Richard G. Turner1

Richard G. Turner

4428 Brandywine Street NWWashington, DC20016

Home: 202/362-8442  Mobile: 202/390-3772

Summary

Dr. Richard Turner has thirty years of experience in systems, software and acquisition engineering. He has developed and acquired software in the private and public sectors and consulted for government and commercial organizations. He is currently a Distinguished Service Professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. Most recently, he was a Fellow at the Systems and Software Consortium, where hesupported technical projects and provided technical exposure for the Consortium through publications, speaking and consulting. Ongoing work with DoD includes working with a wide range of research organizations to identify and transition new software-related technology and supporting the initiative to revitalize systems engineering in acquisition programs. A member of the author team for Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), he has led process improvement initiatives in information technology, system engineering and software acquisition.

Dr. Turner’s research interests include:

  • harmonizing software, systems engineering and acquisition life-cycle models.
  • applying agile techniques to improve a wide variety of engineering tasks;
  • establishing empirical profiles for software development and acquisition best practices;
  • employing spiral, risk-driven methods in large system-of-systems acquisitions; and,

He conceived and evolved the concept of the DoD Acquisition Best Practices Clearinghouse.Currently being developed by Computer Sciences Corporation, the FraunhoferCenter at the University of Maryland, and the DefenseAcquisitionUniversity, the Clearinghouse is the first repository of context-specific empirical information about software and systems practices. He is co-author of three books: Balancing Agility and Discipline: A Guide for the Perplexed (Addison-Wesley, 2004), co-written with Barry Boehm, CMMIsm Distilled (Addison-Wesley 2000, 2004), andCMMI Survival Guide: Just enough Process Improvement, co-authored with Suzanne Garcia (Addison-Wesley 2007). Both CMMI titles are part of Addison-Wesley’s SEI Series in Software Engineering.

Dr. Turner has a BA in Mathematics from HuntingdonCollege, an MS in Computer Science from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and a DSc in Engineering Management from the GeorgeWashingtonUniversity.

Additional personal info: Born in Birmingham, Alabama, he is married and has three adult children. Currently he holds a DoD SECRET clearance; he has previously held TS/SCI. At one time a professional tenor, Dr. Turner performed as a soloist with opera companies, orchestras and choruses in the US and Europe and recorded a CD of Victorian parlor songs that was distributed through the Smithsonian Institution.

Curriculum Vita

Education

February 2002The GeorgeWashingtonUniversity, Washington, DC
D.Sc. in Engineering Management
Dissertation: “Implementation of Best Practice in US Department of Defense Software-Intensive System Acquisitions”

August 1977The University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, LA (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette)
M.S. in Computer Science, with honors
Thesis: “An Interactive Simulation System for the Mathilde/Rikke Systems”

May 1975Huntingdon College, Montgomery, AL
B.A. in Mathematics, cum laude

Awards

2000Excellence in Process Improvement Award, Federal Aviation Administration

1997Research and Acquisition Achievement Award, Federal Aviation Administration

1996Hammer Award, Vice President Gore and the National Performance Review

1994Selected for US Office of Personnel Management Executive Potential Program

1993Associate Administrator’s Award of Excellence, Federal Aviation Administration

1975Who’s Who in AmericanUniversities and Colleges

Publications

2007R. Turner, “Toward Agile Systems Engineering,” CrossTalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering, April 2007.

2007S. Garcia and R. Turner, CMMI Survival Guide: Just Enough Process Improvement, Addison Wesley, (2007).

2005B. Boehm and R. Turner, “Management Challenges to Implementing Agile Processes in Traditional Development Organizations,” IEEE Software, Sept/Oct 2005.

2004B. Boehm, A. W. Brown, V. Basili, and R. Turner,“Spiral Acquisition of Software-Intensive Systems of Systems,”CrossTalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering, Vol 17 No.5, May, 2004.

2004“Why We Need Empirical Information on Best Practices,” CrossTalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering, Vol 17 No.4, April, 2004.

2003B. Boehm and R. Turner, “People Factors in Software Management: Lessons from Comparing Agile and Plan-driven Methods,” CrossTalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering, Vol 16 No 21, December, 2003.

2003Dennis Ahern, Aaron Clouse, and Richard Turner, CMMI Distilled: A Practical Introduction to Integrated Process Improvement (Second edition), Addison-Wesley, Boston, MA.

2003Barry Boehm and Richard Turner, Balancing Agility and Discipline: A Guide For The Perplexed, Addison-Wesley, Boston, MA.

2003Barry Boehm and Richard Turner, “Using Risk to Balance Agile and Plan-driven Methods,” IEEE Computer, June 2003.

2003“Seven Pitfalls to Avoid in the Best Practices Treasure Hunt, “IEEE Software, January/February 2003

2002“Agile Development: Good Practice or Bad Attitude?,” Proceedings from the 4th International Conference on Product Focused Software Process Improvement (PROFES 2002), Rovaniemi, Finland, LNCS 2559, Springer-Verlag, December 2002.

