From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.5-pre1 (2020-06-20) on ip-172-31-74-118.ec2.internal X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.8 required=3.0 tests=BAYES_50 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.5-pre1 Date: 28 Jul 93 20:37:44 GMT From: agate!library.ucla.edu!news.mic.ucla.edu!magnesium.club.cc.cmu.edu!news.s ei.cmu.edu!ajpo.sei.cmu.edu!colket@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Currie Colket) Subject: ANCOST / ANCOAT Mission Statement Message-ID: <1993Jul28.163744.23018@sei.cmu.edu> List-Id: +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ The Annual National Conference on Software Technology (ANCOST) Board sponsors the Annual National Conference on Ada Technology (ANCOAT). ANCOAT Mission Statement: +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ THE ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADA TECHNOLOGY (ANCOAT) MISSION: To actively promote the development of well-qualified software engineering professionals by conducting an annual conference and related activities that encourage ongoing interaction between academia (both students and faculty), government, and industry. BACKGROUND: The goal of the ANCOAT conferences is to achieve greater effectiveness in the professional practice of software engineering by bringing together talented people from government, industry, and academia. Government and industry involvement is important as these are the professionals using software engineering to develop systems vital to our aviation, business, communications, space, and national defense missions. Academic involvement is also important as it molds students to be the software engineering professionals of the future. These students will become the software engineering professionals our nation will depend on to develop and maintain our mission-critical software. This conference has two objectives. The first is on improving the quality of systems through software engineering. The second is to encourage students and their academic institutions toward production of the best future software professionals possible. We believe Ada is an important building block of software engineering and an important facilitator for educating software professionals. The presence of industry and government professionals, along with faculty and students, sets the stage for effective and beneficial exchanges of ideas, needs, and perspectives. A conference involving academicians alone cannot possibly provide the benefits afforded by ANCOAT, including formal and informal communications with software engineering managers and professionals from organizations that may become employers of students or sponsors for research. The conference arranges for national leaders in government and industry to provide keynote and luncheon presentations. In turn, industry and government attendees are updated on academic programs, and gain greater understanding of the issues academic departments face in trying to change their emphases to better fulfill government and industry needs. Professionals also benefit from their interactions with each other, sharing their experiences and lessons learned in many aspects of software development, integration, and maintenance. The ANCOAT conferences are planned and managed by the Annual National Conference on Software Technology, Inc. (ANCOST), a non-profit corporation. The ANCOST Board consists of professionals from government, industry and academia, contributing a great deal of time, energy, and money to make the conference a success. In order to achieve effective software engineering practices in government and industry, academia must play a key role. The conference has from its inception strongly involved Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in its planning and execution, and has in more recent years made a conscious effort to broaden participation of academic institutions of every background, size, and stature. This conference provides an "up close and personal", nurturing environment for student attendees. The students are encouraged to present papers, and are provided an evening reception with an opportunity to meet industry and government professionals, and students and professors from other schools. There is increasing participation of computer science/software engineering professors in the conference, with truly exceptional papers and panel discussions being presented this year on the role of Ada in software engineering education in the colleges and universities. We believe the conference offers government and industry the opportunity to mold our soon-to-be software engineering professionals to meet the challenging technical demands of the future.