Four Recognized Experts Selected to Keynote SEPG North America 2012

PITTSBURGH, Jan. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute (SEI) has announced the keynote speakers for SEPG North America 2012 to be held March 12-15, 2012, in Albuquerque, N.M. Four thought-leaders have been selected to provide guiding vision and wisdom on improving process performance, software quality and security: Walker Royce, IBM Software Group; Bobbie Stempfley, Cybersecurity and Communications, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Carl Wyrwa, independent consultant and former director at Beckman Coulter, Inc.; and Khaled El Emam, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute.

"Guided by the SEPG North America 2012 theme, Reaching New Levels of Excellence, the four keynote speakers will explore the continued importance of superior software performance and the implications in their respective fields," commented Palma Buttles, SEPG North America 2012 technical co-chair. 

• Walker Royce is the chief software economist in the IBM Software Group. He is a principal consultant and practice leader specializing in measured improvement of systems and software development capability.
• Bobbie Stempfley is the acting assistant secretary of the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications (CS&C), where she plays a leading role in developing the strategic direction for all of CS&C and its components, consisting of the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD), the Office of Emergency Communications (OEC), and the National Communications System (NCS).
• Carl Wyrwa is an independent consultant and former director of quality, with a focus on software, at Beckman Coulter, Inc. He has been involved in the development of software-controlled medical devices for more than 36 years. Wyrwa has handled medical device software management and development, medical device software quality assurance, software standardization, 21 CFR Part 11 compliance, and the management of worldwide information systems and services.
• Khaled El Emam is a senior investigator at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute and heads the Electronic Health Information Laboratory. His main area of research is privacy of personal health information, which includes developing techniques for secure anonymization of health information and assessing re-identification risk of health datasets.

"At SEPG North America 2012, we offer our attendees a rich and varied perspective on the role of software and systems process improvement in achieving competitive advantages," said David Zubrow, SEPG North America 2012 technical co-chair. "The keynote speakers will inspire attendees to get the most out of process improvement."   

The keynote speakers headline a robust technical program that features more than 100 technical sessions in nine topic areas such as multi-model approaches, high maturity, appraisals, emerging trends, resilience and cyber security, and more.

New for 2012, the SEPG North America conference has partnered with IEEE Software magazine, the leading authority on translating software theory into practice. This collaboration will continue with SEPG Europe 2012 and will offer conference attendees enhanced programming and the opportunity to be published in a future issue of IEEE Software magazine. 

Learn more about the SEPG North America 2012 keynotes, register for the conference, and view the technical program at http://www.sei.cmu.edu/sepg/na.

About the SEPG Conference Series
SEPG is the premier, global conference series on software and systems process management hosted by the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute. The SEPG conference series also sets the benchmark for excellence in the areas of acquisition, development, maintenance, security, and services. For more information, visit the SEPG Conference Series website at http://www.sei.cmu.edu/sepg/.

About the IEEE Computer Society
With nearly 85,000 members, the IEEE Computer Society is the world's leading organization of computing professionals. Founded in 1946, and the largest of the 39 societies of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Computer Society is dedicated to advancing the theory and application of computer and information-processing technology. The Society serves the information and career development needs of today's computing researchers and practitioners with technical journals, magazines, conferences, books, conference publications, certifications, and online courses.

The authority on translating theory into practice, IEEE Software delivers reliable, leading-edge information to software developers and managers. Peer-reviewed articles and insightful columns by real-world experts cover all aspects of the industry, including development techniques and tools, process improvement, project management, web applications, testing, usability, and much more. For more information, visit the IEEE Software website at http://www.computer.org/software.

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

SOURCE Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute