University of Lancaster

Institute Name: University of Lancaster, Cooperative Systems Engineering Group

Description: The focus of the group is research into the development of computer-based systems which are used to support cooperative working and the support of cooperative development processes for computer-based systems. Our principal research interests are in systems requirements engineering, safety-critical systems, systems evolution, CSCW and cooperative user interfaces. Our research interests in the field of requirements engineering include:

There are four academic staff involved in requirements engineering research namely Prof. Ian Sommerville, Dr Gerald Kotonya, Dr Pete Sawyer and Dr Tom Rodden. Currently 2 research assistants and 3 research students are working on RE projects. Dr John Bowers (Dept. of Psychology, Manchester University) is also closely associated with the group. Current RE projects include REAIMS, an EC-sponsored project concerned with requirements engineering process improvement for critical systems and SHARE, an EPSRC project concerned with integrating human factors analysis into requirements engineering projects. A recently approved EC project (DEADA), intended to start in 1997, will be concerned with user interface requirements engineering.
 
We have an active PhD programme with about 12 PhD students associated with the Cooperative Systems Engineering Group. Three of these students are working in the area of requirements engineering. We also have an advanced MSc course in Distributed Interactive Systems where requirements engineering is a major component.
 

Researchers associated with the project:

Prof. Ian Sommerville

Dr. Gerald Kotonya

Dr. Pete Sawyer

Dr. Tom Rodden
 

Brief CVs of Key Researchers:

Name: Prof. Ian Sommerville, B.Sc, M.Sc, Ph.D, C.Eng, FIEE, MBCS

Nationality: British

Academic Qualifications & Experience:  Professor of Computer Science since 1986. Has been involved in cooperative software engineering research since 1984. Current research interests include viewpoints for requirements  ngineering, requirements engineering for critical systems and the integration of human factors analysis into RE methods.
 

Name: Dr Gerald Kotonya, B.Sc, M.Sc, Ph.D

Nationality: British

Academic Qualifications & Experience: Lecturer in Computer Science since 1996. Completed a PhD at Lancaster University in 1994 on viewpoint-oriented requirements engineering and worked for a year on a research project concerned with investigating the problems of integrating safety analysis and requirements engineering. Current research interests include viewpoints for requirements engineering and supporting requirements engineering as a cooperative process.
 

Name: Dr Pete Sawyer, B.Sc, PhD

Nationality: British

Academic Qualifications & Experience: Lecturer in Computer Science since 1990. Manager of the Lancaster component
of the REAIMS project, an EC-project concerned with requirements engineering process improvement, especially in the area of critical systems. Current research interests include viewpoints for requirements engineering, safety-critical systems and user interface requirements.
 

Name: Dr Tom Rodden, B.Sc, PhD

Nationality: British

Academic Qualifications & Experience: Senior Lecturer in Computer Science since 1993. Has been a pioneer in the practical application of ethnographic techniques for requirements engineering. Current research interests include human, social and organisational factors in the RE process and cooperative tool support for requirements discovery and analysis.
 

Selected Publications:
 

Sommerville, I. and Sawyer, P.'Requirements engineering - A good practice guide', Wiley, 1997.
 

Sommerville I. & Sawyer P., Viewpoints:  Principles, Problems and a Practical Approach to Requirements Engineering, Annals of Software Engineering, March 1996.
 

Sommerville, I., P. Sawyer, G. Kotonya, and S. Viller. 'Process Viewpoints'. in Proc. 5th European Workshop on Software Process Technology. 1995. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Springer.
 

Kotonya, G. and Sommerville, I. 'Integrating safety analysis and requirements engineering', Proc. APSEC' 97, Dec 1997. Hong Kong, China. To appear.
 

Kotonya, G. and I. Sommerville, 'Requirements engineering withviewpoints'. BCS/IEE Software Eng. J., 11(1): p. 5-18. 1996.
 

Kotonya, G. and I. Sommerville. 'A framework for integrating functional and non-functional requirements'. in IEE Workshop on Systems Engineering for Real-time Applications. 1993. Cirencester, UK.: IEE.
 

Kotonya, G. and I. Sommerville, 'Viewpoints for requirements definition'. BCS/IEE Software Eng. J., 7(6): p. 375-87. 1992.
 

Hughes, J., T. Rodden, V. King, and H. Andersen. 'Moving out from the control room: ethnography in system design'. in CSCW'94. 1994. Greensborough, North Carolina:
 

Hughes, J., J. O'Brien, T. Rodden, M. Rouncefield, and I. Sommerville. 'Presenting Ethnography in the Requirements Process'. in Proc. RE'95. 1995. York: IEEE Press.
 

Sommerville, I. and T. Rodden, 'Human, Social and Organisational Influences on the Software Process', in Trends in Software Processes, A. Fuggetta and A. Wolf, Editors. 1995, John Wiley and Sons: New York.
 

Sommerville, I., T. Rodden, P. Sawyer, R. Bentley, and M. Twidale. 'Integrating ethnography into the requirements engineering process'. in RE'93. 1993. San Diego CA.
 

Contact Details:

Principal Investigator: Prof. Ian Sommerville

Address: Cooperative Systems Engineering Group, Computing Dept., Lancaster University Lancaster LA1 4YR

Telephone number: +44 1524 593041

Telefax number: ++44-1524 593608

EMail: is@comp.lancs.ac.uk

List of Members

Last up-date: 30 July 1998