Date Change -May 11, 2007
Abstract
Professor Hadar Ziv, UCI, will present “Requirements-based Testing” - One stubborn difficulty in software development is specifying what stakeholders really want, in a way that is clear and natural enough for humans yet structured enough for automated analysis. A second, related problem is confirming that the resulting system actually meets original goals and requirements, in a way that increases stakeholder trust and confidence in the system. In this talk we present several research methods in addressing these two challenges, including using goals and scenarios for requirements specification and requirements-based testing against those specifications. We discuss preliminary results of applying these methods to several practical examples.
Bill Higgins, Certified Quality Auditory (CQA) working for Southern California Edison at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station will present “Risk-Based Testing” – The Software Development “Witch Hunt” – Twenty years ago, no one would have said you cannot run a nuclear electrical generation plant without a personal computer. Today, no one even asks the question. The question in nuclear now is: “Now that software is embedded in our processes, how do we make sure we are continuing to operate safely?” The standard Software Development Life Cycle processes have pushed their way into the engineering processes and they are here to stay. Concerns about defects in the production environment are causing a renewed focus on what is being termed “Risk-Based Testing,” proposing the age-old mistaken notion that you can “test” quality into software. Mr. Higgins will talk about his role in guiding the software practices at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) away from the testing to a better comprehensive engagement in Risk-Based Requirements Management.
Your Presenter: Professor Hadar Ziv, teaches at the School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) at UC Irvine, and has 20+ years of experience in academia and industry. He has worked as consultant and change agent for several organizations wishing to upgrade their software development to include use cases, object-oriented analysis and design with UML, and corresponding test strategies. To this end, Hadar has provided consulting, training and mentoring services to companies such as Capital Group Companies, Fidelity National Title, Logicon (now Northrop Grumman), Experian, Cendant, and currently St. Jude Medical (NYSE: SJM).
Several of the projects have been completed and deployed successfully; see for example the TitlePoint demonstration here: http://www.propertyinsight.biz/screenshows/titlepointdemo.html
Professor Ziv teaches an undergraduate software-project course for ICS seniors, where students employ many of the same tools and methods to develop working software systems for real customers. He was awarded UC Irvine's Excellence in Teaching award in 2003. Hadar has also published research articles in international conferences and journals, most recently in ROSATEA 2006 in Portland , Maine , ASE 2006 in Tokyo , Japan , and the October 2006 issue of the Journal of Systems and Software (JSS).
Bill Higgins, is a Certified Quality Auditory (CQA) working for Southern California Edison at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in the Information Technology division. Bill's background in nuclear at SONGS for the last 24 years ranges from cost engineering work developing cost/benefit analysis for all nuclear plant capital expenditures in excess of $50,000, to database administrator (dba) for the site's search engine system and the document management system, to Software Quality Assurance auditor of the first in-the-USA Level 2 evaluated CMM process for the nuclear IT department. Bill is the chairman of the nuclear industry's national SQA Standing Committee (SQA-SC). The SQA-SC is a subcommittee under the Nuclear IT Strategic Leadership (NITSL) chartered under the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO). The SQA-SC is the IT Community of Practice (COP) which published the first SQA policy and the first SQA implementing procedure used as standards for guidance for IT under the nuclear regulatory compliance environment. Bill is also the chairman of the Nuclear SQA Committee at SONGS, which as a cross-divisional team created the first over-arching SQA policy (2005) and the first single SQA procedure (2006) followed by all SONGS divisions in history of the nuclear plant. If you are a seasoned IT professional, Bill will be freely sharing with you many items that are not really "new" to you, some items that are recycled, some that are new, but his comments, text, and handouts are copyrighted under his company, Opinions Expressed Not Necessarily Those of Management(c).
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Logistics
Location: Northrop Grumman E2 Presentation Center (in tall building off of Entrance 2), Redondo Beach, CA (formerly TRW) - 2299 Marine Ave., Redondo Beach, CA 90278
Directions: Take the 405 Inglewood exit (southbound it's the exit after Rosecrans East, northbound it's the exit just after Hawthorne) and go north on Inglewood Avenue (southbound, turn left at the end of the ramp, northbound, turn right). Turn left at Marine. Continue West under the freeway past the railroad tracks three lights to Simon Ramo Drive. E2 is on the tall white building to the LEFT, past the shorter presentation building. (See page 733 A5 of the Thomas Brothers Guide.)
Time: 9 a.m. - 12:00 noonAdmission: Free Reservations: No reservations are necessary, except for Foreign Nationals.
Please Note: Foreign Nationals, including Northrop Grumman
foreign employees, must contact Warren Scheinin
(warren.scheinin@ngc.com) at least three (3) days before
the meeting so NGC can process the paperwork for visits
in a NGC building in accordance with Department of
Defense regulations. The usual identification (passport,
green card, student visa) will be necessary on the visit
day.
Note: Due to budget constraints only light refreshments will be available.
A selection of food and beverages is available from the S-Cafe to the southwest of E2 down the stairs. Door opens at 6 AM.
SoCal SPIN is sponsored by:
and co-sponsored by:
