Cesar Garita

Costa Rican Institute of Technology (ITCR) | TEC · Escuela de Ingeniería en Computación

Given the general condition of road infrastructure in Costa Rica, the proper prioritization of maintenance activities for bridges is essential for government institutions to effectively plan and assign resource investments. This work presents the main results of an extension project developed by the e-Bridge program of the Costa Rica Institute of T...

El artículo presenta algunos de los resultados generales del Proyecto de Extensión: Priorización de Estructuras de Puentes Utilizando Indicadores de Desempeño: Plan Piloto Municipalidad de El Guarco, este proyecto se ejecutó entre enero 2018 a diciembre 2019, por parte del Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica. Se muestra en el artículo la importanci...

Actualmente las carreras de Computación en la Educación Superior enfrentan retos importantes relacionados con el ejercicio de la investigación y la extensión, como parte de las actividades sustantivas de toda universidad para responder a las necesidades sociales. Estos retos incluyen, por ejemplo, el desarrollo de competencias del recurso humano, l...

Abstract: The condition of road infrastructure in countries like Costa Rica, combined with natural disasters related to rain, floods, and other natural events, makes the proper management of bridge structures a specially sensitive issue for national institutions. This situation creates the need to monitor the health of bridge structures in order to...

El rendimiento es un importante atributo de calidad de un sistema de software. La Ingeniería de rendimiento del software comprende las actividades de análisis, diseño, construcción, medición y validación, que atienden los requerimientos de rendimiento a lo largo del proceso de desarrollo de software. En los sistemas de software que utilizan comunic...

El mantenimiento preventivo en un automóvil reduce significativamente el tiempo en que éste se encuentra fuera de funcionamiento; sin embargo, saber con mayor exactitud cuándo se debe realizar este tipo de trabajos y/o reparaciones no es una ciencia cierta. Los talleres mecánicos usualmente proveen de mantenimientos reactivos y hasta el momento no...

Preventive maintenance for an automobile, significantly reduces the time of a vehicle to be out of service; nonetheless, knowing when any kind of maintenance or repairs should be done to the automobile it is not an exact science. Mechanical and repair shops usually provide service as a reactive measure, and up to this date, there are not automated...

Los puentes representan un componente fundamental de la infraestructura vial de cualquier país. Daños y deficiencias en puentes pueden tener un impacto directo en la ejecución de actividades socio-económicas de la población en general. En Costa Rica, aún no se cuenta con un inventario completo de puentes en rutas nacionales por lo que resulta muy d...

Concept Maps (CMs) have been used as an evaluation tool in learning processes since they allow the representation and analysis of the knowledge developed by a student regarding a specific subject. In order to properly evaluate and grade CMs developed by students, it is necessary to define a set of criteria in relation to for instance, the structure...

Resumen-En Costa Rica, la infraestructura vial representa una de las debilidades más grandes en términos de desarrollo socio-económico del país. En este contexto, los puentes son estructuras fundamentales de la infraestructura vial. Para apoyar la toma de decisiones gubernamentales en este sector, es necesario en particular contar con información d...

Resumen-Se utilizó un modelo computacional de lógica difusa, para el análisis de riesgo químico por inhalación en laboratorios. Los resultados de la investigación se utilizaron para presentar un nuevo enfoque semicuantitativo en este tipo de valoración de riesgo en función del tiempo. El modelo fue sometido a criterio experto para valorar su aplica...

The general condition of road infrastructure is a major weakness of the Costa Rican economy. In particular, a significant percentage of national bridges show an average or critical condition regarding parts of their structure. On the other hand, road and bridge infrastructure is crucial for the national economy since it promotes activities such as...

p class="p1">El diseño y desarrollo de sistemas que permitan recolectar, procesar, almacenar e integrar información asociada al monitoreo periódico de la condición de estructuras civiles como edificios y puentes, representa un gran reto desde el punto de vista computacional. En la práctica, podría ser necesario integrar un gran número de herramient...

This paper presents a computational Fuzzy Logic Model for chemical hazards risk assessment by inhalation in laboratories. Some influence factors on chemical risk are deterministic but not completely measurable. As a result, this research focusses on Fuzzy Logic, instead of a probabilistic approach. Data for simulation is based on a hypothetical but...

The e-Bridge 2.0 Project - Integrated System for Performance Assessment of Bridge Structures, aims at the development of a system prototype for solving strategic queries regarding the performance of bridges in Costa Rica. The main components of the system prototype include: a technical information system for bridge inventory; sensors systems to mea...

