Barry Boehm wins ACM SIGSOFT Technical Research Award

A. Amazement, considering all the people who have made really outstanding research contributions to software engineering.

Q. In your opinion what stands out as the most personally rewarding part of your contributions over the years?

A. The people you've never met who come up and tell you how much your contributions have helped them in addressing difficult problems.

Q. What advice do you have for newcomers to our profession?

A. Don't be afraid to challenge current strongly-held beliefs in the field. These positions can be unpopular, but they're part of the process of maturing the field and adapting it to change. I've done some of this, but now wish I had done more.

Q. (an unfair question, but I have to ask it because you can answer it easier and more accurately than I can) What did you do to deserve this award? Hah Hah ... I can think of tons of humorous responses to this question ... but I will leave it to you to decide if you want to answer it straight or otherwise or leave it blank and I will get the info offline.

A. I managed to find a wife who was extremely understanding and supportive. Thanks, Sharla. I managed to find a workplace which was committed to quantitative engineering approaches to improving its software capabilities. Thanks, TRW. I managed to find a customer organization which, although it takes a lot of hits for its software mistakes, has been rare in admitting and analyzing its mistakes and investing in ways to avoid them in the future. Thanks, DoD.

Q. Is there anything else you would like to add?

A. Thanks in advance ... Have a safe trip ... Peace.