information on the offence, the location of the offence and the fine, including data from speed measurements, colloquially known as speed camera photos. Students were given the task to analyse the data and to find out at which three crime scenes in Moers the highest total fine was imposed. The biggest challenge though was the time limit of only one hour. After just 30 minutes, Sarah Schmitz found the correct solution and succeeded in winning the competition.
“An inclination towards mathematics, an interest in logic and a creative approach to the digital world are ideal prerequisites for studying”, says Professor Greveler who organizes the competition. “Our competition is a special challenge: the result has to be achieved very quickly, but it has to be correct."
Sarah Schmitz is a student of the E-Government degree programme which is lately being offered in an additional, dual-vocational mode of study in collaboration with the State Government of North Rhine-Westphalia.
In 2020, highest amount of fines - 29,777.50 EUR - was issued in Moers-Schwafheim, Unfortunately this is no reason to celebrate, because the main reason for monitoring traffic there is probably an elementary school. It would be safer for the children if everyone kept to the speed limit and drove carefully. Thanks to administrative informatics and the evaluation of public data records, it is possible to find dangerous spots and contribute to the safety of road users.