Dr Jan Pajak: computing research profile

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Welcome to my web page which outlines computing research that I completed
I must admit, that the reseach which I completed have a multidisciplinary character, and in some areas is quite distant from computing. After all, I am one of these few scientists in the world, who have a multidisciplinary background and even managed to held university posts of associate professor in two totally different disciplines. However, since you are interested in my lecture notes on computing, probably you are only interested in this part of my research, which somehow relate to computing. Therefore, on this web page I outline only my computing-related research. Other research that I completed (or carry out right now) are presented elsewhere.

* * *
At the time of preparing of this web page (2003), I was the author of 71 scientific publications. They varied in many aspects, starting from their topic, and finishing on the manner they were published. For example, various my works were published in all possible forms, starting from appearing in refereed scientific journals, through popular periodicals (e.g. see my article from the popular OMNI magazine (USA), February 1984, V.1. No. 6, page 87), and finishing on university textbooks and published books. On this web page only refereed publications are listed, means articles published in refereed scientific journals (mostly from Poland), or papers presented on refereed scientific conferences. When my computer-related publications and subjects of my computing research are considered, these include as follows (most recent first):
* * *
Research, like everything in our life, is also carried out according to the philosophy of the researcher. In my research, I always try to utilise the philosophy of ancient boat builders, who always went into the trips in their own boat. Thus if the boat went down, they also went down with it. (This philosophy is the outcome of my military training, or more specifically the requirement from the Polish army, that the bridge builders always went under the bridge when a first tank rolled through it - for details see About Page.) I personally believe that if this philosophy is adhered by all researchers, we would not have so many bizarre creations, nor so so many strange creators.

Note that you can see the enlargement of each photograph from this web site, simply by clicking on this photograph. When you finish with looking at such a photo enlarged, click BACK to return to this page.
Fig. 1.
Fig. 1 With the expansion of user-paid education, is research becoming an underdog of teaching?
1. Search engines:
Search engines are subjects of my current research. I investigate them starting from 2002. The goal that I set for this research is to design, develop, and investigate the behaviour of a search engine that is simple enough to be completed by Cybertechnology students within four assignments spread over two terms. Should you wish to learn more about this research, see the description and students handouts available on a separate page Search Engine Research (to visit click on it). You can also have a look on my publication on this subject, namely:
[SE1] Pajak J.: "Developing a Search Engine Design for Research and Development in a Polytechnic Teaching Environment". A conscise paper presented on the NACCQ 16th Annual Conference in Palmerston North, New Zealand, 6-9 July 2003. Published on pages 363 to 366 of the Proceedings of the 16th Annual Conference of the National Advisory Committee on Computing Qualifications 6th - 9th July 2003, ISBN 0-473-09673-0, (NACCQ, P.O. Box 11050, Hilcrest, Hamilton, New Zealand).
2. Natural language processing:
Natural language processing was a topic of my research carried out at the University of Otago, Dunedin, during the period from 1988 to 1990. Here is my conference paper, which presents results of this research. The editorial data of this paper were:
[NL] Pajak J.: "Concept of a user-tuned information system for natural language processing", ANZAME Conference, The University of Western Australia, Perth, 29 November 1988 - 2 December 1988 (Abstracts, page 73).

Fig. 2.
Fig. 2: Myself in front of the historic registry building at the University of Otago in Dunedin New Zealand. This phtograph taken at the time when I was a Senior Lecturer at this university and researched natural languages processing.
Fig. 3.
Fig.3: Here is what happens when someone is hooked to research.
3. Doctoral thesis:
My degree is a Doctor of Technical Sciences (DrTSc). I defended my doctorate on 6 July 1974, at the Technical University of Wroclaw, Poland. It concerned Computer Assisted Design (CAD). The topic of my doctoral thesis was: "Analityczne badanie rozkladu temperatur we wrzecionach obrabiarek skrawajacych ze szczególnym uwzglednieniem wrzeciona tokarki" (i.e. "Analytical investigation of the temperature distribution in machine tool spindles with particular regard to lathe spindle"); Technical University of Wroclaw, Poland; 6 July 1974, 146 pages.
4. JAP programming language:
Believe or not, I am the creator of my own programming language. It was called "JAP" - abbreviation from the Polish "Jezyk Automatycznego Programowania" (i.e. "Language of Automatic Programming"). I published two refereed publications on this language, namely:
[JAP1] Pajak J.: "Autokod JAP do programowania tokarek sterowanych numerycznie" (i.e. "The JAP language for programming of lathes with numerical control"). Magazyn Technologa Przemyslu Lotniczego i Silnikowego (Poland), No. 2/1973, pp. 16-19.
[JAP2] Pajak J., Pajak S.: "Jezyk automatycznego programowania tokarek sterowanych numerycznie w ukladzie NUMEROBLOK 21 T01" (i.e. "The automatic programming language for lathes with NUMEROBLOK 21 T01 control system"). Mechanik, No. 4/1973, pp. 175-178.
[JAP3] Pajak J.: "Sistemy obrabotki yazykov dlya maschinnogo programmirovaniya stankov c tsifrovym upravleniem" (i.e. "Language processing systems for automatic programming of numerically controlled machine tools"); Paper presented (in Russian) at the Second National Scientific-Technical Conference with Foreign Participation on "Program and Numerically Controlled Machine Tools and Automation of Production", Varna - Bulgaria, November 14-16, 1974; papers published by NTC Sofia (Bulgaria), 1976, pp. 505-520.

Fig. 4.
Fig. 4: We can tell everyone about outcomes of our research, but are we receiving any answer?
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5: Research are like streams: start on no-where and finish in the ocean!
5. NEL language adaptation:
My experience with creating an own programming language (JAP), was well utilised at the time when I was employed in the computer factory MERA-ELWRO as a scientific advicer. One of the research projects that I was supervising then, was the adaptation to Polish computers ODRA series 1300, a programming language which originally was prepared for English computers ICL series 1900. The language was called NEL and it belonged to the APT family of programming languages (later it was renamed into NELAPT). This language was developed at the National Engineering Laboratory in Glasgow (hence the name NEL). Apart from publishing a voluminous documentation for this NEL language (3 large books), I also published several scientific publications which were explaining the scientific aspects of its design, adaptation to Polish computers, and use. Here are some of these publications:
[NEL1] Pajak J.: "Podstawy budowy jezyka 2CL do programowania frezarek przy uzyciu maszyn cyfrowych Odra serii 1300" (i.e. "Structural fundamentals of the 2CL language for the milling machines programmed with use of Odra 1300 digital computers"). This was a paper for the First Conference on "Progress in Machine Building Technology", Technical University of Wroclaw, June 20-21, 1975 - see [C4] below. This paper was later published as an independent article in the refereed journal Prace Naukowe ITBM Politechniki Wroclawskiej No. 9/1975; Seria: Konferencje No. 1, pp. 453-466.
[NEL2] Pajak J.: "NEL system do programowania obrabiarek sterowanych numerycznie" (i.e. "NEL system for programming of numerically controlled machine tools"). Informatyka (Poland), No. 11/1975, pp. 17-19.
[NEL3] Pajak J.: "Wspólpraca postprocessora dla obrabiarki sterowanej numerycznie z programami przetwarzajacymi implementacji systemu NEL na komputery Odra serii 1300" (i.e. "Options in the cooperation of postprocessor programs for NC machine tool, with processing programs in implementation of the NEL system on Odra 1300 computers"). Paper given at the Science-Technical Conference "Progress in Production Technology", Kolobrzeg, Poland, 21-23 September 1978; volume 2 papers, pp. 312-316.
6. Thermal graph method:
The "thermal graph" is a version of the computer modelling and calculation method and software, usually called the "finite elements". But otherwise than the finite elements, which are used for stress analyses and for modelling, the thermal graph is applied mainly to thermal phenomena (i.e. for modelling of thermal phenomena, and for calculation of temperature distributions). I developed this thermal graph method myself, and published several scientific articles and papers on it. Here are some of these:
[TG1] Jedrzejewski J., Pajak J.: "Metoda grafu termicznego do numerycznego wyznaczania rozkladów temperatur w elementach maszyn" (i.e. "Thermal graph method for numerical determination of temperature distribution in machine elements"). Prace Naukowe Instytutu Technologii Budowy Maszyn (ITBM) Politechniki Wroclawskiej (Poland), Nr 4, Seria: Studia i Materialy, No. 4/1971, pp. 87-110.
[TG2] Jedrzejewski J., Pajak J.: "Numerische Bestimmung der Temperaturfelder in Baugliedern von Werkzeugmaschinen mittels eines thermischen graphes" (i.e. "Use of a thermal graph for numerical determination of temperature distribution in elements of machine tools"), paper presented (in German) at the 23rd General Assembly of CIRP in Bled, Yugoslavia, 26 August to 1 September 1973, 16 pages.
[TG3] Jedrzejewski J., Pajak J.: "Bestimmung der Temperaturfelder in Baugliedern von Werkzeugmaschinen" (i.e. "Thermal investigation of machine tool components"), Werkzeug Maschine International (West Germany), Forschung Konstruktion Fertigung, No. 5/1974, pp. 61-66.
[TG4] Pajak J.: "Algorytm obliczania rozkladów temperatur na osiowo-symetrycznych elementach obrabiarek" (i.e. "Algorithm of calculation of temperature distribution in rotary machine tool elements"). Prace Naukowe ITBM Politechniki Wroclawskiej, No. 16, Seria: Studia i Materialy No. 13/1976, pp. 79-98.
[TG5] Jedrzejewski J., Pajak J.: "Metod opredeleniya termicheskih pokazatelei shpindel'nykh uzlov metallorezhushchikh stankov" (i.e. "A method for the thermal factors determination in machine tool spindle units"). Paper presented (in Russian) at the 3rd National Conference "Automatization 76", Albena, Bulgaria, 5-9 October 1976; published in volume 2 papers, pp. 134-139.
[TG6] Bassenge Ch., Pajak J.: "Numeryczne metody obliczania pól temperatur w elementach maszyn" (i.e. "Numerical methods for temperature fields calculation in machine elements"). Prace Naukowe ITBM Politechniki Wroclawskiej, No. 17, Seria: Studia i Materialy No. 14/1978, pp. 5-27.
* * *
I should mention, that the thermal graph method in years 1970 to 1982 become the basic analytical tool for an entire team of researchers which investigated thermal phenomena at the Institute of TBM (Machine Building Technology) from the Technical University of Wroclaw, Poland, where I worked at that time. Probably this team existed and operated longer, though after my (political) emmigration to New Zealand in 1982 I lost contact with it.

Fig. 6.
Fig. 6: Does "new and flashy" mean good?
Fig. 7.
Fig. 7: Starting new research is like getting into a dense bush.
7. Engineering Software:
A lot of my former research involved Engineering Software. Although Engineering Software is concerned with tasks quite similar to these of the discipline of Software Engineering, both of them differ in their objectives. The main goal of Engineering Software is to produce various software packages for specialised Engineering applications. When I was employed as a scientific adviser to then a largest computer producing factory in the Eastern Europe, called MERA-ELWRO, a significant part of my responsibilities included the organisation and expansion of a library of Engineering Software for computers produced at that factory. Similar duties I carried out also in my next job as a scientific consultant in a Bus and Truct Producting Factory called POLMO-JELCZ. Here are some of my papers from this area:
[ES1] Pajak J.: "System obliczen inzynierskich przykladem oprogramowania o zwiekszonej efektywnosci pracy" (i.e. "The engineering software system as an example of the problem-oriented language of higher work effectiveness"). It was originally a paper presented during the Industrial Assembly on "Increase in machining efficiency" at the Technical University of Wroclaw in Rydzyn near Leszno, Poland, 21-22 June 1979. The paper was later published as a scientific article in the refereed journal Prace Naukowe ITBM Politechniki Wroclawskiej, No. 22/1979, Seria: Konferencje No. 4, pp. 147-159.
8. Computerised numerical control (CNC):
Computerised numerical control (CNC) and numerical control (NC) are subjects that are on the border between hardware and software. I did a lot of research on the software side of CNC and NC. Here are various refreed articles that I published in these areas:
[CNC1] Pajak J., Pajak S.: "Programowanie przebiegu obróbki na tokarkach ze sterowaniem numerycznym systemu KÖPING NC 105" (i.e. "Programming of NC lathes with KÖPING NC 105 control system"). Mechanik (Poland), No. 1/1973, pp. 11-12
[CNC2] Pajak J.: "Zamiana kodów na tasmach perforowanych do obrabiarek sterowanych numerycznie" (i.e. "Use of computers for codes exchange in punched tapes for numerically controlled machine tools"). Mechanik, No. 2/1974, pp. 86-88.
[CNC3] Pajak J., Sereja B.: "Uzytkowanie tokarki uchwytowej TZC-32N ze sterowaniem numerycznym" (i.e. "Use of NC chuck lathe, type TZC-32N with numerical control"). Mechanik, No. 4/1974, pp. 188-190.

