Grid Enabled Molecular Science Through Online Networked Environments

Speaker: Kim Baldridge, Organic Chemistry Institute, University of Zurich

Abstract

In the last few years we have found that enabling developments in the area of grid computing and service oriented architectures, can  open up enhancement in capabilities as well as  new techniques, for computational science investigations of large/complex systems, including ideas for multiscale or cross disciplinary integration.
This talk will describe the progress to date towards the development of a full end-to-end web services architecture for scientific applications. It will highlight the challenges and point out some important areas for future investigations.

Bio

Kim Baldridge, Professor of Theoretical Chemistry and Computational Grid Applications at University of Zürich, is a theoretical and computational chemist with expertise in the design, development, implementation, and application of novel computational chemistry methodology, most prominently those involving quantum mechanics (QM), for the benefit of understanding chemical and biochemical reaction processes of broad interest. Efforts include application and development of computational chemistry tools and associated grid technologies for the broader communities.

CIO Panel: Service Oriented Architectures and Web Services in the Real World

In the CIO panel four CIOs (or heads of IT) will discuss the practical implications of the introduction of Service Oriented Architectures as well we Web Services in companies. The goal is to distill the both the long and short term business value for using these technologies. It will also try to convey the most important lessons learned by the participants.

The discussion will include participants from SMEs as well as bigger corporations. They will be joined by a representetive of academe and most probably a representative from the consulting industry.

Detailed information about the participants will be posted by mid November.

The Service Revolution - software engineering without the burden of programming languages

Speaker: Gustavo Alonso, Institute for Parvasice Computing, ETH Zurich

Abstract

Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) encompass a wide range of technologies. In this talk I will focus on the impact of SOA on application development and how it shifts the emphasis of software engineering from programming to integration. As part of this process, a wealth of new opportunities arise to tackle a variety of open problems that software engineering has not been able to address in the last decades: formal treatment of non-functional requirements, continuous development, dynamic adaptation, and new forms of data storage and delivery. In the talk I will outline how SOA provides us with the necessary abstractions to successfully address these key problems. I will also discuss in detail what are the key contributions of the concepts around SOA and underline their importance for future developments in the area.

Short Bio

Gustavo Alonso is professor in the Department of Computer Science at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ). He holds degrees in Telecommunications Engineering from the Madrid Technical University (1989) and in computer science (M.S. 1992, Ph.D. 1994) from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Before joining ETH Zurich, he was a visiting scientist in the IBM Almaden Research Laboratory in San Jose, California. Currently, Gustavo Alonso leads the Information and Communication Systems Research Group and is the Chair of the Institute for Pervasive Computing. The research interests of the group include Web Services, grid and cluster computing, databases, workflow management, sensor networks, VoIP applications, data streaming, pervasive computing and dynamic aspect oriented programming.
For more information on the activities of the group, please contact www.iks.ethz.ch

The presentation is available as PDF.