“The Evolution of Computer Science”

June 4, 2010 by Karl Geiger · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Computing, Mathematics, Programming

The Physics arXiv Blog at MIT’s Technology Review highlights how far computer science has advanced in the last 50 years:

Computing the energy levels of a helium atom in 1958 was significantly harder than it is today. But a comparison of then and now methods reveals some counter intuitive anomalies about the impact of computer science.

In 1958, Chaim Pekeris completed a landmark project in computer science. As a physicist at the Weizmann Institute of Technology in Israel, he become fascinated with the relatively new science of quantum mechanics and its potential to explain from first principles the behaviour of atoms.

There was a problem however. The equation developed by Schrodinger that could do the job was too complex for mere mortals to handle. Using it to determine the electronic energy levels of a even a lowly helium atom was seemingly impossible.

Chaim had an idea, however: why not exploit the incipient field of computer science to do the job.

No Silver Bullet III: Business and Software Engineering in the Cloud

August 1, 2009 by Karl Geiger · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Computer, Computing, Events, Security

Wednesday 9 September 2009, Karl Geiger, Convergent Informatics, Inc. shows how life in the cloud can be heady, but few remember to bring ladders and parachutes.

Cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS) have received much press as the next “silver bullet” for business systems. Although they can lower technical, software development, and support costs, Cloud projects run like any other systems development/deployment effort. They require clear goals, well-defined requirements with testable endpoints, and diligent project oversight. This talk highlights how good software engineering practices applied to two projects: Convergent Informatics’s eCompany-in-a-Box™ and the resuscitation of an e-commerce company. It covers what works, what to beware, and where technical folks can have lots of fun.

About the Speaker

Karl Geiger is one of the founders and principals at Convergent Informatics, Inc., “The Virtual CIO Company”. Formerly he worked as Director of Enterprise Architecture at Amgen, Inc., where he and his staff guided development and set standards for infrastructure and global systems such ERP. Karl also did extensive work in clinical development and on research information retrieval systems. Prior to Amgen, he developed library systems and supported mainframes at the University of Southern California. He holds BA in Classics (Latin and Greek) from USC and an MS in Computer Science from California Lutheran University. Karl belongs to the IEEE, the ACM, and the AAAS.

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Cloud Computing and SaaS

February 15, 2009 by Karl Geiger · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Communications, Computer, Computing, Events

Wednesday evening, March 11 2009, Kim Terry, Terrosa Technologies, discusses the efficiencies and IT impacts of Software as a Service (SaaS). Kim’s talk surveys and defines SaaS vendors, the market place, what’s accelerating SaaS deployments, and effects on the businesses’ infrastructure & data communications.

Kim Terry is Founder and CEO of Terrosa Technologies. Terrosa provides Software as a Service (SaaS) Creation Services for software providers, SaaS Transition Services for organizations, and CloudForm Services Infrastructure Platforms and Data Integration. Terrosa’s technologies lower cost of operations and speed deployment of existing and new applications onto cloud computing environments. The company’s core technologies enable the move from in-house to Internet-based applications using virtualization, data movement controls, and custom.

Prior to founding Terrosa Technologies, Kim was VP and CIO at 3n Global, a mass notification services provider. Prior to 3n, he was Director of IT at Jafra Cosmetics and an IT executive at Transamerica. He also co-founded a consulting firm that sold, integrated, and supported technology used for field office and mobile data communications.