GMU Software Engineering Seminar Series

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Date: Friday, 10/16/2009

Time: 2 – 3pm

Location: 4705 Engineering

This event is cosponsored by the C4I Center and the student chapter of IEEE

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Title: Tulips, Potatoes, Apples, ISO 9001 and the CMMI

Speaker: Nelson Perez

Abstract
There are many influences that come into play when creating new processes or improving existing processes. One can be a result of processes or experiences people bring into an organization from the outside. Others include the influence of existing company culture; or having to be in compliance with a particular best practice model like the CMMI or standard like ISO 9001; or even what one comes across in literature, on the internet or even at forums such as conferences and SPIN meetings.

We are continually being influenced to change and improve the way we do things. This presentation shows an example of how influences come in play to create and improve an example process. In this case, a verification and validation (V&V) process for a software application that has to meet nuclear quality standards (NQA-1 and IEEE). We will explore how this example process comes into existence under various influences, including how it is affected by personal experience, different best practice models, cultural resistance, and continuous improvement.

In the end, the most successful processes are those that incorporate multiple influences to create a best fit solution. Not unlike how plants adapt and evolve to successfully survive in a constantly changing world. Plants do this naturally by pollination, but sometimes plants receive outside “help” from other sources. These pollination vectors work together to influence the resulting offspring across multiple generations. In the end, aren’t we all doing the same thing, pollinating and spreading our ideas and controlling the evolution of processes? This presentation will show how us human pollinators work together to bring about the continuing adaptations needed for successful process improvement.

Bio
Nelson Perez is president of Sierra’s Edge, Inc. a process development and improvement consultant. With over 25 years of work experience, he has worked the entire product development life cycle and held numerous management and engineering positions on such high visibility programs as the B2 Stealth Bomber; NASA Space Shuttle; and National Missile Defense. He has worked a variety of other domains including security systems, information systems, computer integrated manufacturing, wireless communication, commercial software development, aircraft systems, and non-destructive testing. He has co-authored 1 NASA-related patent, has authored several papers and is an active presenter at conferences, software process improvements network (SPIN) meetings and other venues. Perez consults with companies in management, technology innovation and process and business improvement including ISO 9001:2000, CMMI, and ITIL v3.