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> Name of Nominee:
Dr. Charles McKay
> Category of Nomination: (mark one or both)
Outstanding Ada Community Contribution
> Name/Address of Employer (if known):
University of Houston - Clear Lake (UHCL)
Houston, Texas 77058
> Accomplishments supporting this nomination: (attach additional sheets if
> necessary) Note: Please be thorough in your description as the awards
> committee will use this narrative as the primary basis for selection of
> awardees.
It is only the mildest of exaggerations to say that Charles McKay is
single-handedly responsible for the use of Ada on the most highly visible,
universally-cited Ada application: the International Space Station.
Obviously NASA personnel were involved, but Dr. McKay introduced the
language and technology to NASA and tirelessly educated the NASA/JSC
(Johnson Space Center) government-contractor community. Years before the
language was an ANSI standard he began promoting its use, frequently in the
face of considerable, and often unreasonable, opposition. (True story: At
one meeting which I attended, part-way through the presentation one member
of the audience stood up and said "I would rather sack groceries at Kroger
than have anything to do with this language!". I've been looking for him
at the supermarket ever since. :)
As a means of moving Ada into NASA, Dr. McKay was responsible for the
acquisition and the operation of the only non-government APSE Beta Test
Site, the NASA/JSC - UHCL APSE Beta Test Site. To my knowledge only two
APSE test sites were ever granted, anywhere.
For nearly two decades, Dr. McKay has presented seminars and tutorials on
the use of advanced software
engineering technologies within an Ada context, and is recognized
internationally for these efforts. Furthermore
he was a key factor in the early success of the local Clear Lake SIGAda by
his strong support and advocacy
to the contractor community.
Dr. McKay was instrumental in formation of the Ada Run-Time Environment
Working Group (ARTEWG), and chaired the subgroup responsible for the
creation of the Catalog of Interface Features and Options (CIFO). The CIFO
is the Ada83 "standard" for interfaces needed by real-time Ada
applications, and as such was adopted by many vendors and used on several
high-visibility applications. Many CIFO interfaces were adopted by Ada95,
some nearly verbatim, which is not a coincidence since several ARTEWG
members played a key role in the contents of the Real-Time Systems Annex.
Thus Dr. McKay's influence has not been limited to Ada83; it has, in fact,
had great impact on Ada95 as well. The continuing influence on the Ada
community is obvious.
I can think of few people who have had the impact that Charles McKay has
had on the success of Ada. It is past time that his efforts were
recognized by the Ada community at large.
> Affiliation(s) and position at time of accomplishments (if known):
Director, NASA/JSC-UHCL Software Engineering Research Center
Director, NASA/JSC-UHCL APSE Beta Test Site
Professor, University of Houston - Clear Lake (UHCL)
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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> Name of member submitting nomination:
Patrick Rogers
> Address/Phone/E-mail of member submitting nomination:
207 Charleston
Friendswood, Texas 77546
(281)648-3165 (office)
(281)482-3610 (home)
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