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Software Tools Forum at Embry-Riddle Addresses Latest Developments

Daytona Beach, Fla., May 20, 2004 -- More than 140 representatives from government, academia, and the aviation/aerospace and software industries attended a Software Tools Forum held May 18-19 at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Participants discussed the most current software development and verification tools used in real-time safety-critical systems in aircraft and other aerospace products, as well as the certification of those systems. These tools, which are themselves software, help create, test, and verify other software for correctness, reliability, and safety.

The workshop was hosted by the Computer and Software Engineering Department of Embry-Riddle's College of Engineering, with support from the Aircraft Certification Service of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Software details make up a significant part of the FAA certification process for civil avionics.

"A modern aircraft is like a computer with wings," says Dr. Andrew Kornecki, professor of computing at Embry-Riddle and one of the organizers of the forum. "Software is installed in a variety of aviation systems, ranging from flight data computers to engine controls to navigation to radios to weather equipment and entertainment systems. All these systems must be certified before they are airborne-ready."

More than 25 presenters at the workshop described their experiences that resulted in tool qualification and system certification. The speakers focused on development tools, verification tools, and other tools that affect safety, and shared their ideas on the kind of tool guidelines that will be needed in the future.

The forum included presenters from the FAA and NASA; from Airbus, Boeing, and Honeywell; from Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, Embry-Riddle, Florida Gulf Coast University, the University of Minnesota, the University of South Carolina, and the University of York; and from software firms AdaCore, Barco, Embedded Plus, Engenuity, Escher Technologies, Esterel Technologies, GB Tech, Hamilton Sundstrand, High Integrity Solutions, L3, Metrowerks, TTTech, T-VEC, and Verocel.

Embry-Riddle, the world's largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, meets the needs of students and industry through its educational, training, research, and consulting activities. Embry-Riddle educates more than 28,000 students annually through the master level at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., through the Extended Campus at more than 130 teaching centers in the United States and Europe, and worldwide through distance learning.