Noted U.S. and International Executives to Keynote SEPG North America 2011

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute today announced the keynote speaker lineup for SEPG North America 2011, to be held in Portland, Ore., from March 21 to 24. Headlining the SEPG North America 2011 conference program are three highly-regarded thought-leaders in software, technology, and process improvement: K. Dinesh, co-founder and member of the board of directors at Infosys Technologies Limited; William "Liam" Durbin, former chief information officer and business owner; and Harry S. Hertz, director of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, National Institute of Standards and Technology.  

Each of the three keynote presenters will share with SEPG North America 2011 attendees his wealth of experience and practical application in software and systems engineering. Drawing upon the conference theme of The Power of Process, these noted leaders will bring their perspectives in areas such as workforce development and improvement, high-maturity organizations, changing behaviors, and business value and impact.

• K. Dinesh: In addition to his roles at Infosys, Dinesh serves as director of Narayana Hrudayalaya Private Limited, one of the largest health care companies in India. Dinesh focuses on managing quality at Infosys, championing the company's software quality processes in achieving world-class benchmarks, including CMM Level 5 and People CMM Level 5.  
• William "Liam" Dubin:  Durbin has more than 20 years of leadership experience with Fortune 500 companies and as a naval officer. In 2011, Durbin left his most recent role at Heinz North America to focus on his small business, E-ponies.com, with a focus on technology as a differentiator. Durbin was named 2010 CIO of the Year by the Pittsburgh Technology Council.
• Harry S. Hertz: As the director of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program that administers the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Hertz focuses on change management and the evolving definition of quality. Hertz has held positions with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, has authored or co-authored more than 50 publications, and holds one patent.  Hertz is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"We are honored to have a distinguished roster of keynote presenters to open the SEPG North America 2011 conference program," said Dr. Palma Buttles, SEPG North America 2011 technical co-chair. "Their experience, inspiration, and vision in their respective fields will help shape a roadmap for the future of software quality and continuous process improvement."

Now in its 23rd year, SEPG North America, the flagship conference for software and systems professionals, offers process improvement professional development opportunities through technical sessions focused on technologies like CMMI, People CMM, PSP, TSP, AIM, Agile, ISO, and Six Sigma; approaches to implementing high maturity; effective acquisition techniques; service development and delivery; and many other processes for improvement.  

"In addition to these keynote presentations, SEPG North America 2011 offers a robust schedule of more than 100 tutorials and technical sessions, plus numerous networking opportunities with software and systems professionals from around the world," said Gian Wemyss, SEPG North America 2011 technical co-chair.

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 (http://www.sei.cmu.edu/sepg/).

About the 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.

SOURCE Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute