IRIS Monthly Report May 2022

Highlights:

Urja Inauguration Ceremony
IRIS is the software partner for Urja, NITK’s first ever solar powered charging station. Urja is a project by Centre for System Design, NITK sponsored by the batch of 1970. A prototype mobile app was built and presented at the inauguration ceremony for a working demo in the presence of Prof. Udaykumar R Yaragatti (Director, NITK Surathkal), Prof Vijay Desai (Dean AAIR), other deans and HODs. Team IRIS is happy to contribute towards a cleaner, greener and healthier future.

Hostel Module 2.0
The hostel and mess booking processes (except room allotment for girls) for the B Tech batch of 2025 were held online on IRIS starting from May 09, 2022. The aim of the module is to digitize the hostel procedures in order to save the time and efforts of students and hostel office staff. An online mess booking system was introduced for the very first time. Students were also allowed to book their own rooms. Barring initial hiccups, the entire process was smooth and seamless. Team IRIS looks forward to many more opportunities to digitize various other activities in NITK.

No Dues
The No Dues procedure for the graduating batch of 2022 started on May 10, 2022. In the No Dues module, all the graduating students clear out any outstanding payments due to various teaching and non-teaching departments of NITK before receiving necessary approvals on IRIS.

MBA Admissions, M Tech Research & PhD Applications
The admission process to the MBA (2022-2024) and the application process for the M Tech Research and PhD programs took place in the month of May 2022.

SBIePay Integration
SBIePay is an online payment gateway provided by the State Bank of India. It was recently integrated with the finance module of IRIS.

Meetings with Stakeholders

• Office of the Dean Faculty Welfare: to discuss necessary changes to the faculty appraisal module in view of Faculty Appraisal 2022
• NITK Students’ Council: to improve and expand the IRIS forum
• Hostel Office: to discuss possible enhancements to the hostel module

Web

PG module:

• Fixed the deadline function in assessment to return non-null value
• Added support to display only departmental comprehensive registration entries to Secretary DRPC
• Fixed sentry bugs
• Implemented UI changes in progress assessment form
• Added a check to disallow students to apply if the comprehensive research areas are not set for the current semester and the student’s branch

Hostel Module:

• Updated hostel office and admin interface
• Fixed race conditions
• Introduced an online mess booking process
• Implemented changes to allow for offline room allotments for first year girls

Application Portal:

• Updated selection places for MBA students
• Updated call letter format

Projects Portal:

• Added authorization check to the attachment action
• Handled sentry errors
• Completed minor bug fixes and improvements

Others:

• Notifications: Notifications shall be marked as read upon clicking and opening the message
• Admission Portal: made changes to allow students to choose mode of residence (hosteller/day-scholar)
• CDC: UI revamp of student profile page
• Faculty Appraisal: made minor changes in the Consultancy section
• Finance: Added support to display payment gateway details in payment receipt
• Sophos: Updated data transfer policy to case correct value
• Library: Introduced a feature to resync finance transaction
• About IRIS page: made updates to display the newly appointed IRIS core team
• Minor bug fixes and improvements in the Courses module

Mobile

• Fixed app update dialog not popping up when a new build is released
• Handled all input cases for the Tell IRIS attachment widget.
• Added Moodle button to open the particular course directly from the app
• Added disclaimer alert dialog box in My Grade Card section saying that the marks are provisional
• Fixed web view for iOS, student feedback forms and company filtering in CDC module
• Made design changes to some CDC pages
• Fixed navigation exceptions in faculty and CDC modules
• Handled null safety issues in CDC models
• Integrated system default theme into the app
• Changed attendance summary card style
• Tested sentry on new version
• Fixed CDC updating details flush bar persistent for 100s issue
• Introduced feature to hide semester and year for alumni in dashboard cards
• Solved exceptions in faculty attendance module
• Auto subscription feature for notifications has been added for both existing and new users
• Unread notifications count inconsistency has been fixed
• Navigating to the corresponding page on clicking notifications in foreground has been handled
• Solved Debug exceptions in Faculty attendance
• Fixed console error in add class module

Systems

• Staged mail server health check
• Updated IRIS Gitlab – a collaboration platform used by IRIS team for development
• Incorporated Dynamic Domain Name System (DNS)
• Fixed bugs in dev server pull script
• Planned and identified tasks for the IRIS Systems Team recruitment which is currently underway

Product

• Handled Tell IRIS tickets
• Tested the Notifications module to be newly introduced in the IRIS Android app
• Tested the upcoming Guest House Booking module and identified a few improvements and bugs
• Prepared a set of questions to introduce a new gyan category for research internships
• Made wireframes for the new CDC website that is currently under development
• Identified potential improvements to the Alumni Connect module currently under development; suggested changes to be discussed with Dean AAIR soon
• Explored potential enhancements to the Projects Portal module
• Coordinated with the media team to get posters ready for the Q&A social media posts to improve transparency and awareness with respect to functioning of IRIS

Upcoming Releases & Events

IRIS Android App Version 1.1.6
The version 1.1.6 of the IRIS Android app is currently under extensive testing. The updated version shall be released in the Google Play Store in the month of June 2022

IRIS Labs Team Recruitment
The IRIS Labs team has resumed work post the COVID imposed lockdown. Recruitment for the IRIS Labs team shall be carried out soon. Get a chance to work on some exciting experimental projects as part of the IRIS team. Stay tuned for further updates.

Contact & Support

• In case of any issues, queries, suggestions and feedback, please raise a Tell IRIS ticket from the IRIS website or mobile app.
• Log on to https://forum.iris.nitk.ac.in/ – the one-stop discussion platform for all the students and alumni of NITK to discuss academics, student life, career opportunities and much more…
• Please follow the IRIS team’s Instagram and LinkedIn handles for regular updates