The Southern California Quality Assurance Association (SCQAA) San Fernando Chapter presents

******* Robert T Bauer *******

”Topic: Formal Methods used in Software Verification”

Wednesday, February 4, 2004 Networking @ 5:45; Business @ 6:45; Program @ 7:00 PM

Countrywide, 2900 Madera, Simi Valley, CA 93065

Mr. Robert T. Bauer has over 15 years of industry experience. Robert has worked in research labs and in real-world business application development. At Quantum Dynamics' Advanced Experimental Research Laboratory, Robert developed the real-time kernel for NASA's Cryogenic Orbital Depot Satellite. At PDS, he developed inventory, order processing, shipping and customer service applications to support a full-service fulfillment center. At 1776, Robert developed fault-tolerant disk array software and at NCR, he developed a wide-variety of software to support large-scale testing of the Teradata database. His Parallel Test Environment (PTE) is now the standard testing environment at NCR and is used at the 5 Teradata development centers. Robert began working in formal methods at NCR and continued that work at Levetate where he worked on the semantics of a behavioral specification language and developed a theorem prover for automated formal verification. Robert is now with IBM where he spends most of his time working on design pattern software and much of his time on formal methods related work.

In addition to his development work, Robert is well-known in the software quality community for his contributions to software testing. Robert developed a testing strategy called Customer-Based Testing. This strategy combines software reliability engineering, automatic test case generation, and usage coverage to minimize the risk of expensive failures and to maximize assurance of base functionality. In the area of software process, Robert advanced the field by introducing Early Regression Testing. At NCR, early regression testing moved 70% of the problems discovered at system test to feature/unit testing. Robert's work in software complexity metrics has fundamentally changed how the research community looks at complexity measures.

Robert has undergraduate degrees in Electrical and Industrial Engineering and a graduate degree in Computer Science. Robert has published more than 17 technical papers.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR! Wednesday, March 3, 2004 March Monthly Meeting in Countrywide, Simi Valley, CA Speaker: Bryan Schultz, Topic: Selling QA/QC to Management Wednesday, April 7, 2004 April Monthly Meeting in Countrywide, Simi Valley, CA Speaker: TBD, Topic: TBD

Fee: $10 nonmembers; Free for members Questions? Contact scqaasf_newsletter@sbcglobal.net

Membership: $65/year standard (one year of meetings); $100/year (one year of meetings + training discount)

Quality Assurance Institute Courses

SCQAA- San Fernando Chapter is proud to offer 4 excellent and nationally recognized courses in software testing and software quality assurance. These classes taught by distinguished QAI instructors have not been offered in the Los Angeles area for a very long time and we are happy to bring these courses back here, in response to several dozens of requests from our local members.

To find out more about the classes and to register online be sure to visit our web site at www.scqaa.us. Take advantage of our membership benefits, become a privileged member if you are not already and get the courses at 50% discount!!

Remember, only those SCQAA-SF full members are eligible for our course discounts. To become a member click here: http://www.scqaa.us/member.php

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** Boot camp for Software Testers **

Thursday & Friday, February 5 & 6, 2004

7:45 AM - 8:30 AM - Continental Breakfast/Registration

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM

This is a foundation course of IT software testing concepts. It provides an excellent overview of the entire software testing professional area. The course is designed to provide a macro overview of the software testing area by covering roles and responsibilities, test techniques, test planning, and the different types of testing commonly performed. It also provides an exceptional examination review for those planning to pursue the Certified Software Tester (CSTE) professional designation.

Enroll [Course Fee: Members $400.00 - Non-members $800.00]

***** Prep course for CSTE *****

Thursday & Friday, March 11 & 12, 2004

7:45 AM - 8:30 AM - Continental Breakfast/Registration

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM

The Certified Software Test Engineer (CSTE) Prep Course is designed to help candidates prepare for the certification examination. It assists the professional to focus on the topics that are important for understanding and thus help towards the successful completion of the exam. This course is not intended to supplant the need for proper examination preparation. However, it will serve as an excellent review of the material covered in the test.

Enroll [Course Fee: Members $400.00 - Non-members $800.00]

** Boot camp for Software QA Analysts **

Thursday & Friday, May 6 & 7, 2004

7:45 AM - 8:30 AM - Continental Breakfast/Registration

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM

This Boot Camp is a foundation course for IT quality concepts. It provides an excellent overview of the entire IT quality professional area. It further provides a macro introduction of the quality assurance area by introducing and reviewing the principles expounded by leading quality experts. This course similarly provides an exceptional review for those planning to pursue IT quality certification for the Certified Software Quality Analyst (CSQA) professional designation.

This seminar also addresses the important aspects to consider for those organizations who desire to properly organize their quality initiative for improved productivity and organizational integrity.

Enroll [Course Fee: Members $400.00 - Non-members $800.00]

***** Prep course for CSQA *****

Thursday & Friday, June 3 & 4, 2004

7:45 AM - 8:30 AM - Continental Breakfast/Registration

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM

The Certified Software Quality Analyst Prep Course has been designed specifically to prepare the quality assurance professional for the CSQA examination. The course provides a thorough background of the Quality fundamentals and also includes the more advanced concepts, which the Certified Software Quality Analyst must understand. The successful completion of this course along with the necessary practical experience and related resource familiarity will well prepare the candidate for the CSQA examination.

Enroll [Course Fee: Members $400.00 - Non-members $800.00]

Message from your President: Judy Cheves

Welcome to all of our new members! We are very excited that so many of you signed up and became members of our chapter at the first opportunity to join.

And, what a great way to start the new year. Paul Glen, our January speaker, was excellent! Paul provided insight and humor into our world of IT and how to communicate with and motivate the Geeks among us.

Our February speaker is Robert T Bauer. Robert developed a testing strategy called Customer-Based Testing. This strategy combines software reliability engineering, automatic test case generation, and usage coverage to minimize the risk of expensive failures and to maximize assurance of base functionality.

We have finalized plans for upcoming quality certification training for the Quality Assurance Institute (QAI) Test Engineer and Quality Analyst certifications. Certification is formal recognition of a level of proficiency in the information technology (IT) quality assurance industry. The recipient is acknowledged as having an overall comprehension of the disciplines and skills represented in a comprehensive body of knowledge for a respective software discipline. Here is your chance to prepare to certification and add to your value in the marketplace.

Have you visited our new website? You can sign up as a member, check out our course schedule, enroll in our course offerings, link to other sites of interest and soon....our Job Postings will be available online to members, as well.

Mark your calendars and join us on Wednesday, February 4th for Robert Bauer’s presentation, “Formal Methods Used in Software Verification”.

Regards,

Judy

Quality Meetings Upcoming

January 22 "Risk and the Successful Project Manager" by Mike Waksull, PMP, President of the PMI Los Padres Chapter and Manager of Policies & Standards at Amgen. Sponsored by PMI Los Padres. Location: Clarion Hotel in Thousand Oaks (101 FWY - Ventu Park Exit). Cost is $25 (members), $30 (non-members), and includes dinner. Link: http://pmi-lospadres.org/upload/PMI-LP January 2004 Newsletter.pdf

January 22 11:30 AM – 1 PM Computer Investigations As a Critical Control Under Sarbanes-Oxley" - Beckham Grill, Pasadena . Sponsored by Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. This presentation will address the critical importance of internal computer investigations as a central component to maintaining adequate corporate financial controls under Sarbanes-Oxley, and why companies must establish a technical and procedural infrastructure to perform such investigations. This presentation will also explain the steps companies can take to create an effective and compliant infrastructure. http://isacala.org/communityevents.html

February 2-4: ICCBSS 2004, 3rd Int'l Conf. on COTS-Based Software Systems, Redondo Beach, Calif. http://www.iccbss.org/2004/

February 2-5: EclipseCon 2004, Conf. on Open Tools Development & Integration, Anaheim, Calif. http://www.eclipsecon.org

February 12, 2004 Extreme Risk Mitigation at the monthly Professional Development Dinner Meeting. Guest Speaker: Adam Josephs - Partner Celerity Consulting. Register: http://www.pmi-la.org/

February 12 IIA-SFV Multi-Session Seminar (Up to 9 CPE's) features Ed Robinson, Business Consultant

Sponsored by IIA – San Fernando Chapter. Location: The Odyssey Restaurant in Granada Hills. Reserve: http://www.iia-sfv.org/1024x768_idx.html

February 22 - 27 CMG National Exhibition at SHARE Technology Exchange Long Beach, CA. Join CMG as we exhibit at SHARE, a 6-day event featuring mutli-disciplinary technical education and professional networking for IT professionals of IBM enterprise computing environments. At this event, you’ll learn real-world technical solutions from users like you to meet the IT business challenges of today, have the opportunity to influence future product development, and preview tomorrow’s solutions from IBM. For more info contact: CMG Headquarters or visit www.share.org

March 20 Forewarned is Forearmed by Lois Zells. Sponsored by PMI-Los Padres. 8:30 – 4 at the Radisson Hotel, Oxnard. Link: http://pmi-lospadres.org/

April 25 – 28, 2004 ISACA Spring Conference at Universal City, CA, provides affordable quality training on fundamental IDS auditing concepts and emerging technology risks, and an opportunity to network with other auditing and security professionals. Weblink: http://isacala.org/2004SpringConference/2004SpringConference.html

Job Opportunity

3-month Test Lead contract with Consulting Solutions in Burbank. Contact: Rick@cnslinc.com Requirements include:

* 1-2 Years experience as a Tester in a Lead Role for Client Server and Web Based Applications

* 2-3 Years experience in creating Test Scenarios and Scripts for Client Server and Web Based Applications

* Solid understanding of the testing lifecycle

* Excellent verbal and written communication skills

* Excellent analytical skills

* Strong interpersonal skills and customer service skills

* Ability to manage multiple priorities

* Ability to translate technical jargon to the lay user

* Ability to remain flexible

* Experienced user of the Microsoft Office Suite (including Project)

* Experience using the Mercury Tool Suite (Test Director).

Senior QA Engineer through C2K Technologies

This is a senior position and you must be able to work independently, think on your feet, be a good problem solver and also work well in a team environment.

Responsibilities:

Sr. QA Eng will be responsible for performance & quality of the company's application. Will work with technology & product teams to ensure development process, requirements, and release procedures are concise and well executed. Will create overall test and quality strategies, select, implement & maintain automated test system to enable that strategy. Will learn to lead the product requirements, and oversee the quality for the external & internal customers.

Requirements:

Ideal candidate will possess BS or MS degree, 7+ yrs in a software Q/A environment focused in web based, client-server application testing. Must have significant skills in all of the following:

- requirement analysis

- Q/A methodologies and processes

- perform and & functional test, automated unit

- J2EE, EJB, XML, UML, OOP, RDBMS, extreme programming

This is a hands on position and requires solid analytical & problem solving. Must have understanding of Q/A methodologies and processes. Solid understanding of release management & ability to manage multiple over-lapping versions.

Desired Skills:

- 3+ yrs Sr. level Q/A experience in a web based company

- 5+ yrs automated test

- 2+ yrs open-source tools experience (JUNIT, HTTP UNIT, XML, ANT)

- 2+ yrs UML requirements analysis

- 2+ yrs J2EE test, performance tuning & deployment

- 5+ yrs application performance tuning

- 2+ yrs test and/or applications development that uses a RDBMS

- 2+ yrs systems testing with built in parsers & lexers (YACC, ANTLR or Bison)

- 4+ yrs web-browser compatibility test

- superior knowledge of OOP

No relocation available – local candidates only - because the company can hire locally they do not provide reimbursement for any expenses related to travel for interviewing.

Due to the overwhelming response, please ONLY respond with a resume in Word.doc to this address:

donna@c2ktechnologies.com

3 QA positions with RMG - (Resource Management Group), A Division of Prosum Technologies Inc. Location: Orange County. Contact: Chris Margin

e-mail: chris.martin@prosumrmg.com

(310) 426-0686 (Direct)

(310) 426-0600 (Main)

(310) 426-0690 (Fax)

1. QA Manager

~$50/hr. Contract to hire. Management of up to 30 employees Web-based systems (empower preferred) Full SDLC exp. Develop Test Plans and Scripts. Perform Testing. Oversee multiple projects from QA responsibility. Strong Client Service. Flexible in implementing QA plans to Best Practice

2. QA Lead

~$45/hr/hr. Contract to Hire. Build Test Plans. Perform Automated testing utilizing Winrunner. Experience with Web-based technologies. Leadership/ Management. Client Service Skills

3. QA Analyst

~$35-40/hr. Contract to Hire - multiple positions

Produce highly readable documentation, traceability matrices, test cases, test scripts, test plans, data flow diagrams, and test strategies. Quality Assurance Analysts should be knowledgeable in the following areas: Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), QA Testing Tools, Bug Tracking/Variance Reporting, Business Process Flows, UML Use Cases, and Systems Documentation (Requirements, Functional Specs, Computer System Designs).

3 QA Positions with Serena Corporation, Woodland Hills; Quality Assurance Analyst - Distributed Systems, Quality Assurance Analyst Software - TeamTrack Product Line, and Quality Assurance Analyst Software - Automated Testing. The details are on the Serena website at http://www.serena.com/jobs/employ_jobs_quality_assur.html.

Our Corporate Meeting Sponsors

Serena, Corp. at 20920B Warner Center Lane, Woodland Hills, is our very first chapter Corporate Meeting Sponsor. We very much appreciate their sponsorship, which provides the SCQAA San Fernando Board with a fine workspace for our Board meetings.

Countrywide, Corp. in Simi Valley is our second chapter Corporate Meeting Sponsor, as they are providing Membership meeting space, starting with the first monthly meeting on September 17, 2003.

QAI Certification Programs

To request more information, send email to certify@qaiusa.com.

Earn CPEs

Are you a CQA or CSTE? Earn some of your Continuing Professional Education (CPE) points by attending SCQAA-SF meetings. Earn even more by helping with our committees!

Southern California Quality Assurance Association San Fernando Chapter (SCQAA-SF)

Course Schedule for 2004

Training Location: University of Phoenix - Woodland Hills, CA

Feb 5-6: Boot camp for Software Testers

March 4-5: Prep course for CSTE

May 6-7: Boot camp for Software QA Analysts

June: 3-4: Prep course for CSQA

QAI Certification Programs

To request more information, send email to certify@qaiusa.com.

Meet Your SCQAA

San Fernando Chapter Board

The new Board slate is composed of:

Position	Board Member	Backup Member
Chapter Chair	Judy Cheves	Shahidul Manan
Vice Chair	Shahidul Manan	John Heeg
Treasurer	Deanna Witrack	Judy Cheves
Secretary	John Heeg	Julie Borland
Sponsor/PR Chair	Bob Tabaka	Bill Hackenberg
Membership Chair	Ron Winters
Food Service Chair	Peter Reidy
Webmaster	Lenni Lara
Mail List Chair	Gerry Caruso	Karina Gamble
Newsletter Chair	Elizabeth Runyon	Deanna Witrack
Meeting Chair	Julie Borland	Suzanne Mullen
Program Chair	Karina Gamble	Lenni Lara
Chapter Advisor	Jim Stoumpos
PMI Liaison	Bill Hackenberg

Would you like to be a speaker and have a topic of interest to the quality community? Contact the Program Chair (karina@qainsight.com) or Chapter Chairperson (Judy.cheves@Countrywide.com) and let us know what you would like to contribute.

Would you like to contribute information to this Newsletter? Contact the Newsletter editor at this address: scqaasf_newsletter@sbcglobal.net.

The SCQAA San Fernando Board holds monthly Board Meetings at Serena Inc. in Woodland Hills. If you would like to attend the Board meeting and would like to help this chapter, please contact Judy Cheeves at E-Mail (Judy.cheves@Countrywide.com) to obtain the meeting schedule and location.

Subscription Information

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We'd love to hear from you. Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Please help us respond to your requests and input by writing to us at: scqaasf_newsletter@sbcglobal.net or visit our Web site: www.scqaa.us and you can contact a Board member.

Privacy policy: We will not distribute your name or e-mail address to anyone, other than for SCQAA or QAI chapter purposes.

Directions to Our Location for Meetings and Training in Simi Valley:

You might want to check out driving directions from your starting point on yahoo.com, but here is how you will finish the trip:

Countrywide Financial 2900 Madera Road, Simi Valley, CA 93065 1C Central Lobby Presentation & Video Make your way to CA-118 and go to Simi Valley Exit CA-118 on Madera Road North Go 0.3 miles then turn right on North Madera Road Go 0.3 miles past Countrywide Way to first driveway on the right: 2900 North Madera Road. Follow the driveway up and around the building on your right and park on the other side (which is actually the front). Conference room 1C is right off the main lobby.