Abstract Title: 

  Computer-Assisted Proposal Submission Systems

Author:

  Drew J. Asson
  Space Telescope Science Institute (ST ScI)

Mailing Address:

  Drew J. Asson
  3700 San Martin Drive
  Baltimore, MD 21218  USA

  (410) 338-4474
  (410) 338-1592 (fax)
  asson@stsci.edu

Submit To:

  Telescope Control Systems 
     (Chair: Patrick T. Wallace, Rutherford Appleton Lab)
  at AeroSense '95

Presentation: 

  Poster presentation

Abstract:

  As institutions and observatories are required to handle more tasks 
  with fewer resources, the need to assist or automate some of the 
  processing becomes crucial.  One of the easiest tasks to partially 
  automate is the front-end process of requesting to use the telescope.  
  This includes getting the forms, filling them out, and submitting 
  them.  Automation can include making the proposal forms available,
  and allowing them to be submitted, electronically.  By providing
  a standard proposal form, the necessary information contained in
  the proposal can be extracted and partially processed by software.
  Tracking and low-level error detection can be done by software.
  The need to have people in the loop is still necessary, but many
  of the mundane, repetitive tasks can be given to software, while
  the mentally difficult tasks can handled by people.
  
  This paper will discuss some of the tools available (both commercial
  and freeware) for automating a proposal submission process.  It will
  also discuss a real system which was implemented in 2 months to
  partially automate Phase I submissions for using the Hubble Space
  Telescope.  This system was used for the most current call for
  proposals and will continue to be used for upcoming cycles.  Future
  directions for this system and computer-assisted submission systems
  in general will be discussed.
  
Author Biography:

  Drew J. Asson graduated with a B.A. in Computer Science:Mathematics from
  the University of Rochester in 1989.  He graduated with a M.S. in Computer
  Science from the Johns Hopkins University in 1993.  He worked with the
  U.S. Government during 1989-1992 and is currently at the Space Telescope 
  Science Institute since January 1993, where he is an AI Senior Software
  Engineer.  His current activities include graphical interfaces, report 
  writers, databases, batch systems, automated processing systems, and 
  software tool development.