Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute Announces Exciting Keynote Lineup for 20th Annual SEPG North America 2008 Confere

PITTSBURGH , Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Video-gaming systems, long-term advances in software development for the U.S. military, and what the future holds for software development will be the featured keynote topics at the Carnegie Mellon(R) Software Engineering Institute (SEI) 20th Annual SEPG(SM) North America 2008 Conference at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa , Fla., March 17-20, 2008.

On Tuesday, March 18 , Computer World editor and writer Gary Anthes will moderate an expert panel discussion on how software development has changed over the past 20 years and what the future holds for software development. These experts will share their insights and experiences on successes, failures, and the potential in software and systems-improvement research and applicability. Expert panelists include:

-- Watts Humphrey, SEI Fellow and National Medal of Technology winner -- Joe Jarzombek, director for software assurance, U.S. Department of Homeland Security National Cyber Security Division -- Madhav Panwar, senior level technologist, U.S. Government Accountability Office -- M. Lynn Penn, director of process management, Lockheed Martin

The keynote speakers for Wednesday, March 19 , include Major General Curtis M. Bedke from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Guha and Karthik Bala, co-founders of Vicarious Visions.

Maj. Gen. Bedke will speak first regarding capabilities of interest to the U.S. Air Force that are feasible only through long-term advances in software development and current Air Force research programs aimed at achieving those capabilities. Bedke assumed command of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in October 2007 . AFRL is the Air Force's sole organization entirely dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for U.S. air, space, and cyberspace forces.

Guha and Karthik Bala will close Wednesday's keynote address with a talk about their approach to disciplined process improvement in a rapidly changing and demanding market of video gaming. Under the Bala brothers' direction, Vicarious Visions, a division of Activision, Inc., has created over 100 software titles selling more than 25 million units and accounting for over $1 billion in retail sales. The studio has developed several top-selling games for console and handheld systems from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. Recent titles include Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, Transformers, and Tony Hawk .

SEPG North America 2008 offers eight tracks and more than 170 sessions that will provide information on software improvement results and activities that contribute to a global enterprise. Those topics include

-- building quality products on cost and on schedule -- establishing and maintaining continuous improvement efforts -- strategically aligning organizations with software engineering industry leaders

SEPG North America is part of the Institute's SEPG Conference Series, which began in 1988 as workshop with one track to highlight the importance of disciplined process improvement. Twenty years later, SEPG North America has exploded into the industry's premier gathering of the best and brightest in software and systems process improvement. Attendees will gather for four information-packed days on ways to improve processes in their organizations through the adoption of the Capability Maturity Model(R) Integration (CMMI), how individuals and teams can work together to develop better software, and how organizations that outsource or acquire their software development needs can adopt cutting-edge methods when working with third-party vendors.

To register for the SEPG North America 2008 Conference visit the conference web site at http://www.sei.cmu.edu/sepg/2008/. Exhibitor opportunities are also still available but space is limited. If you are interested in exhibiting at an SEPG Conference Series conference visit: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/sepg/2008/exhibits.html

NOTE: Press and industry analysts interested in receiving a press pass for the event can contact Kelly Kimberland, APR, or Shilo Raube at [email protected].

About Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute

The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is a U.S. Department of Defense federally funded research and development center operated by Carnegie Mellon University. The SEI helps organizations make measured improvements in their software engineering capabilities by providing technical leadership to advance the practice of software engineering. For more information, visit the SEI Web site at http://www.sei.cmu.edu.

SOURCE Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute

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