Page 1,496«..1020..1,4951,4961,4971,498..1,5101,520..»

IBMs Nataraj Nagaratnam on the cyber challenges facing cloud … – ComputerWeekly.com

Nataraj Nagaratnam, IBM fellow and cloud security CTO, has been with the supplier for nearly 25 years. Security has been his forte throughout this time, whether it be cloud security, hybrid cloud security or technology strategy.

Natarajs interest in security started when he was studying for his masters and PhD. One good, fine day, my professor walks in and says there will be this new thing, called Java, he recalls. He was already working with the core Java engineering team, which created Java at the time. Intrigued, I started to work on the security aspects of Java, and then my PhD was in security in distributed systems.

Following his studies, when Nataraj was looking for fresh challenges, IBM approached him with an opportunity to help shape the future of security. Just as the internet was going to change the world and how business was conducted, IBM offered him the chance to develop systems for how businesses could securely operate over the internet.

IBMs offer to lead enterprise web security for IBM products appealed to the young Nataraj, as the new technologies promised to be both disruptive to markets and enabling to the world. I jumped right onto the opportunity. And, as they say, the rest is history, he says. I was fortunate enough to be part of the way, with WebSphere shaping the industry, and working with industry on standard security specifications, such as web services security.

Technology, especially enterprise IT, has expanded massively throughout Natarajs career. While this has created opportunities for enterprise solutions, it also carries certain risks. In the history of computing, there are three major chapters mainframes, then web, and now there is cloud, says Nataraj. This is a defining moment in the entire IT space, and I am fortunate enough to define and lead the work on security from web to cloud.

Relying on data and services in the cloud can be challenging, as organisations need to ensure that data remains sharable across networks, while having sufficient protections in place to ensure data is confidential and protected. This is especially the case for heavily regulated industries, such as the defence, healthcare and financial sectors. This has become a defining moment for such industries, which are concerned about risk, security and compliance.

Rather than relying on the subjective term of trust, which implies that one can have faith in or rely on someone or something, Nataraj prefers to use technical assurance. Technical assurance demonstrates that technological and human processes have been put in place to ensure data is being protected.

Part of this is ensuring that identity and access management (IAM) is uniformly addressed across all of the organisations cloud platforms, from their cloud storage capabilities to their on-premise services. Given that no two cloud platforms are ever the same, this can complicate matters, as more than one platform is typically used.

The rapid expansion of the tech sector means there is a growing security skills gap, which needs to be addressed. This has left organisations struggling to fill vitally important roles and relying on external contractors instead. This adds further cost, especially if a significant amount of work is required, as contractors are expensive for long-term projects.

To address such concerns, organisations are turning to IAM tools to act as an overlay across their existing cloud infrastructure. If we standardise the access management and security overlay, and enable them with automation and continuous monitoring, we can solve complex problems, says Nataraj. Taking a hybrid multicloud approach with security and compliance automation addresses this with consistency and continuous monitoring.

Government policy is also evolving, as regulators become ever more technologically aware, with additional demands on data protection when sharing data between regions. There has, however, been greater collaboration between countries in this regard. For example, the European Unions (EUs) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has effectively become a de facto global standard for data protection, as countries realise that trade is reliant on an unimpeded flow of data.

Lawmakers and regulators are starting to understand the impact of technology, and that policies and standards need to evolve in a way that accommodates those technologies, while also providing a level of risk and regulatory compliance. Standardisation needs to happen

Nataraj Nagaratnam, IBM

Laws, regulations and policies are becoming much more technology aware, says Nataraj. Lawmakers and regulators are starting to understand the impact of technology, and that policies and standards need to evolve in a way that accommodates those technologies, while also providing a level of risk and regulatory compliance. Standardisation needs to happen, as opposed to every country having its own regulatory requirements, because that will have its own complexity.

With information interchange between different countries being dependent on data sharing agreements, organisations are looking at approaches that allow them to meet the regulatory and technical requirements.

A few weeks back, when I was in India, we talked about this notion of data embassies the fundamental concept is if you run services within these datacentres and service providers, you get immunity from certain laws, says Nataraj. A country can have a data embassy in one country, and in reciprocity, they can have a data embassy in their country. There are innovative and creative ideas coming up in different parts of the world. Thats a reflection of a policy and a practical approach to solve this data sharing problem, and that is going to evolve.

These data embassies are similar to TikToks proposed Project Texas, which would see the social media platform storing all data in the US under the watch of American firm Oracle. These data embassies could evolve into independent third-party organisations.

One of the most significant future concerns facing organisations relying on cloud services will be the risk posed by quantum computing, which could disrupt encryption security. Reliance on existing encryption technologies is not an option, as the processing speeds offered by quantum computers would enable them to swiftly break encryption, especially as certain public key algorithms have proven to be susceptible to quantum computer attacks.

The most common public key infrastructure (PKI) technology used across the world is transport layer security (TLS), which secures the data in transit. As such, that should be considered the greatest risk, because if data is captured in transit today, the encryption could be broken in five years time, if quantum computing becomes commercially available. As such, we need to rethink the way we approach hybrid cloud, secure connectivity and TLS.

When it comes to quantum safe, I believe the first thing to fix is connectivity. Two years ago, we introduced support for quantum safe algorithms in IBM cloud, says Nataraj. When you do application transactions over the wire, that link can be quantum safe. You prepare for the threat. That has to be one of the first things, when it comes to cloud security, that one needs to work through.

With the increasing levels of functionality offered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), automation will become a growing part of an organisations security posture. Automated monitoring of security and compliance posture allows for continuous security.

Furthermore, security deployment will become automated, thereby bridging the gap between the CISOs and CIOs and IT teams. This will ensure they are all consistent with each other and aligned with the organisations global security and compliance requirements.

There is more to be done in continuous security and compliance infused with automation, and how we change from a reference architecture that may be in a Visio diagram to something prescriptive, deployable and automated, says Nataraj.

Concerns surrounding data sovereignty and data privacy residency are likely to increase, given the regulatory compliance and geopolitical aspects of dealing with data. As such, there will be a need for more demonstrable controls and technologies that can help in protecting data and privacy, which will become infused with confidential computing.

Applications of confidential computing are still in their infancy and there is more to be done, because its not just a technology, but its use cases in confidential AI, says Nataraj. IBM has leveraged confidential computing technology to enable unique approach use cases around encryption key management called Keep Your Own Key, where a customer has technical assurance that only they have access to the keys, where keys are protected within hardware as well as within secure enclaves. This is now extended to hybrid multicloud key management through Unified Key.

The IT sector is undergoing a fundamental shift, as it transforms from a web-based model to one reliant on cloud services. This is being compounded by technological and regulatory issues coming to the fore. A multicloud system can enhance adaptability to shifting market trends, but this brings certain challenges. Automating network management policies enables swift and effective sharing of information within networks, regardless of location, while ensuring that compliance with shifting regulatory compliance is maintained.

We can help industry, governments and others move forward, concludes Nataraj. We will collaborate with governments and their policies to make that happen.

Follow this link:
IBMs Nataraj Nagaratnam on the cyber challenges facing cloud ... - ComputerWeekly.com

Read More..

Green Bay engineering firm merges with Reedsburg-based company – Green Bay Press Gazette

GREEN BAY Vierbicher, a multi-disciplined consulting and engineering firm, on March 31 merged with Mau & Associates, a privately owned civil engineering and land surveying company headquartered in Green Bay.

Vierbicher is a Reedsburg-based company that offers landscape architecture, planning and community development as well as economic, land surveying, civil and municipal engineering and water resource engineering.

Rodney Zubella, CEO of Vierbicher, said the acquisition of Mau & Associates will allow both companies to expand and take advantage of development opportunities in the northeast.

"We believe that the Green Bay area is a growing area that presents a lot of opportunities in the private and public sector," he said.

Vierbicher is behind such Wisconsin projects as the Wisconsin Dells river walk, the UW Health facility at Union Corners in Madison, the Haight Road on the UW-Madison campus and the New Glarus Brewery expansion.

More: This Green Bay woodworking business started as a hobby to help its owner overcome an addiction Streetwise

More: New, limited-time menu item coming to Culver's nationwide this month

Mau & Associates is a smaller firm that was founded in 1974. Some of its finished work includes the Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Specialists at 2223 Lime Kiln Road and the Broadway Ford-Hyundai dealership at 1010 Military Ave.

Zubella said this partnership fits into both companies' growth plan and expands the knowledge of their areas of operation.

"We'll be looking to expand our client base," he said. "But together we expect to grow that office (in Green Bay) and take advantage of those opportunities."

Vierbicher has 75 employees, which will rise to about 95 with the merger of Mau & Associates and its 20 employees.

Vierbicher will have offices in Madison, Reedsburg, Milwaukee, Prairie du Chien and Green Bay.

Ariel Perez is a business reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach himatAPerez1@gannett.comor view hisTwitter profile at@Ariel_Perez85.

Original post:

Green Bay engineering firm merges with Reedsburg-based company - Green Bay Press Gazette

Read More..

LIs Cameron Engineering merges into national firm – Long Island Business News

Cameron Engineering & Associates, one of Long Islands most prolific planning and engineering firms, is merging with IMEG Corp., one of the nations largest engineering firms.

Camerons client base and presence in the New York region will add to IMEGs 75 offices located throughout the U.S.

The 100-percent employee-owned IMEG, which was founded in 2015 with the merger of Illinois-based KJWW Engineering and California-based TTG Engineers, has grown tremendously over the past several years, bringingmore than 30 formerly independent engineering and architectural firms under its umbrella. The Rock Island, Ill.-based company now has more than 2,000 employees.

Woodbury-based Camerons staff will continue with the new firm, including engineering professionals Nick Kumbatovic, Mike Hults, and Rich Zapolski. John Cameron and Joe Amato, who headed Cameron Engineering now become executive principals of IMEG.

The merger provides sustainability and growth potential for all our employees as well as our clients and teaming partners, Cameron said in a joint statement. IMEGs size and expertise also allows us to expand upon the innovative approaches and results-driven solutions we deliver to our clients.

Founded in Jan. 1985, Cameron Engineering has worked on thousands of area projects, including such high-profile developments as Wyandanch Village, Nassau Coliseum and the medical school, business school and science and innovation buildings at Hofstra University. The company has also designed more than 200 firehouse renovation projects for the FDNY and has worked on many Long Island wastewater and sewer projects.

Cameron will continue to chair the Long Island Regional Planning Council and IMEG will be the engineering firm for the proposed $2.6 billion Midway Crossing project in Ronkonkoma.

We are excited to continue our East Coast expansion and add Cameron Engineering & Associates to our team, IMEG President and CEO Paul VanDuyne said in the statement. Their full-service capabilities and market sector expertise align perfectly with IMEG, allowing us to serve more clients as a New York corporation.

See the rest here:

LIs Cameron Engineering merges into national firm - Long Island Business News

Read More..

UNT Names Pioneering Researcher, Inventor as New College of … – dallasinnovates.com

Paul S. Krueger [Sources: UNT, DI]

Paul S. Krueger has been named the new dean of the College of Engineering at The University of North Texas, effective June 1.

The College of Engineering is home to some of UNTs fastest growing programs, and I am excited to see the college continue to thrive under Dr. Kruegers leadership, Provost Michael McPherson said in a statement. His strategic vision for the future of STEM education and his ability to build strong relationships both within the university community and with partners all over the world will create extraordinary opportunities for our students and faculty.

Krueger succeeds Shengli Fu, who served as interim dean since July 2022.

UNT said its College of Engineering is a leader in research and education, with an expansive research enterprise that includes additive manufacturing, cybersecurity, and bioengineering, as well as government-funded initiatives in national defense, response analysis, and nuclear waste storage.

In his new post, Krueger will oversee the colleges local and global partnerships and its more-than 24 degree programs in areas ranging from biomedical engineering and computer science and engineering to information technology, electrical engineering, and materials science and engineering, UNT said.

Krueger comes to Denton from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where most recently he was interim dean of the Lyle School of Engineering. He has been a faculty member in SMUs mechanical engineering department since 2002 and served as department chair from 2019 to 2022.

I am thrilled and honored to be joining UNT as the next dean of the College of Engineering, Krueger said in a statement. Engineering at UNT has developed into an amazing enterprise, with faculty and students conducting next-generation research that has the potential to impact not only their fields, but the world. It is a privilege to be part of the diverse UNT community and to lead the college in elevating its standing and impact in the North Texas region and beyond.

Krueger is a recipient of the Rolf D. Buhler Memorial Award in Aeronautics, the Richard Bruce Chapman Memorial Award for distinguished research in hydrodynamics, the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers North Texas Section Young Engineer of the Year Award, and the Ford Senior Research Fellowship.

UNT said his research spans a range of topics related to fluid flows, including unsteady hydrodynamics and aerodynamics, vortex dynamics, bio-fluid mechanics, bio-morphic propulsion, fluid-boundary and fluid-particle interactions, and fluid processes in additive manufacturing.

Krueger has conducted pioneering work related to the physics of squid locomotion, including development of a robotic squid (Robosquid) that was featured in a Science Flash Exhibit at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

He is the inventor or co-inventor on several issued patents and pending patents related to nontraditional propulsion, 3D printing, and drag reduction, the university said.

Sign up to keep your eye on whats new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, every day.

Don't miss your chance to get our biggest-ever Dallas Innovates magazine. Request a complimentary copy of the once-a-year limited edition now.

Find your passion and give with purpose to support our community.

University of North Texas Workplace Inclusion & Sustainable Employment (UNT WISE), in partnership with Texas Workforce Commission, announced it will use a $12.7 million grant to create the Texas Beacons of Excellence to help employers enhance their skills in recruiting, retaining, and accommodating employees with disabilities. The goal is to educate employers who use subminimum wage contracts about the benefits of competitive, integrated employment, according to a statement. This project aligns directly with our mission to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities by researching innovative best practices, training professionals in effective and ethical service, and directly supporting

The once-a-year summit on September 22 and 23 is an innovation multiplier for capital, collaboration, and commercialization. Experts in the field will discuss strategy and exchange insightsand what's driving life science success across the region.

Want to map your innovation-to-market commercialization path or apply for federal money through the $4 billion America's Seed Fund program? Or maybe you're an entrepreneur seeking to validate your customer's needs. The Texas SBDC Technology Commercialization Center wants to help.

Here is the original post:

UNT Names Pioneering Researcher, Inventor as New College of ... - dallasinnovates.com

Read More..

Engineering students create medallion for chancellor’s investiture – University of Wisconsin-Madison

Mechanical Engineering undergraduate students Teekay Kowalewski (left) and Dylan Zinkgraf (right) present Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin with a larger-scale, recast version of the University of WisconsinMadison Numen Lumen medallion during a meeting with the Chancellor in her Bascom Hall office on April 6, 2023. The two undergraduate students made the medallion to celebrate Chancellor Mnookins investiture on April 14. Photo: Jeff Miller

The University of WisconsinMadison will hold an investiture ceremony on April 14 to formally install its 30th leader, Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin. And during this unique, celebratory event, the university will bestow a special medallion, created by two mechanical engineering undergraduate students, on Mnookin.

Students Dylan Zinkgraf and Teekay Kowalewski started working on the medallion as an extracurricular project in fall 2022, as they were taking Materials Science and Engineering 461: Advanced Metal Casting.

A big part of the draw was the opportunity to directly apply concepts that we were learning in MS&E 461, such as design for manufacturing processes, to a real project and gain relevant experience, says Zinkgraf, a fifth-year student from Appleton, Wisconsin.

The students overcame a variety of challenges to complete the project. To start with, they needed to transform two-dimensional images of the original medallion artwork into a full 3D design that would capture its intricate features.

Chancellor Mnookin met with Kowalewski and Zinkgraf in her office on April 6 to thank them for their work. The two began their extracurricular project in fall 2022 and overcame a variety of challenges to complete the medallion in time for the chancellors investiture. We wanted to make a contribution to campus that would have a lasting impact, and we achieved that with this project, says Kowalewski. Photo: Jeff Miller

Zinkgraf spent many hours using design software and other tools to create a highly detailed 3D model of the medallion.

After considering the various types of casting methods for making the medallion, Zinkgraf and Kowalewski chose an investment casting process that they could execute themselves in the foundry located in the Materials Science and Engineering Building. Before casting, they 3D-printed a test pattern in the colleges makerspace and created a ceramic mold.

But they were disappointed with the results when they cast the medallion out of aluminum. Some fine details in the artwork, such as the rays above the eye (also known as the Numen Lumen), were lost or didnt appear as they should.

Still, the students persevered. We discovered some of the limitations with this casting process, Zinkgraf says. We had to regroup and figure out a new approach for casting the medallion.

They discussed the issues with their advanced metal casting instructor, Kyle Metzloff, a professor of industrial studies at the University of WisconsinPlateville and an honorary associate in materials science and engineering at UWMadison.

Kowalewski and Zinkgraf first made a 3D-printed model before casting the medallion in aluminum. They were unsatisfied with the result. With help from their instructor, Kyle Metzloff, and foundry Valiant Enterprises, the two students presented Chancellor Mnookin with a pewter-cast medallion on April 6. The medallion is sometimes displayed by the Office of the Chancellor at official university ceremonies and events, including investitures, commencements and convocations. Photo: Jeff Miller

Metzloff recommended changing both the material and the casting method, and he suggested partnering with Valiant Enterprises, a Madison company specializing in pewter castings with fine details. In the process, Kowalewski and Zinkgraf got to tour the companys facility and receive feedback on their project. Valiant used the students 3D-printed patterns to make the molds and cast the final, 4-inch pewter medallion.

In all, Kowalewski and Zinkgraf completed 10 iterations of the medallion design, worked with two different casting processes and made many 3D-printed patterns. After all that work, the students say theyre very happy with the final product. And after the investiture ceremony, Chancellor Mnookin will wear the medallion at commencement, convocation and other events requiring academic regalia.

It will be really exciting to be at commencement and see the chancellor wearing the medallion that we made, says Kowalewski, a sophomore. We wanted to make a contribution to campus that would have a lasting impact, and we achieved that with this project.

Read this article:

Engineering students create medallion for chancellor's investiture - University of Wisconsin-Madison

Read More..

Mizzou Engineering launching new REU focused on AI, prescriptive … – University of Missouri College of Engineering

April 06, 2023

Want to develop a system that can schedule autonomous robots? Interested in using artificial intelligence (AI)? Fascinated by the idea of flying cars?

Undergraduate students interested in emerging technologies are invited to apply for a new immersive research program at Mizzou. The Research Experiences for Undergraduates Site, funded by the National Science Foundation, will focus on research around prescriptive analytics for operations engineering enabled by artificial intelligence (AI). Suchi Rajendran, an assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering, is Principal Investigator and site director.

In recent years, the adoption of prescriptive analytics an integration of machine learning and operations research methods has enabled data-driven planning and decision making in three main sectors of the economy: service, manufacturing and agriculture, Rajendran said. Our goal is to develop an REU site that will not only equip students with the required knowledge to work with the technologies being used in these fields, but also provide them with the skillset to conduct research on delivering intelligent and scalable prescriptive analytics solutions to real-world problems.

The REU will be open to 10 undergraduate students from any university, including Mizzou, who have a base knowledge of data analytics. Participants will spend 10 weeks over the summer months building upon existing research projects at Mizzou Engineering, including work around scheduling models for transfer robots, blockchain systems used to improve healthcare processes, routing algorithms for unmanned drones and air taxis, and using deep learning models.

The student projects in our REU Site build upon the transformative research conducted by faculty mentors in prescriptive analytics methods across different sectors, Rajendran said. It also allows participants to work with graduate students on the team who can then serve as mentors.

Over the course of the REU, participants will read existing literature, gather datasets and formalize solutions with assistance from mentors. Students will then finalize solutions they will present at the end of the program. Teams will have the opportunity to submit a paper on their findings to academic journals or conference proceedings.

Ultimately, I want undergraduates to be comfortable doing research and disseminating that research, Rajendron said. I want them to see how we transform knowledge into research that can then be applied to real-world problems.

Learn more about the REU and apply here.

Go here to see the original:

Mizzou Engineering launching new REU focused on AI, prescriptive ... - University of Missouri College of Engineering

Read More..

AI innovator mentors next generation while breaking new ground – University of Missouri College of Engineering

April 06, 2023

By Marcus Wilkins | Show Me Mizzou

Long before pursuing advanced degrees at the University of Missouri, Derek Anderson peered across the plains of eastern Kansas as an undergraduate hoping to glimpse the future. The year was 1998, and a computer science professor at Wichita State University introduced Anderson to the nascent field of artificial intelligence (AI).

Today, after 20-plus years in the industry, its an understatement to say the concept piqued his interest. But back then his enthusiasm collided with pragmatism.

My professor told me I couldnt actuallydoAI as a career because it wasnt well funded, and I should pursue something peripheral like database indexing and retrieval, said Anderson, now an associate professor in electrical engineering and computer science in the College of Engineering. So, I set out to make my own way, starting with a masters and PhD at Mizzou.

