The cleanroom case study in the Software Engineering Laboratory: Project description and early analysis

This case study analyzes the application of the cleanroom software development methodology to the development of production software at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. The cleanroom methodology emphasizes human discipline in program verification to produce reliable software products that are right the first time. Preliminary analysis of the cleanroom case study shows that the method can be applied successfully in the FDD environment and may increase staff productivity and product quality. Compared to typical Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) activities, there is evidence of lower failure rates, a more complete and consistent set of inline code documentation, a different distribution of phase effort activity, and a different growth profile in terms of lines of code developed. The major goals of the study were to: (1) assess the process used in the SEL cleanroom model with respect to team structure, team activities, and effort distribution; (2) analyze the products of the SEL cleanroom model and determine the impact on measures of interest, including reliability, productivity, overall life-cycle cost, and software quality; and (3) analyze the residual products in the application of the SEL cleanroom model, such as fault distribution, error characteristics, system growth, and computer usage

The application of the ventilation equations to cleanrooms - Part 2: Decay of contamination

This article is the second of a three-part series that investigates the application of the ventilation equations to designing and testing cleanrooms. This part is concerned with the decay equation. The recovery test, described in ISO 14644-3 (2005) is discussed, and improvements recommended. The application of the decay equation to the ‘clean up’ requirement given in the EU GGMP (2008) is also discussed. Finally, a method is considered that calculates the time needed for airborne contamination in cleanroom areas to decay to acceptable concentrations

Removal efficiency of high efficiency air filters against microbe-carrying particles (MCPs) in cleanrooms

The removal efficiency of high efficiency air filters was determined against microbe-carrying particles (MCPs) in the air supply to cleanrooms. Knowing the size distribution of MCPs in the air to be filtered, and the filter's removal efficiency against individual particle diameters, the overall removal efficiency was ascertained. The removal efficiency of individual species of microbes with a known size was also obtained. A variety of filters were investigated, and it was found that a filter 90% efficient against the most penetrating particle size (as classified by EN 1822) was greater than 99.99% efficient in removing a MCPs. The effect of filter efficiency on the microbial concentration in both the air supply and the cleanroom air was studied, and no practical improvement in the air quality was obtained by filters that had a removal efficiency greater than 99.99% against MCPs. Use of a filter suitable for removing MCPs, rather than sub-micrometre particles, would give a reduction of about 6 to 8-fold in the pressure differential across the filter, and a substantial reduction in the energy costs of running a cleanroom

Conceptual design and multidisciplinary optimisation of power device for solar powered aircraft

Solar-powered aircraft is propelled by a photovoltaic cell that converts solar energy into electrical energy. The extra energy is stored in a rechargeable battery for later use when solar energy is not available. The performance of solar-powered aircraft is limited to solar radiation availability, low efficiency of the photovoltaic cell, and low energy density of the rechargeable battery. The research aims to improve the power device sizing, reduce the aircraft's mass, and improve the flight duration for sustainable flight operations for solar-powered aircraft (CLOUD 1). This was achieved using a multidisciplinary optimisation tool, a commercial package ModeFrontier software. Photovoltaic Geographic information system (PVGIS) software was used to obtain a solar radiation model for Malaysia. The model was used to develop both the energy balance and mission path for Malaysia to facilitate the availability and utilisation of solar energy for successful flight operations. Airfoil analysis was conducted. WE.3.55.9.3 airfoil was the best-chosen airfoil used for the wing design, while the empennage design, NACA 0008, was the most suitable. Hence, the latter was used for horizontal and vertical tail design with XFLR5 v6 software's aid. A novel methodology for the power device sizing was developed on MS Excel with 435.48Wh, 540.96Wh, 32, and 70 as the total required electrical energy, available solar energy, number of solar cells required, and the number of batteries required, respectively. The optimisation strategy embraced ModeFrontier software with the goal set to; minimise total electrical energy required, minimise the total mass, and maximise the available solar energy. The optimisation results show that available solar energy was 283.56Wh, the total electrical power required was 228.32Wh, the number of solar cells was 16, and the number of batteries was 36. The total mass of the aircraft was 2.05 Kg, respectively. The optimisation results achieved 53%, 51%, and 26% reductions in the number of solar cells, the number of batteries, and the aircraft's mass. Also, the flight duration was improved by 33%. The optimal configuration was used to design the solar-powered aircraft (CLOUD I)

The Software Engineering Laboratory: An operational software experience factory

For 15 years, the Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) has been carrying out studies and experiments for the purpose of understanding, assessing, and improving software and software processes within a production software development environment at NASA/GSFC. The SEL comprises three major organizations: (1) NASA/GSFC, Flight Dynamics Division; (2) University of Maryland, Department of Computer Science; and (3) Computer Sciences Corporation, Flight Dynamics Technology Group. These organizations have jointly carried out several hundred software studies, producing hundreds of reports, papers, and documents, all of which describe some aspect of the software engineering technology that was analyzed in the flight dynamics environment at NASA. The studies range from small, controlled experiments (such as analyzing the effectiveness of code reading versus that of functional testing) to large, multiple project studies (such as assessing the impacts of Ada on a production environment). The organization's driving goal is to improve the software process continually, so that sustained improvement may be observed in the resulting products. This paper discusses the SEL as a functioning example of an operational software experience factory and summarizes the characteristics of and major lessons learned from 15 years of SEL operations

The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2013-2014

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2013-2014 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This annual report summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2013–2014 academic year.This has been a good year for the Photonics Center. In the following pages, you will see that the center’s faculty received prodigious honors and awards, generated more than 100 notable scholarly publications in the leading journals in our field, and attracted $14.5M in new research grants and contracts this year. Faculty and staff also expanded their efforts in education and training, through National Science Foundation–sponsored sites for Research Experiences for Undergraduates and for Teachers. As a community, we hosted a compelling series of distinguished invited speakers, and emphasized the theme of Innovations at the Intersections of Micro/Nanofabrication Technology, Biology, and Biomedicine at our annual Future of Light Symposium. We took a leadership role in running national workshops on emerging photonic fields, including an OSA Incubator on Controlled Light Propagation through Complex Media, and an NSF Workshop on Noninvasive Imaging of Brain Function. Highlights of our research achievements for the year include a distinctive Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) for Assistant Professor Xue Han, an ambitious new DoD-sponsored grant for Multi-Scale Multi-Disciplinary Modeling of Electronic Materials led by Professor Enrico Bellotti, launch of our NIH-sponsored Center for Innovation in Point of Care Technologies for the Future of Cancer Care led by Professor Cathy Klapperich, and successful completion of the ambitious IARPA-funded contract for Next Generation Solid Immersion Microscopy for Fault Isolation in Back-Side Circuit Analysis led by Professor Bennett Goldberg. These three programs, which represent more than$20M in research funding for the University, are indicative of the breadth of Photonics Center research interests: from fundamental modeling of optoelectronic materials to practical development of cancer diagnostics, from exciting new discoveries in optogenetics for understanding brain function to the achievement of world-record resolution in semiconductor circuit microscopy. Our community welcomed an auspicious cohort of new faculty members, including a newly hired assistant professor and a newly hired professor (and Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department). The Industry/University Cooperative Research Center—the centerpiece of our translational biophotonics program—continues to focus on advancing the health care and medical device industries, and has entered its fourth year of operation with a strong record of achievement and with the support of an enthusiastic industrial membership base

Software development: A paradigm for the future

A new paradigm for software development that treats software development as an experimental activity is presented. It provides built-in mechanisms for learning how to develop software better and reusing previous experience in the forms of knowledge, processes, and products. It uses models and measures to aid in the tasks of characterization, evaluation and motivation. An organization scheme is proposed for separating the project-specific focus from the organization's learning and reuse focuses of software development. The implications of this approach for corporations, research and education are discussed and some research activities currently underway at the University of Maryland that support this approach are presented

The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2013-2014

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2013-2014 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This annual report summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2013–2014 academic year.This has been a good year for the Photonics Center. In the following pages, you will see that the center’s faculty received prodigious honors and awards, generated more than 100 notable scholarly publications in the leading journals in our field, and attracted $14.5M in new research grants and contracts this year. Faculty and staff also expanded their efforts in education and training, through National Science Foundation–sponsored sites for Research Experiences for Undergraduates and for Teachers. As a community, we hosted a compelling series of distinguished invited speakers, and emphasized the theme of Innovations at the Intersections of Micro/Nanofabrication Technology, Biology, and Biomedicine at our annual Future of Light Symposium. We took a leadership role in running national workshops on emerging photonic fields, including an OSA Incubator on Controlled Light Propagation through Complex Media, and an NSF Workshop on Noninvasive Imaging of Brain Function. Highlights of our research achievements for the year include a distinctive Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) for Assistant Professor Xue Han, an ambitious new DoD-sponsored grant for Multi-Scale Multi-Disciplinary Modeling of Electronic Materials led by Professor Enrico Bellotti, launch of our NIH-sponsored Center for Innovation in Point of Care Technologies for the Future of Cancer Care led by Professor Cathy Klapperich, and successful completion of the ambitious IARPA-funded contract for Next Generation Solid Immersion Microscopy for Fault Isolation in Back-Side Circuit Analysis led by Professor Bennett Goldberg. These three programs, which represent more than$20M in research funding for the University, are indicative of the breadth of Photonics Center research interests: from fundamental modeling of optoelectronic materials to practical development of cancer diagnostics, from exciting new discoveries in optogenetics for understanding brain function to the achievement of world-record resolution in semiconductor circuit microscopy. Our community welcomed an auspicious cohort of new faculty members, including a newly hired assistant professor and a newly hired professor (and Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department). The Industry/University Cooperative Research Center—the centerpiece of our translational biophotonics program—continues to focus on advancing the health care and medical device industries, and has entered its fourth year of operation with a strong record of achievement and with the support of an enthusiastic industrial membership base

Annotated bibliography of Software Engineering Laboratory literature

An annotated bibliography of technical papers, documents, and memorandums produced by or related to the Software Engineering Laboratory is given. More than 100 publications are summarized. These publications cover many areas of software engineering and range from research reports to software documentation. All materials have been grouped into eight general subject areas for easy reference: The Software Engineering Laboratory; The Software Engineering Laboratory: Software Development Documents; Software Tools; Software Models; Software Measurement; Technology Evaluations; Ada Technology; and Data Collection. Subject and author indexes further classify these documents by specific topic and individual author