We are:

At , we seek to
Gabriel Kreindler
provide professional and mission critical Mihai Moldovan
database solutions for any type of activity. Andrei Costescu
We achieve our objective by building Cezar Chirilă
intelligent systems that help businesses Project Manager:
efficiently connect their various parts. Corina Achinca
 The Sigma Foundation for European Integration is a non-profit
organization that encourages pre-university education at all levels.
Its programs consist of contests, supplementary classes and
camps.
FIES’s projects include The European Kangaroo Applied
Mathematics Contest, an economical simulation contest, INVEST,
and educational and cultural oriented camps.
camps Students from all
over the country engage in these programs.
FIES has a major impact on the Romanian educational system
due to its large test center network (3800 centers) and high
contest participation rate (over 247.000 contestants). Its activity is
also supported by the Ministry of Education and Research (MER).

Contact information:
The Sigma Foundation for European Integration
Str. General Berthelot nr. 38, sector 1, Bucureşti
Tel.: +4021 313 96 42, E-mail: fies@home.ro,
 Interviews with:
Mr. Boris Singer
Position: President
Mrs. Corina Cârtoaje
Position: Vice - President
• Personal participation in FIES’s activities both as contestants and
as volunteers.
 Because of this involvement, we developed a special interest for the
diverse activities of FIES. At the same time, we became acquainted with
some features of the organization scheme, from the student’s point of
view.

• Kangaroo Contest website: www.matematicasicangurul.ro

The site contains relevant information regarding contest registration,
testing procedures and prizes.
 Mrs. Cârtoaje and Mr. Singer considerately answered all our questions,
and helped us become acquainted with FIES through two interviews
• At the first interview, we gained insight into FIES’s interior
configuration; we collected information about:
 all of FIES’s activities and structures. In addition, we understood which
activities are most important to FIES;
 specific procedures regarding contests, classes and camps;
 the data FIES needs to store and the information FIES needs to analyze
(such as reports, statistics etc.);

During the second interview, we received feedback on an early

stage of our project:
 our interviewees confirmed our project’s basic structure;
 they suggested a more accurate representation for the relationships
between students and FIES, according to their business needs;
 we documented some of our assumptions and made the required
modifications.
Reliable database able to handle concentrated activity during
certain short periods of time (e.g. when results for contests
must be quickly made available)
Keep complete records of
 undergoing and past activities
 persons involved (students, teachers, employees)
 sponsors and sponsorships
Easy data input and complex information output
Generate comprehensive reports and statistics regarding:
 Participants (e.g.: test scores, class attendance, problems solved)
 Employment statistics (e.g.: activities, job history, wages,
qualification)
 Class (e.g.: popularity, student results)
 Teacher (e.g.: problems proposed, classes taught)
The possibility for further development of on-line services
 • Steps to achieving our commitment to FIES:

Review Optimize the Retrieve data from all Sigma Foundation

operation flow relationships factors involved
Create a complete and
centralized database
Test Centers
Reduce input time Administration and
Administration
Contest – Class - Camp
Process data faster Administrated tests
Sponsor - Contest
Produce reports Sponsors
faster Student - Contest
Problems
Present Student - Class Commitment
• Dispersed DB • Centralized DB
• Inefficient data • Perform complex
gathering processes of input data
Camps Info. for MEC
IN: Participation fee
Problems Info. for administration
OUT: prizes
IN: Sponsorships
Students Info. for sponsors OUT: wages
Contests Create comprehensive
statistics

Manage a complete & Control the

Generate analysis
secure data archive investments
 PROBLEM CENTER
#* id appear at consist held #* id
accommodate
* subject of at * name
* text * address
* solution * phone no
º difficulty level CONTEST * contact person
#* id
the first stage of * name
* date
development submitted * grade
* subject
register
by
º participation fee
the most significant funded by managed
by

entities fund fund funded by managed by manage manage

the most important SPONSOR CAMP EMPLOYEE

relationships #* id
* name
#* id
* location
#* SSN
* name
º address * start date * birth date
clear and intuitive º phone no * end date
* cost
* address
* phone no
layout º description º email

fund consist
central activities of

highlighted funded by
CLASS
enroll enroll
will be further submit
#* id
* date * time
for at

developed to comply TEACHER

º syllabus
º web site
* topic
STUDENT
#* id
with all design and #* id
* name
* name
* address
* address
layout norms. * phone no held consist
* phone no
º email
º email hold by of enroll for * school
º specialization
* grade
 receive