2002“Agile meets CMMI: Culture clash or common cause?,” Proceedings from the First XP/Agile Universe Conference, Chicago, IL, LNCS 2418, Springer-Verlag, August 2002.

2002Barry Boehm, Peter Kind, Richard Turner, “Risky Business: 7 Myths about software that impact defense acquisitions,” Program Manager, May-June, 2002.

2002“Acquisition Best Practices – A Study of Best Practice Adoption By Defense Acquisition Programs,” CrossTalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering, Vol 15 No.5, May, 2002.

2001Defining a Software Engineering Body of Knowledge,”DoD Software Technical News, Vol. 4 No. 3, August, 2001.

2001Dennis Ahern, Aaron Clouse, and Richard Turner, CMMI Distilled: A Practical Introduction to Integrated Process Improvement, Addison-Wesley, Boston, MA.

2000CMMI Product Development Team. “CMMI SM for Systems Engineering/Software Engineering/Integrated Product and Process Development,” CMU/SEI-2000-TR-030/031, Software Engineering Institute, Pittsburgh, PA

1999Thomas B. Hilburn, Iraj Hirmanpour, Soheil Kahjenoori, Abir Quasem and Richard Turner, “A Software Engineering Body of Knowledge”, CMU/SEI-99-TR-004, Software Engineering Institute, Pittsburgh, PA.

1997“Evaluation of FAA Acquisition Reform: The First Year”, Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC.

1996Kenneth Byram and Richard Turner, “Responses To Institutional Problems Contributing To AAS Program Failures,” Program Evaluation Report PE-96-2, Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC.

Professional Activities

  • Keynote Speaker, American Society for Quality, October, 2007.
  • Keynote Speaker, Latin American Software Engineering Process Group Conference, Guadalajara, Mexico, November, 2005
  • Invited Speaker to National Security Administration’s Systems and Software Engineering Focus Day, 2005
  • Keynote speaker, PROFES 2004, Nara, Japan.
  • US member, US-UK-AUS Software Intensive Systems Acquisition Improvement Group, a working group of experts addressing common problems in acquiring complex software-enabled defense systems.
  • Focus Team Lead, IEEE Std P1648 Draft Recommended Practice for Establishing and Managing Software Development Efforts Using Agile Methods
  • Independent reviewer and editorial consultant for Pearson (Addison-Wesley Longman) in Computer Science, Software Engineering, and Systems Engineering
  • Affiliate, Center for Software Engineering, University of Southern California
  • Member, Software Steering Committee, Army Unit of Action (formerly Future Combat Systems) Program
  • Member, Program Committee, NDIA-sponsored CMMI Technology and Users Conference
  • Member, Program Committee, Systems and Software Technology Conference
  • Member, Executive Board, System and Software Technology Conference
  • Member, DDR&E Software Producibility Research Task Force
  • Sponsored, supported and participated in the DoD Software Engineering Science and Technology Summit
  • Testified before the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board on DoD software quality assurance practices in May, 2001

Professional Experience

PresentStevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ

  • Distinguished Service Professor
  • Developing integrated software and systems engineering graduate curriculum
  • Teaches MS-level software and systems engineering courses
  • Advises graduate students
  • Performs various research and consulting activities

2000 – 2007Systems and Software Consortium, Herndon, VA

  • Fellow
  • Director
  • Managed the IV&V program for DoD Business Transformation Agency’s Defense Enterprise Architecture development.
  • Led the Measurement and Enabling Technologies line of business; responsible for research and service delivery
  • Coordinates collaboration with academic and industry researchers on systems and software engineering topics
  • Works closely with the DefenseAcquisitionUniversity identifying systems and software engineering practices
  • Continues support for US/UK/AUS Software Intensive Systems Acquisition Working Group and the DoD Acquisition Best Practices Clearinghouse

2000 – 2005The GeorgeWashingtonUniversity, Washington, DC
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

  • Research Professor.
  • Contract with the Department of Defense, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, Logistics).
    Supporting the Systems Engineering Directorate of Defense Systems in software and systems engineering and acquisition. Duties included:
  • Leading the DoD SW Acquisition Best Practices initiative, including the development of a DoD Acquisition Best Practices Clearinghouse in association with the FraunhoferCenter at the University of Maryland, and the DefenseAcquisitionUniversity. This work has been supported by the Government Accountability Office and is a direct result of concepts developed by Dr. Turner
  • Charter member and technical task leader for the US/UK/AUS Software Intensive Systems Acquisition Improvement Group. Responsiblefor software product maturity and milestone decision criteria tasks.
  • Member of the Software Steering Group for the US Army Future Combat Systems Unit of Action program – a multi-billion dollar complex system-of-systems including an estimated 40M SLOC and a networked family of 13 manned and unmanned platforms. Work closely with Boeing, SAIC and other FCS suppliers.
  • Supporting the development and piloting of the CMMI Acquisition Module
  • Coordinating Defense Authorization Act Section 804 requirements in best practices and software product maturity measurement
  • Identifying emerging software and systems-of-systems engineering technologies
  • Sponsoring engineering research and development
  • Participating in engineering conferences and symposia
  • Taught masters-level courses in software engineering and management
  • Object-Oriented Design and Analysis (EMSE-219)
  • Software Development with CASE (EMSE-296)
  • Organizational Behavior for the Engineering Manager (EMSE-211)
  • Introduction to Information Systems (EMSE-256)