Collaborative games are being increasingly used in educational platforms in order to promote specific learning skills among students through specific ludic experiences. Virtual worlds can also contribute to offer students a unique environment exploring knowledge domains while interacting with other students. This paper describes an innovative virtu...

Collaborative games are being increasingly used in educational platforms in order to promote specific learning skills among students through specific ludic experiences. Virtual worlds can also contribute to offer students a unique environment exploring knowledge domains while interacting with other students. This paper describes an innovative virtu...

Abstract. In this paper research we present the model and prototype of a Hybrid Recommender Agent to suggest learning resources or learning objects for a course from applying data mining techniques. This recommender takes as inputs the Instructional Design, Attributes Model and Learning Styles Theory to perform the search, selection and recommendat...

In brief, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) refers to the storage and analysis of large amounts of sensor data associated to specific variables that indicate the condition of a civil structure, e.g. a bridge on a national highway. SHM analysis tasks typically involve the integration of different tools which may be highly heterogeneous, autonomous...

E-learning projects in many universities are focused on adapting or installing a software platform to upload teaching materials and sometimes to open discussion forums. However, it is totally possible to extend the learning management system (LMS) as a complete service platform for students and instructors including more advanced services. This pap...

Nowadays, mobile technologies offer vast possibilities to extend and enrich learning activities. The constant evolution and growing use of these technologies, makes them a powerful instrument to promote a more inclusive education world-wide. Higher Education Institutions must then take advantage of these technologies in order to improve their learn...

This work proposes an adaptive system using Bayesian networks to generate learning activities for students based on their course performance evaluation. Different learning activities are combined into learning paths in order to reinforce student knowledge on specific course contents. The proposed system was used in a b-learning course offered at th...

TecDigital is the e-learning project of the Costa Rica Institute of Technology (TEC). This paper describes the main characteristics of TEC Digital as a successful case study of e-learning integration in higher education in Costa Rica. In particular, the paper describes TEC Digital objectives and organization, development stages, instructor involvem...

El TecDigital es el proyecto de e-learning del Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica (TEC) cuyo objetivo principal es incorporar las Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación (TIC) en el desarrollo de las actividades docentes de la institución. El proyecto dio inicio en el año 2007 y se encuentra actualmente en fase de consolidación. Durante estos añ...

This article proposes a methodology that permits combining two computational technologies in order to solvea social problem, having in one side computational modeling of tephra fall and on the other side GeographicInformation Systems. The methodology described was employed to create hazard analysis scenarios for tephrafall from the Iraz ́u volcano...

Areito is the name of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that is being set up and used by multiple educational organizations in the Dominican Republic. Through Areito, it is possible to simultaneously create, manage and deploy a large number of Virtual Learning Communities (VLCs) oriented towards diverse aspects of learning processes in education...

Areito is the name of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that is being set up and used by multiple educational organizations in the Dominican Republic. Through Areito, it is possible to simultaneously create, manage and deploy a large number of Virtual Learning Communities (VLCs) oriented towards diverse aspects of learning processes in education...

This paper describes the detailed structure of a Virtual Organization (VO) course, currently being taught as part of undergraduate and Master programs in Computer Science at the Costa Rican Institute of Technology. The course focuses on IT issues and concrete applications of the VO paradigm, and follows a combined theoretical/practical approach wit...

This paper describes the application of the generic framework provided by the Grid-based Virtual Laboratory Amsterdam (VLAM-G), in the support of complex experimentation scenarios in the domain of molecular biology. The focus of the paper lies on both the analysis of some reference experimentation scenarios, and the on-going extension and tuning of...

Este artículo describe la aplicación de técnicas de programación genética para resolver el problema de integración simbólica de funciones de una variable. Básicamente, se desea encontrar una función que calcule o aproxime la primitiva de una función real. El programa genético diseñado para este fin maneja una población de individuos que representan...

The Grid-based Virtual Laboratory AMsterdam (VLAM-G), provides a science portal for distributed analysis in applied scientific research. It offers scientists remote experiment control, data management facilities and access to distributed resources by providing cross-institutional integration of information and resources in a familiar environment. T...

A Virtual Enterprise (VE) in the tourism sector can be defined as a temporary consortium of service provider organizations (e.g. traveling agencies, accommodation providers, etc.), that join their skills and resources in order to offer integrated value-added services. Value-added services are composed of basic services and/or other value-added serv...

