* GMU Software Engineering Seminar
Series<http://cs.gmu.edu/%7Esmalek/seminar.html>
*



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* Date:* Tues, 12/7/2010

* Time:* 12:00 – 1:00pm

* Location:* 4201, Engineering

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 *Title:* Visual Language for Software Product Lines in Team Computing

 *Speaker:* Vasilios Tzeremes

*Abstract*



Team Computing (TeC) is a generic end user programming framework that
enables users to design and deploy software systems for their environments.
TeC follows a visual programming approach. Users drag and drop software
components and connect them together to achieve a goal without the need of
extensive programming. Software can be deployed at runtime, across spaces,
securely without the need of any interruptions. Software Product Lines (SPL)
concepts can be used to enhance TeC by allowing end users to design generic
software applications that can share with other users. End users will be
able to design teams with different features that can be customized at
runtime by others. This will increase team quality and simplify the use of
complex teams. Currently there are a number of languages used to design and
generate SPL members. In this seminar we will present why we believe a
visual language may be a better fit for representing SPL in team computing.
Moreover and we will discuss some of the challenges that come with it like
how do we present SPL primitives in visual languages and how do we support
end users in configuring SPL members.



*Bio*

Vasilios Tzeremes is a Ph.D. candidate in Information Technology at George
Mason University. He is working as a software engineer in Northern Virginia
for the past 9 years. He has developed several software applications for
private and government organizations. Vasilios is originally from Greece
where he completed his undergraduate studies. In 2004 he completed his
master degree in Information Systems at American University. He is currently
working on his dissertation proposal. His dissertation topic focuses on
supporting end users creating software product lines.



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 *Title:* An Inference Network Model for Data Abstraction in a First
Response Context

 *Speaker:* Salman Salloum

*Abstract*



First response workers collaborate in gathering knowledge of the situation
on the ground during rescue and evacuation missions. While voice
broadcasting is used today for small teams, it does not scale for larger
teams or wider deployment areas. However, first responders must pay
attention to their mission, and presenting them with all the detailed
information gathered from a wide area is unhelpful and distracting. This
work proposes a reliable model for data abstraction in a fire response team,
taking into consideration that this data is both time-sensitive and
space-sensitive, and it may be sensed by different sensors in the area or
observed by first responders themselves. The proposed model builds on
Inference Networks.



*Bio*

Salman Salloum has an Engineering Diploma (2001-2006) from the Department of
Software Engineering and Information Systems, Faculty of Information
Technology, Damascus University. He has achieved a remarkable graduate
project on developing Reusable Learning Objects, and Developing a Learning
Object Repository Supplied by Retrieval and Browsing Capabilities. He is
preparing a Master Degree at the same department and focusing his research
on the Reusability of Learning Objects. He was leading the eLearning team at
ePedia-SY Company (2008-2010). Now, he is an exchange visitor at the
Department of Computer Science, George Mason University for Fall 2010
semester.


-- 
Sam Malek, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Science
George Mason University
WWW: http://cs.gmu.edu/~smalek/ <http://cs.gmu.edu/%7Esmalek/>