A recent handout surprised students in Dr. Rayford Vaughn's computer science class.

Instead of the usual pop quiz or graded paper, the MSU associate professor of computer science presented each of the 19 students with a certificate of appreciation from the United States Navy.

The official documents recognized their achievement for "conducting a software engineering class project that provided benefit to the Data Warehouse of the Naval Oceanographic Office."

At the Navy's request, Vaughn's students in the software specifications course had taken on the challenge of reviewing the Navy Oceanographic Office's huge computer file containing naval information on the world's oceans. In addition to obvious military applications, the database also contains public areas available to such varied users as meteorologists and "perfect wave"-seeking surfers.

"Our task was to review the data warehouse requirements document for incompleteness, ambiguity, or incorrectness," said Janna S. Hamaker of Starkville, a computer science graduate student and class leader for the project. "We worked in three teams on different aspects of the project, with the entire class meeting several times to create the final product."

Hamaker was among several members who also traveled to Stennis Space Center in Hancock County to interview some of the more than 1,000 Naval Oceanographic Office personnel and incorporate the information they provided into the final 95-page report.

In the past, "real-world" clients of Vaughn's classes have included health-care organizations and retail florists, among others.