ISR Participates in Ground System Architectures Workshop (GSAW 2011)

ISR continued its tradition of participating in the Ground System Architectures Workshop (GSAW), which is sponsored by The Aerospace Corporation – one of ISR’s long-time supporters.  GSAW has been held in cooperation with ISR since 2003. GSAW 2011 was held February 28-March 3 in Los Angeles. 

This year, Ph.D. student Leyna Cotran (R. Taylor, advisor) organized a working group on the topic of “Beyond ‘Shall Statements’: Modernizing Requirements Engineering.”  The working group was co-organized by ISR alumnus Dr. Eric Dashofy, now at The Aerospace Corp. Cotran deftly facilitated the workshop which featured two panels, several invited talks, and loads of dynamic interaction.

Cotran opened with an introductory presentation setting the stage for the day.  ISR Director Richard N. Taylor served on the first panel, and gave a lively and provacative micro-keynote talk on “Requirements Engineering as a Failed Discipline,” addressing the premise that classical requirements engineering practice has failed to deliver, and that software architecture is a key to improvement.  Project Scientist Ban Al-Ani served on the second panel and gave a presentation on “Requirements Engineering at the Margins: Avoiding Technological Hubris through Alternative Approaches,” highlighting that current RE approaches do not take into account the target users’ context and environment.

Ph.D. student Yongjie Zheng (R. Taylor, advisor), post-doctoral researcher  Chris Jensen, and Technical Relations Director Debra A. Brodbeck also attended. Jensen observed, “the event brought a practical focus to ISR requirements engineering efforts, highlighting the challenge of achieving innovation in a field constrained by external demands and established practice.”

We look forward to seeing you at GSAW 2012!