These days, AI is at the forefront of everyones mind, and Anderson is at the forefront of AI. His acumen includes a list of specialties elemental to the field: information fusion, machine learning, computational intelligence and computer vision, to name a few. His most recent research projects include training AI to better detect landmines by using simulated environments, and explainable AI a concept aimed at engineering AI capable of explaining its own decision-making processes.

And hes not doing it alone. Andersons students (undergraduate through doctoral) are gaining experience in his lab and going on to land big-time jobs in the AI sector. Even freshmen are taking advantage of Andersons hands-on research opportunities and supercharging their academic trajectories.

I always knew I was going to major in computer science, but the opportunity to immediately do research in an actual lab is what sold me on Mizzou, said Dhruv Agarwal, a freshmanDiscovery Fellowfrom St. Louis. In Dr. Andersons lab, Im working on a project to help make synthetic data more applicable for machine learning such as teaching a smart car to recognize roadblocks or traffic lights by learning from synthetic images. Its exciting to get your foot in the door so early.

While headline-grabbing AI systems such as Chat GPT and DALL-E have captured our collective imagination by creating eloquent prose and stunning graphic art, Anderson sees them as only the latest phase of AIs multi-decade lifespan that has included peaks and valleys.

Im part of what could be considered the third generation of AI scientists, Anderson said. In the 50s, it was mostly armchair thinking and philosophy. Then there was a second wave in the 80s when we incorporated a lot of rule-based systems and expert systems, but they became brittle and couldnt do everything. I came to AI during the third generation, and pattern recognition now called machine learning is basically the migrating of statistics and mathematics over to AI.

Andersons work in explainable AI seeks to revolutionize diagnostic and decision-making processes in AI systems. In most cases, an AI system is tasked with arriving at an output such as DALL-E creating a picture based on a text prompt. Explainable AI works to build in explanations ofwhythe system arrived at the output, exposing potential biases or incongruencies in uncertain conditions a critical step in implementing future AI policy.

Its a complex problem that could very well revolutionize how AI systems are built, and Andersons students are on the ground floor of yet another potential wave.

I plan on going into an accelerated masters program through Dr. Andersons lab because I find this research so fascinating and exciting, said Phillip Lei, a freshman computer science major from Columbia. And after graduation, I hope to continue doing research.

Andersons guidance is sought beyond Mizzous halls, too. He is program co-chair for three national AI conferences in 2023, a role that includes coordinating the events programming and logistics. He also sits on multiple Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers committees grappling with topics including AI workforce policy and ethical issues surrounding privacy, equity and justice.

Yet, as globally impactful and philosophically weighty as the topic of AI is, Anderson relishes the opportunity to mold minds including his own. For him, its the why that explains his motivation.

Im pretty sure I learn as much from my students as they do from me, Anderson said. If they dont quite understand a concept and I need to explain it differently, it helps me to better understand my concepts, or to look at things from another perspective. The classroom and lab are great intellectual places where Im changing myself and hopefully changing them.

Its why Im at Mizzou.

This story originally appeared on Show Me Mizzou.

Here is the original post:

AI innovator mentors next generation while breaking new ground - University of Missouri College of Engineering

Read More..

How To Keep Engineers Happy and Reduce Burnout – DevOps.com

Software development can be a mentally taxing profession. It requires intense mental focus, often under heavy workloads, with unclear job expectations and a lack of control. And with recent labor shortages due to layoffs and resignations, teams may also be understaffed, making matters more complicated. These issues can compound and lead to prolonged excessive stressthats when burnout hits.

In fact, one report found that 82% of developers surveyed indicated that they had experienced burnout in the last six to eight months. Some top causes of burnout include increased workload, a poor work culture and personal reasons. But whatever the cause, for 73% of these developers, burnout is negatively impacting their productivity or personal life. So, what can leaders do about it?

I recently talked with Randall Degges, head of developer relations at developer security company Snyk, to learn how to address ever-present burnout issues in software development teams at scale. Snyk, which provides popular automated vulnerability detection tools, recently closed a staggering $196.5 million series G funding at a $7.4 billion valuation. With that kind of momentum, they must be doing something right. According to Degges, there are a handful of tactics to consider to prevent burnout, like ensuring developers are heard, not assigning tasks without context and making improvements to the DevOps workflow.

