In fall 2006, seniors Zac Adkins and Howard Wickelman traveled to Dublin, Ireland, to present a case study they wrote about the project. The paper, "Robust Networking for Emergency Preparedness; Minimizing the Need for Disaster Recovery at BAA Indianapolis" won the Best Co-operative Project Award at the International Business Infomatics Challenge 2006. 

Their project involved assessing and recommending improvements to the Indianapolis International Airport's technological infrastructure. The goals were to make the airport's computing environment more efficient, robust, and stable during an emergency.

After researching and evaluating several solutions, the team tested a prototype in Ball State's Cluster Computing Lab. The proposal was then presented to BAA-Indianapolis, the company that operates the airport.

The company plans to implement several recommendations from their proposal.

• Autobahn: a musical composition with a twist written by music technology major Daniel Porter. The piece is performed by two percussionists using car parts rather than traditional drums. Porter was among only a few select artists asked to perform his work at the 2007 national conference of the Society for Electro-Accoustic Music.
• Navigating Nature: a computer game to teach children about ecosystems. Students involved in the project were Nichole Randolph, Ryan Bitzegaio, Megan Caylor, Elizabeth Clay, Alex Corn, Chaz Estell, Francesca Hernandez, Ashley Keith, Christopher Patten, Nadia Roumie, Adam Voirin, and Kelly Woodward.
• STANCE: an undergraduate, peer-reviewed philosophy journal published by members of Ball State's chapter of Phi Sigma Tau, an international honor society. Students involved in the 2007 publication were Robert Miller, Timothy Pierz, Kalli McBride, Melissa Booth, Mike Reynolds, Christopher Coy, and Josh Savage.

Name: Howard Wickelman
Major: Computer technology
Minor: Business administration
Hometown: Portland, IN
Role in project: Systems analyst and co-author
Aspiration: Network administrator for a small network or a technician in a large network

In this example, Zac, Howard, and their team of other students, worked directly with BAA-Indianapolis, the company that operates the Indianapolis International Airport. 

The students proposed the airport use a cluster or grid computer, which is a network of personal computer to give the airport's systems faster processing speed, superior database capabilities, less downtime, improved disaster recovery, and continuous operation.

Their solution was such a new way of thinking about the issue that the necessary software was not even fully developed when they proposed it. The commercial version of the software has since been released, and solutions like this are now being implemented across the business world.