Jim Armstrong

CMMI® SCAMPISM DistilledAbout the Authors

Dennis M. Ahern is an advisory engineer and manager for process improvement and industry initiatives at Northrop Grumman Corporation. Previously he taught at Yale University and the University of Maryland. He was the Deputy Project Manager of the CMMI Product Development Team and a coleader of the CMMI Editor Team. He was also a member of the CMMI Assessment Methodology Team and is an author of CMMI. He is coauthor of CMMI Distilled, Second Edition (Addison-Wesley, 2004). Dr. Ahern received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine.

Jim Armstrong is Chief Technologist for Systems for the Systems and Software Consortium, Inc. (SSCI). He has 37 years of experience in systems development and is an assessor for systems engineering and CMMI appraisals. He was a member of the author teams for IEEE 1220, EIA/IS 731, CMMI, and SCAMPI among other standards. Jim has worked with companies of diverse size and products in implementing process improvement, application of CMMI, and preparation for SCAMPI appraisals.

Aaron Clouse is an Engineering Fellow at Raytheon Company. He has 30 years of experience in electronics systems and software engineering. He is a member of the CMMI Model Team, is an authorized Introduction to CMMI instructor, and has participated in several appraisals. He coauthored both CMMI itself and CMMI Distilled, Second Edition.

Jack R. Ferguson is Manager of the SEI Appraisal Program. He has 39 years of experience in engineering, mainly related to the U.S. space program, and received the U.S. Air Force Research and Development Award for his work on Global Positioning System spacecraft attitude control. Dr. Ferguson also led the teams that developed the Software Acquisition CMM and the initial CMMI Product Suite, and recently spent two years in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as Director of Software Intensive Systems. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Will Hayes is Senior Member of the Technical Staff of the Software Engineering Institute. He has been with the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) for 15 years, where he has held a number of positions focused on measurement, process improvement, and process appraisals. He is currently serving as the Quality Manager for the SEI Appraisal Program, a position he helped define. Will has extensive experience in process improvement consulting, process appraisals, and professional training. He has trained hundreds of lead appraisers and process improvement professionals, supporting the creation and/or delivery of courses focused on maturity models, measurement, statistical process control, and process appraisals. Will was a member of the Appraisal Method Integrated Team, which developed the SCAMPI V1.1 method, where he served as the primary author of the Method Definition Document.

Kenneth E. Nidiffer is Vice President of SSCI, with more than 43 years of experience in the marketing, research, development, maintenance, and acquisition of software-intensive systems. He has held several executive-level positions in the Department of Defense and the industry (e.g. Systems and Software Consortium, Inc., Northrop Grumman Corporation, and Fidelity Investments) where he has sponsored systematic process improvement initiatives. Dr. Nidiffer is currently responsible for program management and customer support activities that are responsive to the Consortium's 95-member company needs.