Software System Safety Class

Nancy Leveson

LOCATION AND DATE: Talaris (nee Aljoya) Conference Center, Seattle, Washington, July 19-23, 2004

TEXTS: (1) N.G. Leveson, Safeware: System Safety and Computers, Addison-Wesley, 1995 and (2) draft chapters of my new book.

DESCRIPTION: Software allows unprecedented levels of complexity and new failure modes that are starting to overwhelm the standard approaches to ensuring safety. The causes of accidents are even changing. This class will cover fundamental concepts and techniques in building and ensuring safety in software-intensive systems. Emphasis will be on procedures and techniques that are practical enough to be applied to projects today. Real-project experiences with these techniques in different application areas will be described and recent software-related accidents will be reviewed and analyzed. The goal of this class is not to learn how to satisfy a particular safety standard but rather how to design a tailored program that will be most effective for your project. The class size will be limited to encourage interaction. Students will work on example problems in small groups.

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Leveson is a Professor in the MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Dept. and in the Engineering Systems Division and is head of the MIT Software Engineering Research Lab (SERL). Previously, she was Boeing Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. Dr. Leveson is a founder of the field of software safety and has worked on this topic since 1980. Before becoming a professor, she was a system engineer for IBM. Dr. Leveson consults widely on safety-critical systems for both government and industry and has worked with aerospace, nuclear power, transportation, aircraft, and medical systems. In 1995, Dr. Leveson was awarded the AIAA Information Systems Award for ``developing the field of software safety and system engineering practices where life and property are at stake.'' She received the 1999 ACM Allen Newell Award for "pioneering work in establishing the foundations of software safety" and in 1999 was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).

For Additional Information Contact:

Dr. Nancy Leveson
617-258-0505
leveson@mit.edu
URL: http://sunnyday.mit.edu

OUTLINE

LOGISTICS

Cost: $2495, which includes a copy of the textbook; continental breakfast, break snacks, and a full lunch each day; lecture notes; and handouts. Early registration will ensure a place in the class (which will be limited to a maximum of 30). Checks or purchase orders should be made out to Safeware Engineering Corporation and sent to 1520 Eastlake Ave. E, Suite 101, Seattle, WA 98102-3748. Sorry, but we cannot accept credit cards. Joan Judge at Safeware Engineering Corp. will be handling logistics and can be contacted at judge@safeware-eng.com or 206-328-4880.

Location: The class will be held at the

Talaris Conference Center (used to be the Aljoya Conf. Center)
4000 NE 41st Street
Seattle, WA 98105-5428
Tel: 206-268-7000
URL: www.aljoya.com

A few rooms are available at the conference center if you reserve early (I have only blocked a few). Otherwise, there are several hotels in the area and parking at Battelle. Some hotels you might try (in my order of my ranking):

Silver Cloud Inn
5036 25th Avenue NE
Seattle, WA 98105
800-205-6940
206-526-5200
Online reservations, internet and corporate rates, half mile to Battelle
Meany Tower Hotel
4507 Brooklyn Ave. NE
Seattle, WA 98105
800-899-0257
206-634-2000
One mile to Battelle
University Travelodge
4725 25th NE
Seattle, WA 98105
800-578-7878
206-525-4612
Online reservations, half mile to Battelle (very basic motel, not as nice as Silver Cloud)
University Inn
4140 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
800-733-3855
206-632-5055
About 3 miles from Aljoya <\dl>
University Plaza Hotel
400 NE 45th (west of I-5)
Seattle, WA 98105
800-343-7040
206-634-0100
4 miles from Battelle

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REGISTRATION FORM

Please email to leveson@sunnyday.mit.edu or, if using post office mail, to Nancy Leveson, 10 Rogers St. #802, Cambridge, MA 02142.

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