Forum for Academic Software Engineering Volume 5, Number 29, Fri Dec 1 11:16:58 CST 1995 Topics: TRAINING SOURCES Software Engineering Training Resources COURSES, WORKSHOPS Direct Satellite Broadcast: Software Project Control Courses on Cleanroom Software Engineering CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENTS PASE96: Professional Awareness in Software Engineering CALLS FOR PAPERS Special Session on Networks and Distributed Systems A------------------------------------------------------- From: Kathy.Beckman@cdsihq.com Subject: Software Engineering Training Resources As a software engineering training manager, I am always on the lookout for affordable, readily accessible sources of information for our students. One of my real "finds" has been the Software Technology Support Center (STSC)sponsored by the U.S. Air Force. STSC's services are available to individuals actively involved in the defense software development process, ranging from DoD employees, other U.S. government staff, U.S. government contractors, academics, industry, media, and individuals outside the U.S. STSC distributes technical publications on software engineering topics with titles such as "Project Management and Software Cost Estimation," "Metrics Starter Kit and Guidelines," and "Software Configuration Management." There is no charge for these well- researched, comprehensive reports. The reports can be sent only to a U.S., APO, or FPO address; however, some of the reports are available online. STSC On-Line Services can be reached on the World Wide Web at http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil. The STSC maintains a Gopher server at gopher.stsc.hill.af.mil and an FTP site at ftp.stsc.hill.af.mil. STSC also publishes "CrossTalk," a monthly newsletter with timely articles on Policy and Management, Software Engineering Technology, and The Classroom. I always find practical information in The Classroom feature. Recent titles in that area have included: "Transforming the Workplace into a Learning Organization," by Eileen Steets Quann (Aug., 1995); and "Undergraduate Software Engineering Education," by Gary Ford (Oct., 1995). To subscribe to "Crosstalk," write to Ogden ALC/TISE, Attn: Customer Service, 7278 Fourth Street, Hill AFB, UT 84056-5205, or send e-mail to custserv@software.hill.af.mil. A------------------------------------------------------- From: sdmce@access.digex.net (sdmce) Subject: Direct Satellite Broadcast: Software Project Control DIRECT SATELLITE BROADCAST ATTACKING THE BIG SOFTWARE COST AND SCHEDULE DRIVERS BEST PRACTICES OVERVIEW December 6, 1995 1:00-3:00 PM (EST) WITH: Tom DeMarco, Atlantic Systems Guild Frank McGrath, Logicon Christine Davis, Texas Instruments Mike Dyer, Lockheed Martin TOPICS INCLUDED: Formal Risk Management Agreement on Interfaces Formal Inspections Metric-Based Scheduling Binary Quality Gates at the Inch-Pebble Level Configuration Management Defect Tracking Against Quality Targets Program-Wide Visibility of Project Plan and Progress vs. Plan People-Aware Management Accountability Software Project Control Panel This viewing opportunity provided by DoD's Software Program Managers Network. Contact the Software Program Managers Network for further information Phone: (703) 521-5231 Fax: (703) 521-2603 E-mail: best@spmn.com WWW server at URL> http://spmn.com/ SATELLITE TECHNICAL INFORMATION: Not currently available P.S. Thanks to Mary Predenkoski, Senior Instructor, U.S. DoD Software Engineering Center, Ft. Meade, MD for forwarding this information. A------------------------------------------------------- From: "Alan Spangler" Subject: Courses on Cleanroom Software Engineering IBM's Cleanroom Software Technology Center is pleased to offer a series of courses in Cleanroom Software Engineering in March 1996. Cleanroom Software Engineering is a managerial and technical process for the development of ultra-high quality software with certified reliability. Elements of Cleanroom Software Engineering include: - Incremental Development - Box Structure Specification and Design - Function-Theoretic Correctness Verification - Statistical Usage Testing More than one million lines of Cleanroom code have been developed with an average of 90% fewer defects than are found in traditionally developed code. Several systems have experienced zero non-trivial defects after release. Course Title Date(s) Tuition Cleanroom Software Engineering Overview March 11 $300 Cleanroom Software Development March 12 - 15 $1200 Cleanroom Software Engineering Overview March 18 $300 Cleanroom Software Certification March 19 - 21 $900 Instructors for the courses are Cleanroom experts from the Cleanroom Software Technology Center. Students receive a set of course notes, plus selected readings on Cleanroom Software Engineering. All classes are presented in Bethesda, Maryland, approximately 10 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. For more information or a registration form, please contact: Alan Spangler Cleanroom Software Technology Center IBM Corporation 301-803-2763 spanglea@vnet.ibm.com. http://www.clearlake.ibm.com/MFG/solutions/cstc.html The IBM home page can be found at http://www.ibm.com A------------------------------------------------------- From: Tracy Hall and Colin Myers Subject: PASE96: Professional Awareness in Software Engineering Professional Awareness in Software Engineering PASE'96 First Westminster Conference 1st-2nd February 1996 Within the computing industry, the need for professionalism has never been greater. This conference has grown from the increasing concern that software engineers should be better equipped to meet the challenges of today's working practices and user assumptions. More than ever before, it is essential that software engineers adopt a professional approach to deal with both technical advances and structural changes in the workplace. Many of the practices in the software world are perceived to hark back to the `Dark Ages' of computing, and software engineering generally has a poor image compared to other professions. However, the demands are often greater on software engineers in that the changes they encounter are more frequent and more radical. Thus, every few years we see: technical 'silver bullets', for example, object orientation; structural alterations, such as decentralization and outsourcing; and perceptual shifts, including higher expectations regarding deadlines, giving value-for-money and the role and control of