DC SIGAda
Program for Thursday, 9 May 2002

Our Next Meeting is scheduled for
Thursday, 9 May 2002
Victor Giddings will be speaking on
Ada in Nuclear Fusion Research at the National Ignition Facility
or
How Does a Really Big Laser Hit a Very Small Target?
The presentation will be held at the New MITRE2 Building in McLean, Virginia

Note: The presentation is now available online at http://www.acm.org/sigada/locals/dc/program_2001_2002.html.

This will be a joint meeting between the DC and Baltimore SIGAda Chapters

Attention:

To Members and Friends of DC SIGAda

Next Meeting:

Thursday, 9 May 2002, 7:30 P.M. (Refreshments and Social at 7:00 P.M.) at the new MITRE2 Building in McLean, Virginia. DC SIGAda and Baltimore SIGAda will feature the following presentation:

Title:

Ada in Nuclear Fusion Research at the National Ignition Facility
How Does a Really Big Laser Hit a Very Small Target?

Abstract:

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) will fire 192 laser beams at a tiny fuel capsule, compressing it to a small fraction of its original size and heating a portion of it to 100,000,000 degrees. Under these conditions, the fusion reaction will ignite and more energy will be produced than was delivered in the laser beams. NIF experiments will produce conditions of high energy and density similar to those found at the center of the Sun (and other stars).

These lasers are controlled by software written in Ada that uses CORBA for communication and coordination. This presentation will describe the software architectures and technologies used to control a system of over 60,000 discrete parts. But mainly, it is an opportunity to show slides from a consulting trip to the facility under construction.

Presenter:

Victor Giddings is a Senior Product Engineer with Objective Interface Systems, Inc. in Reston, Virginia. After joining Objective Interface in 1994, he has been responsible for architecting, designing, and implementing the products in the ORBexpress line of high-performance, real-time CORBA Object Request Brokers.

Victor received a Master of Science in Numerical Science from Johns Hopkins University and an A.B. in Physics and Mathematics from Cornell University. He is a member of the ACM and the IEEE Computer Society.

Victor Giddings
Senior Product Engineer
Objective Interface Systems

Phone: +1 (703) 295-6500
FAX: +1 (703) 29516501
Email: victor.giddings@ois.com

Venue/Directions

MITRE2
Room 1N100 A/B
The MITRE Corporation
7515 Colshire Drive
McLean, Virginia 22102-7508
Directions:

MITRE2 is on Colshire Drive just inside the beltway south of Route 123.
Several people could not find Colshire Drive for the March Meeting. There was construction on Route 123 and the street sign for Colshire Road had been removed. As the street on the North side of Route 123 is called "Scotts Xing", it was not apparent where Colshire Road was located.

The elusive Colshire Road: Colshire Road is located on Route 123, East of I-495 and West of the Dulles Access Highway. Going Northbound on 123 from I-495, Colshire Road is located 2 stoplights on the right. Going Southbound on 123 from the Dulles Access Highway, Colshire Road is located at the first stoplight on the left. Once on Colshire Road, MITRE2 is the building immediately in front of you. A tiny traffic circle is designed to take you to the front of MITRE2 and to MITRE1 (the Hayes Building). The directions below route you to the parking garage behind the MITRE2 Building. This is a logical left-hand turn at the traffic circle. After the turn, MITRE2 will be on your right.

From I-495 south of Route 123 (Dolley Madison Boulevard):

1. Take Exit 46B (McLean, Route 123);
2. Go North onto Route 123;
3. Turn right onto Colshire Drive (at second light);
4. Take third right off of the small traffic circle;
   (a logical left hand turn);
5. Proceed ~ 50 meters; Turn right into parking garage.
6. Visitor Parking is located on Levels 2 and 3
   (the walkway to the lobby is on Parking Level 2)
7. If door is locked, contact Security using phone by door
   (at entrance to MITRE2 from the Parking Garage)
8. Check in with Security at Security desk in lobby
   (You will need a photo ID)

From Dulles Access Toll Road or I-495 north of the Dulles Access Toll Road:

1. Take the Dulles Airport Access and Toll Road to Exit 19;
   (From I-495, this is labeled "To East I-66");
2. Take Exit 19A;
   (following signs to Route 123 South, Tysons Corner);
3. Bear right onto Route 123 (towards Tysons Corner)
4. Turn left onto Colshire Drive (at first light);
5. Take third right off of the small traffic circle;
   (a logical left hand turn);
6. Proceed ~ 50 meters; Turn right into parking garage.
7. Visitor Parking is located on Levels 2 and 3
   (the walkway to the lobby is on Parking Level 2)
8. If door is locked, contact Security using phone by door
   (at entrance to MITRE2 from the Parking Garage)
9. Check in with Security at Security desk in lobby
   (You will need a photo ID)

To obtain a map of MITRE2 Building and the MITRE Campus, visit =>
http://www.acm.org/sigada/locals/dc/Directions_MITRE2.html.

Slides Available From April's Meeting

Frank Beard gave an excellent presentation on an Ada 95 GUI Builder at the Baltimore SIGAda Meeting on 9 April. The presentation is available online at http://www.acm.org/sigada/locals/dc/program_2001_2002.html. He discussed the GUI Builder using the example of an Image Viewer Window. The source code for entire Image Viewer Window in Ada is also available on-line.

Please Put on Your Calendar

Neither the DC SIGAda Chapter or the Baltimore SIGAda Chapter conducts a meeting during the Summer. We will start again in the fall. The next two meetings are:

SIGAda Booth and AFCEA in June 2002

ACM SIGAda had been tentatively planning to host a booth at the AFCEA TechNet International 2002 from 11-13 June 2002. Mr. Tom Panfil had been soliciting volunteers to help man the booth. Due to circumstances beyond our control, the SIGAda Booth will not be at AFCEA.

DC SIGAda Home Page and Maillist

Please visit the DC SIGAda Web site at http://www.acm.org/sigada/locals/dc/ for additional information.

Please provide suggestions on the Web site and its contents. We are particularly interested in ways the DC SIGAda Home Page can serve you better.

Consider subscribing to our e-mail list. Simply send an email to:

LISTSERV@ACM.Org

with the body containing:

subscribe SIGAda-DC Your Name

To be removed from the list, send an email request to:

LISTSERV@ACM.Org

with the body containing:

signoff SIGAda-DC

Business:

We will have light foods and refreshment at 7:00. The meeting begins at 7:30 pm.

Many thanks to all earlier participants, contributors, speakers, advisors, and friends, who are involved in helping to produce and attend the meetings.

Please forward this message to people who might be interested in attending. We welcome all new members as our attendance and interests grow.

Consider registering for inclusion on our e-mail list. Registration instructions are provided on the DC SIGAda Web site.

Jeff Castellow, Chair, DC SIGAda

updated 5 July 2002