Burnout is an ever-present issue, explained Degges. Its common within any high-stress job where youre on the hook for constantly delivering new features to support the business. Specifically, in software development, burnout can quickly arise when developers dont feel they have a voice. Or worse, when theyre tirelessly producing software they know wont ever see the light of day.

A paper entitled Burnout in software engineering: A systematic mapping study took an interesting systematic approach and analyzed decades of research into burnout in software engineering. It found the following qualitative work-related factors to be most correlated with burnout. (Interestingly, the paper suggested machine learning might soon help produce more quantitative indicators of burnout.)

Since we know burnout is a pervasive problem, how can engineering leaders minimize the issue? Below, well outline some specific strategies to consider and how they might help.

First, Degges encouraged leaders to ensure developers have a say in what theyre building. He recalled working within a large enterprise, sitting in a cubicle and having absolutely no say in the features his team was working on. This often included code they all knew would never make it into production.

Slaving away on irrelevant work is never motivating. Instead, a good internal culture provides a comfortable atmosphere where developers can raise issues early on, said Degges, hopefully before leadership puts targets destined to fail on the roadmap.

On that note, when decisions are made, dont throw orders over the wall in a vacuum. Instead, Degges recommended providing more context into what youre all creating. Giving visibility into the reason behind decisions will align everyone on project roadmaps and create a shared purpose. This helps foster a culture of empathy and listening to others, said Degges. (David Shackelford affectionally calls this attitude HugOps.)

Optimizing communication patterns for your working environment is also vital to encourage a healthy culture, said Degges. For example, this could equate to optimizing for the physical reality of distributed teamsno one should have to clock into daily standup at 4:00 a.m. If you are working under timezone constraints, Degges recommended adopting more asynchronous communication.

For instance, his team relies heavily on Slack and provides dedicated channels for sharing ideas. Theyve also incorporated automation to summarize verbose Slack communications with a recap of conversations. In general, removing unnecessary meetings and optimizing communication patterns could greatly reduce the baggage an engineer might carry in their day-to-day work.

As they say, practice what you preach. Many tech-driven companies have adopted a developer relations (DevRel) division to build a community with external developer consumers. But are you practicing DevRel internally? According to Degges, DevRel teams should act as a bridge between external and internal teams.

Our goal is to not only to think and empathize with customers but also to encourage internal people to be authentic community members themselves, said Degges. This can equate to empowering internal employees with resources like mentoring, blog writing or speaking opportunities, he said.

Additionally, other groups are emerging to help increase internal developer satisfaction. For example, platform engineering and developer productivity engineering (DPE) are being applied by many organizations to improve developer experience around internal tools and processes. Naturally, this will require working closely with internal developers to source feedback and make quality improvements.

Another method to upkeep engineering morale is through automating away toil. And security vulnerability discovery is one area full of painstaking manual tasks. Half of applications have high-risk vulnerabilities, and new exploits in open source libraries are being discovered almost daily.

As more software supply chain risks emerge, its challenging to keep up with the pace of vulnerability discovery and necessary software patching. Therefore, implementing real-time automated vulnerability detection, said Degges, can help remove many manual processes and free up energy to devote to other areas.

Before developers even get the job, they can be put through high-stress on-the-spot tests during the interview process. Experiences here can set the tone for the entire engagement with the company. But activities like white-boarding algorithms are pretty disconnected from day-to-day work, said Degges. In his opinion, engineers should instead be hired based on the quality of their past performances and the work theyve produced. This could be artifacts like their personal blog or contributions to open source projects.

Lastly, whats a tech blog post in 2023 without a mention of AI? Generative AI like ChatGPT has rocked the programming world and is being integrated into more development environments and engineering workflows. The future of AI looks very bright and is poised to help developers produce more with less time and resources.

Of course, automated code generation will require sanity checks, but these tools can certainly help many ancillary functions. For example, Degges team is using ChatGPT to spin up content outlines and automate keyword research, helping support their educational content production.

Even with new tools emerging and a newfound emphasis on developer experience, burnout is still prevalent. A full 58% of developers and security professionals said they are currently experiencing burnout, according to a 2022 Cobalt study. This is, perhaps, due to the rapid release cadences of todays software delivery.