Fig.8.
Fig. 8: Research may hurt!

Fig. 9.
Fig. 9: Spherical mysteries from Moeraki. Business people say "money lie on streets". I would say "entrance doors to your success in research can be found everywhere".

9. Computer-Assisted Design (CAD):
Computer Assisted Design was one of the main areas of my initial involvement in computing. Here are my papers on this subject:
[CAD1] Pajak J.: "Wspomagane komputerowo projektowanie zarysu krzywki plaskiej" (i.e. "Computer Assisted Design of plane cam profiles"), Przeglad Mechaniczny, No. 18/1980, pp. 5-9.

10. Calculators:
When I worked as a scientific advicer to the computer-producing factory MERA-ELWRO, one of numerous small projects I was involved in, was Research and Development of a calculator, the production of which was to be started by this factory. My task was to process available information about the most desirable features of such calculators then on market, and to develop requirements and a design specification for a calculator that would have all these features. The results of my participation in this R-and-D project turned beneficial to everyone. The factory produced a calculator, which turned into a market success. My students since that time have a continuous supply of calculator-type assignments. I gained the inspiration to start later a collection of software calculators, which you can see via this web site. In turn my list of publications gained another scientific article:
[C] Pajak J.: "Budowa i dzialanie kalkulatorków elektronicznych" (i.e. "Construction and operation of electronic calculators"). Przeglad Mechaniczny (Poland), No. 17/1979, pp. 5-9.

Fig. 10.
Fig. 10: Lets us do research, when there is a time for research, lets us celebrate, when there is a reason for celebrations!
Fig. 11.
Fig. 11: My own Pearl Harbour.
* * *
A renown scientist - probably from my generation, was asked for advice by inquisitive students wanting to benefit from the accumulation of his scientific wisdom. Professor, what is better to have, a spouse or a lover. Well, replied the wise professor, best is to have both. You tell your spouse that you spend some time with the lover, you tell the lover that you spend some time with the spouse, while yourself, you walk, walk, straight to the library, where you do your research!

11. Proverbs all corners of the world:
Proverbs from all corners of the world are my scientific passion. I believe that they are the "time capsules of folk wisdom". I collect various proverbs and currently even write a book about them. In spite that some may believe that proverbs do not have much to do with computing, actually they do - and a lot. In near future (when my book is finished) I am going to prove this. As for the time being I propose to look at the following Malaysian proverb, which in Bahasa Malaysia reads: "Penyu bertelur beribu-ribu seorang pun tiada tahu, ayam bertelur sebiji pecah khabar sebuah negeri", and which after the translation into English means "A turtle lays thousands eggs and is silent, while a hen lays only a single egg and a whole village must know"; and then consider how relevant this proverb is for descibing the behaviour of many our fellow programmers, computer scientists, database or network managers, etc.

Notice that the majority of photographs presented on this web page
either show myself (dr Jan Pajak) in several different countries and in various life situations, or were taken by me.
The most recent update of this Web site: 23 July 2005.
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