information within industry. Therefore, the aim of this conference is to help determine those attributes that help a software engineer succeed as a professional. That is, for software engineers to behave responsibly, in a technically competent manner and according to a professional code of conduct, and so improve quality and improve user confidence. The conference offers a cross-disciplinary platform, with an emphasis on: *The Structure of the Software Industry as a Profession* including the role of professional bodies, information technology practices, the problems faced by small companies and the impact of outworking on employment profiles. *Working Practices* including coping with methodologies, the problems of project management, user awareness, documentation, the importance of software quality innovations and standards' recognition. The role of the press, education and training issues. *Ethical and Legal Responsibilities and Liabilities* for example examining the appropriateness of existing professional codes of conduct, exploring the implications of the Internet. Health and safety. *Equal Opportunities* in particular combating sexism, racism and discrimination against physically-disadvantaged groups. FEATURED SPEAKERS ----------------- Frank Bott: Co-author of 'Professional Issues in Software Engineering' on the selling, marketing and procuring of software. Fred Brooks: Author of 'The Mythical Man Month', on 'The Computer Professional: What do you want to be when you grow up?" Geoff Busby MBE: GEC Ltd, BCS Chair (Disability Group) Computing for the Disabled. Elizabeth France: The Data Protection Registrar, debating whether software engineers help or hinder the protection of data. Tom DeMarco: Observing that `most often when organizations try to urge professionalism on their employees they are really asking for Uniformity.' For a complete program and more information, contact the author or World Wide Web:- http://www.scsise.wmin.ac.uk/SED/pase/cfp1.html A------------------------------------------------------- From: srimani@CS.ColoState.EDU (Pradip Srimani) Subject: CFP: Session On Networks And Distributed Systems For postscript and html versions check URL http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~srimani/icse-special.html Call For Papers: Session On Networks And Distributed Systems Eleventh International Conference On Systems Engineering (Icse '96) University Of Nevada, Las Vegas 9-11 July 1996 Session Organizer: Pradip K Srimani, Colorado State University Mohammed Atiquzzaman, Monash University This series of International Conferences is jointly organized on a rotational basis among the three Institutions, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA the Technical University of Wroclaw, Poland and Coventry University, UK. The 11th International Conference on Systems Engineering takes place at the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering, University of Nevada, Las Vegas on July 9-11, 1996. The special session on Distributed Systems is planned to cover different aspects of computer networks and distributed systems. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Interconnection Networks Distributed and Parallel Algorithms Distributed Operating Systems Distributed Databases Distributed Computing Models Self-Stabilizing Systems Performance Evaluation Applications to Real Life Problems In addition to theoretical papers, case studies and experience reports on applications and implementations are also welcome. Authors are encouraged to send an abstract (6 copies) of their proposed contribution (approximately 1000 words) before December 15, 1995. The abstract should be typed (double spaced) and written in English and must be suitable for a technical review. Electronic submission of postscript files is strongly encouraged. Refereeing of abstracts submitted before the deadline date will take place on a regular basis. This will allow early decisions to be taken and should assist authors in their projected planning arrangements. Abstracts, that cannot be accomodated in this session, will be considered for other related sessions of the conference. Special Issues of Journals are being planned to publish selected papers from this session; details will soon follow. DEADLINES Submission of Abstracts Dec. 15, 1995 Acceptance Decisions Feb. 15, 1996 Submission of Full Papers Mar. 15, 1996 Pradip K Srimani Mohammed Atiquzzaman Department of Computer Science ECSE Department Colorado State University Monash University, Clayton Ft. Collins, CO 80523 USA Melbourne 3168, Australia Email: srimani@CS.ColoState.EDU Email: atiq@eng.monash.edu.au Voice: (970) 491-7097 Voice: +61 3 9905 5383 Fax: (970) 491-2466 Fax: +61 3 9905 3454 E------------------------------------------------------------------- FASE Volume 5 Number 29 Send newsletter articles to one of the editors, preferably by category: Articles pertinent to corporate and government training to Kathy Beckman, sdmce@access.digex.net; Academic education, and all other categories, to Keith Pierce, kpierce@d.umn.edu (Messages routed to fase-submit@d.umn.edu still go to Keith) Send requests to add, delete, or modify a subscription to fase-request@d.umn.edu Send problem reports, returned mail, or other correspondence about this newsletter to fase-owner@d.umn.edu, or kpierce@d.umn.edu You can retrieve back issues by anonymous FTP from from ricis.cl.uh.edu or through WWW at URL http://ricis.cl.uh.edu/FASE/ Keith Pierce -- Academic/Misc Editor and ListMaster University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812-2496 USA Phone: 218- 726-7194 Fax: 218-726-6360 Email: kpierce@d.umn.edu Kathy Beckman -- Corporate/Government Editor Computer Data Systems One Curie Ct., Rockville MD 20850 USA Phone: 301-921-7027 Fax: 301-921-1004 Email: sdmce@access.digex.net David Eichmann -- FASE Archivist University of Houston - Clear Lake Box 113, 2700 Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX 77058 USA Web: http://ricis.cl.uh.edu/eichmann/ Phone: 713-283-3875 Fax: 713-283-3810 Email: eichmann@rbse.jsc.nasa.gov or eichmann@cl.uh.edu Laurie Werth -- Advisory Committee Taylor Hall 2.124 University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 USA Phone: 512-471-9535 Fax: 512-471-8885 Email: lwerth@cs.utexas.edu Nancy Mead -- Advisory Committee Software Engineering Institute 5000 Forbes Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA Phone: 412-268-5756 Fax: 412-268-5758 Email: nrm@sei.cmu.edu