Abstract:
It all began at the IBM Lab. in Vienna, 1973–1975. I will reminisce of how VDM, the Vienna Development Method, emerged.
We were to develop a compiler for PL/I. In Feb. 1974 IBM HQ curtailed this and related projects. So three of the co-developers of VDM went abroad. Peter Lucas to the US, Cliff Jones via Brussels back to the UK, and I to Denmark. With students and later, at Dansk Datamatik Center (DDC), we then developed compilers for CHILL and Ada according to the IBM Lab. Vienna ideas.
I will survey those developments. They led to the design of the RAISE (Rigorous Approach to Industrial SE) Method — with RSL (the Raise Specification Language).
As UN Director of the UN University’s Intl. Inst. for Software Technology, in Macau, 1991–1997, we pursued Formal Methods and their theoretical underpinnings, and applied Formal Methods to the development of systems for railways (in China), finance ministry (Vietnam), country wide telephone system (The Philippines), multi-script documents, etc.
I will survey these projects — emphasizing how Domain Modeling emerged.
I will then outline recent work, since my retirement, at 70 in 2007, in Domain Science & Engineering.
All this should take 30 mins.
I will end the talk by engaging the audience in a discussion of open problem issues: “big holes” in what Formal Methods can today be applied to; industry uptake; etc.
Short Bio:
Born: 4 October 1937
MScEE: 1962, PhD: 1969, DrTechn: 2021 (!)
IBM 1962–1975
Nordic Labs., Sweden 1962-1969
SDD Labs., San Jose, CA, USA, 1963-1965
ACS Labs., Menlo Park, CA, USA, 1969
Research, San Jose, CA, USA, 1979-1973
Vienna Lab, Austria, 1973-1975
Guest Prof., 1973
Univ.of Calif., Berkeley, 1971-1972
Copenhagen Univ., 1975-1976
Kiel Univ., Germany, 1980
Natl. Univ. of Singapore, 2004-2005, 2014, 2017, …
JAIST, Kanazawa, Japan, 2006
Univ. Henri Poincare, Nancy, France, 2007
Univ.Saarbruecken, Germany, 2008
Techn.Univ.Graz, Austria, 2008
Edinburgh Univ., Scotland, 2009
Tokyo Univ., Japan, 2009
Techn.Univ.Vienna, Austria, 2010, 2015
TongJi Univ., Shanghai, China, 2017
ECNU, Shanghai, China, 2018
Prof., Tecn.Univ.of Denmark (DTU), 1976-2007
UN Director, UNU-IIST, Macau, 1982-1987
Known for Formal Methods, VDM, RAISE, etc.
More than 120 publications, 7 books, …
