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An Assessment of Space Shuttle Flight Software Development Processes (1993)

Chapter: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

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Suggested Citation:"Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 1993. An Assessment of Space Shuttle Flight Software Development Processes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2222.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Dr. Nancy G. Leveson, Committee Chair, is Boeing Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. She is a recognized expert on software safety, software reliability, and fault-tolerant computing and has consulted for many U.S. and foreign government agencies including the Department of Defense, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NASA, Federal Aviation Administration, General Accounting Office, United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency, Federal Drug Administration, and the Canadian Atomic Energy Control Board. Dr. Leveson is editor-in-chief of the IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering and a member of the Board of Directors of the Computing Research Association. She writes and lectures worldwide on building safety-critical software and is considered a founder of this relatively new area. Her research results have been used on nuclear, defense, aerospace, medical, aviation, and other types of transportation systems.

Dr. Robert N. Charette is the chairman of ITABHI Corporation, where he has consulted on the development and analysis of on-board software for numerous Air Force and Navy weapons systems. His expertise in software system risk analysis and mitigation has been applied to the development of large critical systems for several domestic and international firms. Dr. Charette has written extensively on the subject of risk management and has lectured around the world to numerous international conferences and government and trade organizations.

Mr. B. A. Claussen is executive vice-president of CTA INCORPORATED where he is a recognized expert in spacecraft flight software. Mr. Claussen has an extensive background in the design, development, test, and operation of high-technology software and hardware systems for NASA, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Defense, and industry applications. He was Central Software Engineering Manager at the Martin Marietta Corp., responsible for development of on-board software for the Viking program until 1979 when he co-founded CTA INCORPORATED. He has received numerous honors from NASA and industry for his work on Viking, Hubble Space Telescope, and other advanced programs.

Dr. Carl S. Droste is engineering manager of the Flight Control Systems Section at General Dynamics Fort Worth Division. Dr. Droste has over twenty-five years of experience in all phases of flight control system hardware and software for military aircraft, including YF22, F-16, and F-111. Dr. Droste is considered by many in the industry to be one of the most knowledgeable people in the world in the area of on-board flight control and has written numerous papers and given many presentations on the management and development of such systems.

Suggested Citation:"Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 1993. An Assessment of Space Shuttle Flight Software Development Processes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2222.
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Mr. Roger U. Fujii is operations manager at Logicon, where he manages a number of Department of Defense and NASA software development and verification programs for flightcritical systems. Mr. Fujii has over twenty years of experience managing the safety and performance of large software programs, including nuclear missile systems such as Peacekeeper and Minuteman, the B1-B bomber, and numerous space systems for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Air Force.

Dr. John D. Gannon is a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland. His research, supported by the U.S. Air Force and the Office of Naval Research, has concentrated on the use of formal methods to prove properties of software requirements to serve as test articles for implementations. Dr. Gannon serves on the editorial boards of IEEE Transactions in Software Engineering and ACM Computer Surveys, and is a former program director of Software Engineering for the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Richard A. Kemmerer is a professor of computer science at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Dr. Kemmerer has consulted for numerous government agencies including the Department of Defense and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. He has served on a number of national committees and working groups, including the Committee on Computer Security of the National Research Council's Computer Science and Telecommunications Board. Dr. Kemmerer has written extensively on the utility of formal specifications for testing and verification of large, critical software systems.

Dr. Robert O. Polvado is an analyst in the Office of Research and Development at the Central Intelligence Agency. He has experience with verification and validation of software in numerous intelligence systems applications as well as real-time software applications within industry. Dr. Polvado consults on software-engineering quality and management issues throughout the agency and serves on numerous working groups within the government to improve the safety and quality of software systems.

Dr. Willis H. Ware is a senior member of the corporate research staff at the RAND Corporation. Dr. Ware is an expert on computer security and the impact of computers on society. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and has served on numerous national and international advisory bodies. His career spans the history of computers, and he is often called upon to testify before Congress and to comment on related legislation.

Mr. Wallace H. Whittier is currently the program engineering manager for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company. Mr. Whittier has managed the development of a number of spacecraft software systems including the HST flight software and has over thirty years of experience in the aerospace industry. He co-chaired the HST Software Working Group and managed the HST Hardware/Software Integration Facility. He is currently responsible for engineering support for the planned HST servicing mission and was responsible for the upgrade of on-board software to accommodate unexpected solar array dynamics. Mr. Whittier received the NASA Public Service Medal in 1991 for flight software/hardware integration on the HST.

Suggested Citation:"Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 1993. An Assessment of Space Shuttle Flight Software Development Processes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2222.
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Page 93
Suggested Citation:"Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 1993. An Assessment of Space Shuttle Flight Software Development Processes. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2222.
×
Page 94
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Effective software is essential to the success and safety of the Space Shuttle, including its crew and its payloads. The on-board software continually monitors and controls critical systems throughout a Space Shuttle flight. At NASA's request, the committee convened to review the agency's flight software development processes and to recommend a number of ways those processes could be improved.

This book, the result of the committee's study, evaluates the safety, oversight, and management functions that are implemented currently in the Space Shuttle program to ensure that the software is of the highest quality possible. Numerous recommendations are made regarding safety and management procedures, and a rationale is offered for continuing the Independent Verification and Validation effort that was instituted after the Challenger Accident.

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