The students of the MSE program promote seminars that have the distinctive
and practical flavor of software engineering.
In order to enhance our learning opportunities, the MSE students bring
distinguished speakers (including alumni from our program) to talk about about
their experiences and thoughts on software engineering aspects. Here are the
speakers that we have had during Fall 2004 and Spring 2005:
| Date |
Speaker |
Topic |
Abstract |
Pictures |
| July 20, 2005 |
Paulo Merson
Software Engineering Institute,Member of the Technical Staff |
Using UML 2.0 to Represent Architecture Slides |
The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is probably the most used language for software design representation. Nonetheless, many practitioners are not familiar with all different types of diagrams available. The latest version, UML 2.0, has new diagrams, new elements and relations. It is also the language used in Model-Driven Architecture (MDA).
In this seminar, we'll talk about what's new in UML 2.0 and how can we use UML 2.0 diagrams in the documentation of the different views of a software architecture. We will look at examples from real applications and compare the UML 2.0 notation with other alternatives. In particular, we'll discuss how to represent code structure, runtime structure, deployment structure, as well as behavior using UML 2.0.
|
 |
| April 28, 2005 |
S. D. Shibulal, Infosys, director and co-founder |
Software Engineering in Practice: The Infosys Experience |
The talk covered the experience of Infosys a leading CMMI Level 5, billion dollar, IT Solutions company in implementing best-in-class software engineering practices. This included specific examples of how some of the key software engineering concepts in managing software development project have been adapted to the business needs of Infosys. It also explores what is required beyond the software engineering principles to build a world class IT organization that continues to deliver excellence. |
Video clip |
| March 2, 2005 |
Orit Hazzan,
co-author, Human Aspects of Software Engineering |
Teaching and Learning Abstraction through Reflection Processes:
Application to Software Engineering |
Software Engineering processes are characterized by both cognitive and
social complexities. The talk focuses on the cognitive complexity of
software development processes in general and on the concept of
abstraction - a core concept of Software Engineering - in particular.
Based on the assumption that the teaching and learning of the concept
of abstraction, as well as of its application to Software Engineering,
are not a trivial challenge, the talk illustrates how reflection can
assist in the teaching and learning of abstraction. In particular,
Schön's framework of Reflective Practice is used for demonstrating
how the intertwining of reflective processes into software development
activities may support and enhance abstract thinking.
|
 |
| Feb 15, 2005 |
Watts Humphrey,
National Medal of Technology |
Can programming be fun? |
Some projects are exciting, productive, and fun while others are
just a lot of work. In this talk, Watts Humphrey discusses both hardware
and software projects he has worked on and what made some of them
memorable. He also describes his experiences in establishing the
conditions that make projects rewarding for team members and why these
conditions are not common for software work. After reviewing the actions
some hardware teams have found helpful in improving their working
performance, he discusses some steps we in the software community can
take to make our work more exciting, productive, and fun. In closing, he
comments on the techniques software developers can use to improve their
personal working environment and the impact these actions can have on
project performance. |
 |
| Nov 18, 2004 |
Michael Clark
and Dr.
Sam Harbaugh, Red Team Robot Racing |
DARPA Grand Challenge 2005- Take 2. |
The DARPA Grand Challenge is an autonomous robot race over 150 miles
of trails in the Mojave desert. In the first race last March the Red
Team's robot "Sandstorm" turned in the best performance; however, it was
not good enough and no team won the $1M prize. The Carnegie Mellon Red
Team is dedicated to winning the $2M prize in the second race October
8th, 2005.
This seminar will present a recap of the last race and present the
preparations for winning the next race. There are new sponsors, new
HMMWV racers, a refurbished Race Building (aka Planetary Robotics
Building) on campus and and new test facilities at the old LTV steel
mill site which will be described in words, pictures and videos.
Plan to attend this presentation to see how software engineering plays a
key role in building a winning autonomous robot race system. |
 |
| Oct 7, 2004 |
Mark Paulk, author, Capability Maturity Model |
The future of software quality |
Student description: the creation of CMM: there were good technical
people, the technology was fairly reliable, but the management was far
from the desired state, no best practices were established and the
project failure was very high.
Dr. Paulk also talked about the dimensions of CMM in each one of the
different levels and about his position and the differences of this
model with its newest version: CMMi, which is an integration of CMM to
the whole organization.
We also heard about the distinctions between CMM and ISO9001:2000, and
the new agile methodologies. Before we noticed an hour has passed and
the talk was over, time flies when you are having fun. |
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