The support of real collaborative virtual enterprise (VE) scenarios sets forward particularly interesting challenges in terms of distributed information management, regarding the proper sharing and exchange of information among preexisting autonomous enterprises. In order to address these challenges, it is necessary to achieve a comprehensive analy...

The VLAM (Virtual Laboratory AMsterdam) provides a science portal for distributed analysis in applied scientific research. It offers scientists a familiar environment to carry out their experiments, where content and data are clearly separated. Emphasis is put on the development and use of open standards and seamless integration of external devices...

Recent advances in the IT can be applied to properly support certain complex requirements in the scientific and engineering domains. In experimental sciences, for instance, researchers should be assisted with conducting their complex scientific experimentation and supporting their collaboration with other scientists. The main requirements identifie...

When designing an IT platform aimed at supporting industrial virtual enterprises (VEs), certain issues related to information management requirements become especially challenging, such as the physical distribution of data, the enterprise autonomy and privacy enforcement, access rights to shared information, and data visibility levels, among others...

The support of real collaborative virtual enterprise (VE) scenarios sets forward particularly interesting challenges in terms of distributed information management, regarding the proper sharing and exchange of information among preexisting autonomous enterprises. In order to address these challenges, it is necessary to achieve a comprehensive analy...

The current developments in Information Technology (IT) enable enterprises to open up and strengthen their collaborations to certain extent. However, in order to enable real Virtual Enterprise (VE) scenarios, there are still many issues left open. Among others, achieving a comprehensive analysis of information management approaches and technology a...

The Esprit project PRODNET II 1 (Production Planning and Management in an Extended Enterprise) had as its main objective the development of a reference architecture and a support infrastructure for Industrial Virtual Enterprises (VEs). The Distribu ted Information Management system (DIMS) component of the PRODNET architecture supports the complex V...

In order to assist researchers with conducting their complex scientific experimentation and to support their collaboration with other scientists, modern advances in the IT area can be properly applied to the domain of experimental sciences. The main requirements identified in this domain include management of large data sets, distributed collaborat...

In the Virtual Enterprise (VE) paradigm, enterprises must share and exchange a part of their internal local information in order to interact and cooperate with each other towards the achievement of the global VE goals. However, the information access level for every VE partner depends on several "determining features" such as the cooperation relati...

In Virtual Enterprise (VE) collaborations, enterprises operate as a single unit sharing their skills, technologies, and costs towards the achievement of a common goal. In order to support the proper cooperation among VE members, an advanced distributed information management approach would be highly beneficial to tackle the problems of physical dis...

In order to assist researchers with conducting their complex scientific experimentation and to support their collaboration with other scientists, modern advances in the IT area can be properly applied to the domain of experimental sciences. The main requirements identified in this domain include management of large data sets, distributed collaborat...

The support of real collaborative virtual enterprise (VE) scenarios sets forward particularly interesting challenges in terms of distributed information management, regarding the proper sharing and exchange of information among preexisting autonomous enterprises. In order to address these challenges, it is necessary to achieve a comprehensive analy...

A complex virtual enterprise scenario involving European and Brazilian enterprises was designed to demonstrate and validate the approach and functionalities of the PRODNET II infrastructure. The processes involved in this scenario are summarized and selected examples illustrating the complex interactions among PRODNET modules are discussed.

In VE collaborations, many issues related to information management requirements become crucial, such as the privacy enforcement, information access rights, enterprise visibility levels, data redundancy control, and location transparency aspects. Analysis of the information management requirements in the VE environment lead to a federated informati...

In ESPRIT project PRODNET II, a federated architecture approach is adopted to support the information management requirements of the VE environment. This approach provides an innovative mechanism for information access rights and visibility level among enterprises, which are exploited through the federated query processing. In this chapter, the des...

In the context of the current aggressive commercialization and globalization trends, the paradigm of Virtual Enterprises (VEs) represents a potential solution for the companies to come together and form enterprise networks and mutual alliances. Consequently, new production and manufacturing possibilities emerge, where costs, skills, and resources a...

In general, a Virtual Enterprise (VE) is an interoperable network of pre-existing enterprises with a common goal, where the enterprises can function together as a single organization. With the objective of developing a reference architecture and a support infrastructure for VEs, the Esprit project PRODNET II (Production Planning and Management in a...

An approach to the design of an architecture for industrial virtual enterprises (VE), with special emphasis on the identification of main functional requirements, is presented. First, a discussion of the various types of virtual enterprises is provided. Some classification scenarios and discussions of the modelling and reengineering tools and metho...