Featuring Alumni
UMUC Graduate Designs Biometric Tracking System for D.C. Schools

By Greg Rosenthal
Special to FYI Online

Max Anis (left) presents his master’s degree project plan to DCPS Information Security Administrator Joe Renard (center) and DCPS Chief Information Officer Charles Thompson (right).

If UMUC graduate Max Anis has his way, students of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) will have a hard time playing hooky. Anis envisions a world of high-tech D.C. schools where students carry biometric identification cards that can only be activated by their owner’s thumbprint, allowing school authorities to track students via a centralized database as students log in and out of school activities or even off-campus internships or events.

The cards, which are prototypes and cost about $120, would offer a nearly foolproof way to prove that students are who they say they are. Anis’ vision evolved into the capstone project for his Master of Telecommunication Technology degree, which he presented on June 25 to DCPS Chief Information Officer Charles Thompson and DCPS Information Security Administrator Joe Renard.

“What I did was develop a system integration plan,” Anis said. “I studied the issue, identified the problem, and provided the solution as a management plan.”

This prototype biometric card can only be activated by its owner’s thumbprint, ensuring that students cannot borrow one another’s cards or pretend to be somewhere—or someone—they are not.

Using Anis’s system, students would log in with their card each morning and as they moved from classroom to classroom and activity to activity throughout the day. Teachers could even issue hall passes electronically, via the database. Security guards in the hallways would use handheld computers with wireless connectivity to confirm the hall pass and destination.

“This would solve the problem of kids wandering the hallway and lying about where they’re going and what they’re supposed to be doing,” said Anis. “It also reduces staff time.”

Thompson and Renard reviewed the project with interest. Thompson, who is himself enrolled in UMUC’s Chief Information Officer graduate certification program, said that Anis’ idea of integrating separate databases used by teachers, administrators, and counselors parallels the information technology goals of DCPS. Furthermore, the school system has already been investigating smart card technology for certain special education students.

“We will adhere to DCPS standards and incorporate as much of the project as we can,” he said. “The paper is supportive of DCPS practices, [which is] a good external validation.”

Anis’ master’s degree from UMUC is actually his second. His earned his first in ecology from California State University at Northridge, on top of two separate bachelor’s degrees, one in biology and one in mechanical engineering. When he began teaching computer science for DCPS, he decided to seek formal technology training and credentials and enrolled in UMUC’s Graduate School. Anis is now a computer science teacher for the Montgomery County Public Schools.

Like many UMUC students, Anis, 40, epitomizes diversity. Born in Iran, he grew up in South Africa, Lesotho, and Namibia and moved to America at the age of 25. He said he looks forward to his next experience in diversity—a trip to Afghanistan with his wife, who works for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

“I’ve lived in many different countries and continents,” he said. “I have more appreciation for life in America than anyone else. The opportunities you have here are immense. You can do anything you want if you work hard enough. I’d just like to thank this country.”