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Presenter: Polly Allen
Supervisor:

Date: Fri, October 11, 2002
Time: 13:30:00 - 15:00:00
Place: EOW 430

ABSTRACT

Safety-critical systems are those systems whose failure could result in unacceptable loss: loss of life, significant economic loss, or damage to property or the environment. As more and more modem information systems are becoming safety-critical, the discipline of software engineering is struggling to find adequate processes and tools to ensure dependable systems. As a visiting student and researcher at the Software Engineering Research Lab (SERL) in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, Polly Allen worked with Dr. Nancy Leveson, who pioneered the field of software safety. This talk will include a discussion of the field of software safety and its relevance, followed by an overview of some of the research projects taking place at SERL. In particular, the talk will focus on Ms. Allen's work with Dr. Leveson's new proposed model for accident analysis. Traditional accident analysis models are based on examining events leading to the accident. In this new model, Dr. Leveson suggests using control theory as a basis. Two case studies will be presented to illustrate the modeling process: the Mars Climate Orbiter loss and a 1994 U.S. military friendly fire incident.