CONTEST TEACHER #* id hold hold held by CLASS

#* id * name * address * phone no #* id
* name º email º specialization * date
LOCATION
* date * time
* grade submit held at
* topic
#* id
* subject º syllabus
consist of * address
º description submitted by * room no accommodate º website
º participation fee * contact person
TEST PROBLEM º comments joined via receive
CENTER #* id
the #* id * subject
result entered entered
* text
STUDENT #* id
subject in via via * name
* solution * name * address * school
of * address
* phone no º difficulty level * phone no º email * grade
* contact person
posed selected as gives make receive make make
makes receive at
consist in given by
made made
made
for by TEST answered by QUESTION made for
QUESTION RESPONSE by
* question number answers * answer
REGISTRATION * maximum points * points awarded
made
* no of students by CLASS
º proof of payment
º comments
ENROLLMENT
made at
* was present
CONTEST ENROLLMENT º special notes
* was present awarded to
º special notes
made for
made
by

awarded at PRIZE
awarded as * type made made
CAMP º sum of money
CAMP for for
#* id consist of ENROLLMENT
* location joined via
* was present
* start date º special notes
* end date made for º proof of payment
* cost receive
º description SPONSORSHIP
made # contract no
the subject of refer to for * date
ASSIGNMENT SPONSOR º value
refer to º description
#* contract no #* id
* name make º conditions
* description
managed handled by * payment º address
by EMPLOYEE º phone no made by
#* SSN appointed
* name refer to
* birth date EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT
* address appear in assigned #* contract no * wage
* phone no JOB #* id through * start date º end date
manage º email * description * title
refer to
• Each student enrolls for a contest at a test center that takes
care of individual fee payments and the actual contest
organization. This information is kept in the Contest enrollment
entity.
• For each contest, centers have registration contracts with FIES
that include the number of students registered at that center
and information about financial matters.
• Because more than one contest can take place at a certain
test center, the Contest Enrollment entity needs to relate to the
Contest entity.
• Employees might change their job over time. This information
is stored in the Employment Contract entity.
• FIES relies on volunteer work; volunteers have jobs with the
wage attribute set to “0”.
 All the problems submitted by teachers need to be stored although
some of them may never be used as questions in contests.
• The Test Question entity keeps track of all the problems selected for
certain contests and the Question Response entity tracks each
student’s answers to these questions.
• Further constrains must be imposed on the database:
 A student must participate in a contest in order to win a prize;
 Two different contests cannot have the same name, date and grade attributes;
 The database will only store information about the students and teachers who
have participated in FIES’s activities.

• Some special attributes were used in the ERD:

 “special notes”, “comments”, “description”, “syllabus”, “conditions” are memo fields;
 “was present” is a logical attribute; it can be either true or false;
 STUDENT – grade is a volatile attribute. It has to be updated each year.
• FIES occasionally needs to store notes about a student’s
activity within a class, contest or camp. Such notes are used to
set apart exceptional students.
• Employees have jobs and assignments. A job is a general
activity while an assignment refers to a brief period of time and
a specific task.
• The teacher who holds a class is the only person responsible for
it. FIES does not need to assign employees to classes.
• A student can refuse to participate in an awarded camp.
• Students can participate in camps even if they did not win them
as prizes.
• Sponsorships are made for specific activities of FIES.
 provides the solution for many of the problems
confronting the Sigma Foundation:
• We have created a flexible database that matches FIES’s
business needs
• Our solution dramatically reduces the time required for the
operation flow to take place
• We fully understood the company’s requirements and created
logical links between its elements
• Our system keeps records of all FIES’s activities
• The infrastructure we created allows reliable data storage and
effective archive queries
• Our customer will be able to efficiently process data and create
diverse and complex reports for current and prospective
sponsors, M.E.R., the administration or any other interested party
• FIES will be able keep track of its received funds and its
expenses