1992-2000 Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC

  • Staff, Associate Administrator for Information Services, Process Engineering Division.
  • Responsible for education and training for software engineering and process improvement with a secondary role in business process improvement
  • Co-authored the first Software Engineering Body of Knowledge as a Software Engineering Institute Technical Paper (CMU/SEI-99-TR-004)
  • Developed software engineering curriculum based on the Body of Knowledge
  • Developed the concept for and shepherded the establishment of a Software Engineering Resource Center as a combination research, development, and educational organization
  • Chaired the Learning Resources Group to provide training opportunities in support of process improvement
  • Author, lecturer, and team lead for the DoD/Industry CMM Integration Project
  • Program Evaluation Staff
  • Resident Associate at the Software Engineering Institute and an author of the Integrated Product Development Capability Maturity Model
  • Team leader for the evaluation of Acquisition Reform as mandated by Congress - the evaluation report was delivered to Congress, FAA has undertaken a number of initiatives based on the findings, and the evaluation has been referenced in GAO and other independent reports
  • Team leader for evaluation of FAA systems engineering process maturity using the Systems Engineering Capability Maturity Model
  • Core team member in the Software Engineering Process Group appraisal of FAA software acquisition processes
  • Evaluated Advanced Automation System problems that represent policy, management or culture issues throughout FAA acquisition. Report was delivered to Congress
  • Office of Personnel Management Executive Potential Program
  • A year of leadership and management training totaling over 160 hours and coupled with temporary assignments to executive positions throughout FAA
  • Navigation and Landing
  • Associate Program Manager for Engineering for the Global Positioning Service (GPS) Wide Area Augmentation System
  • Project manager for the development and delivery of an FAA-specific Software Acquisition Management course
  • Team member for Cat II/III Microwave Landing System software development oversight
  • Represented FAA on Ada 9X Government Advisory Group

1985-1992CTA, Incorporated, Rockville, MD

  • Senior Engineer
  • Responsible for software IV&V for Wilcox Mark 20 Instrument Landing System for the FAA
  • Project manager for the Operational Concept for the Advanced Traffic Management System
  • Led the evaluation of the PC-based Maintenance Processor Subsystem simulator
  • Developed an innovative way of describing operational scenarios, graphically portraying separated but dependent activities in a time-sequenced order

1982-1985Pacific Sierra Research, Arlington, VA

  • Senior Computer Scientist
  • Designed and implemented software for intelligence analysts in highly classified environment
  • Implemented a system to simulate targeting, scheduling, and data collection capabilities of space-born intelligence acquisition platforms
  • Performed requirements analysis, cost-benefit analysis, software design, selection of hardware and software, coding and testing
  • Software used inter-process communications on a UNIX-based platform, several large databases, complex scheduling algorithms, and extensive computer graphics

1980-1982 Systems and Applied Sciences Corporation, Riverdale, MD

  • Principal Systems Analyst
  • Helped to produce the initial requirements specification for the FAA AdvancedAutomation System
  • Led requirements analysis and functional specification development for the NOAA Joint Automated Weather Observing System

1979-1980 CTEC, Incorporated, Falls Church, VA

  • Represented the company in England, Spain and Japan
  • Directed product validation for a US Navy intelligence system

1977-1979 Computer Sciences Corporation, Falls Church, VA

  • Secure software analyses projects for the Departments of Defense and Energy

1977-1979 US Computer Corporation, Lafayette, Louisiana

  • Senior programmer on order/inventory/accounts receivable system for an international food distribution company

Memberships in Professional Associations

Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)

IEEE Computer Society

International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE)

Software Engineering Institute

References

Dr. Barry Boehm, University of Southern California Center for Software Engineering

Dr. Victor Basili, University of Maryland Computer Science Department

Dr. Laurie Williams, North CarolinaStateUniversity, Computer Science Department

Dr. Howard Eisner, The GeorgeWashingtonUniversity

Dr. Arthur Pyster, Stevens Institute of Technology

Mr. David Castellano, OUSD(AT&L) Systems and Software Engineering

Ms. Kristen Baldwin, OUSD(AT&L) Systems and Software Engineering

Mr. Mike Phillips, Software Engineering Institute

Dr. Roger Bate, Software Engineering Institute

Mr. Tony Jordano, SAIC

Dr. Alistair Cockburn, Humans and Technology

Mr. Peter Gordon, Addison-Wesley Pearson Professional

Mr. Gary Hafen, Lockheed Martin

Contact information for any of the above will be provided on request.