In the past, it took months or years for new software updates to roll out. Now, developers only have a matter of weeks, wrote Bill Mann, CEO of Styra, on Forbes. Suffice it to say the stakes are high for todays software teams.

Burnout is psychologically taxing and can negatively affect employee happiness and retention. Therefore, its an excellent idea for engineering leaders to take it seriously and consider what positive cultural changes they can make.

Continued here:

How To Keep Engineers Happy and Reduce Burnout - DevOps.com

Read More..

HPE and VMware enhance operational efficiencies through joint … – SiliconANGLE News

Enterprises do not just want an enhanced experience; they want one that meets their needs, tastes and preferences.

With a joint customer base of more than 200,000, VMware Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. have partnered to address the changing business consumption model through different engineering, according toMark Nickerson (pictured, left), director of go-to-market and compute solutions at HPE. For instance, Project Monterey has been tailored to change how servers are built, he explained.

Weve actually done a lot of joint engineering over the years, continuing to do that co-development as we bring products like Project Monterey or next generations of VCF solutions to live in a GreenLake environment, Nickerson stated. Thats an area where customers not only see the benefits of GreenLake from a business standpoint on a consumption model, but also around the efficiency operationally.

Nickerson andPaul Turner (pictured), vice president of product management, vSphere, at VMware, spoke with industry analystsJohn Furrier andDave Vellante at last yearsVMware Exploreevent, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Medias livestreaming studio. They discussed how the VMware-HPE partnership is centered around operational efficiencies and innovation. (* Disclosure below.)

Since every release by VMware and HPE is jointly qualified, the collaboration is based on the need to boost innovation, according to Turner. For instance, the vSphere 8 enhanced storage architecture was led by this objective.

The next generation of vSphere, weve got that immediately qualified, ready on HPE equipment, he pointed out. We built out new AI servers, actually with Nvidia and HPE. And, were able to actually push the extremes of AI and intelligence on systems.

To meet enterprise needs, solutions are not only based on the operating environment and software stack, but also on the specific use case, according to Nickerson. As a result, a holistic approach is used.

I think Project Monterey is a great example of where that cadence expands into really understanding the solutioning that goes into what the customer is expecting from us, he said.

vSphere 8 seeks to take the virtualization aspect a notch higher. The solution updates were in response to enterprise demands, according to Turner.

vSphere 8 can now virtualize anything, he said. It can virtualize your CPUs, your GPUs, and now what we call DPUs, or data processing units. That gives us an ability to run applications and some of the virtualization services actually down on that DPU.

Heres the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLEs and theCUBEs coverage ofVMware Explore:

(* Disclosure: VMware Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither VMware nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Here is the original post:

HPE and VMware enhance operational efficiencies through joint ... - SiliconANGLE News

Read More..

Darryll J. Pines, president of the University of Maryland, discusses … – Tufts Daily

Darryll Pines, president of the University of Maryland, spoke at Tufts on March 31 to discuss a new venture he started to address the decline in college enrollment and the low level of STEM interest at the high school level. The presentation was held as part of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Colloquium Series.

To address high school students decreased interest in STEM, Pines launched Engineering For US All, a standardized, educational program that attracts students and teachers from all backgrounds by only requiring algebra as a prerequisite to take the course and having a hands-on curriculum.

Our goal is truly for any high school student, whether theyre going into STEM or not, [to] learn engineering, Pines said. Dr. Don Millard at [the National Science Foundation], our program manager, believes that our goal is to democratize engineering for everyone, to make engineering a core subject in high school like English, like history, like mathematics.

The E4USA program is designed as a 30-week course aimed at leaving students with a deep understanding of the field of engineering and its impact, as well as how students can use these skills in their future careers.

The [goal is for] students [to] learn about the field of engineering [and] teachers [to] have [the] confidence and the requisite skills to teach engineering, even if theyve never had engineering in their life, Pines said.

There are eight units in four core domains that focus on introducing and applying engineering principles to everyday problems with courses such as Discover Engineering, Engineering Professional Skills, Engineering in Society and Engineering Design.

Program instructors are encouraged to be unaffiliated with engineering in order to encourage students to try something new and make the course seem less intimidating.

As part of the course, students find community partners that need a prototype built to solve a current issue they face. For example, students partnered with the IMAGE Center of Maryland and built a portable swing with safety features for a child with disabilities. Students at a different school created a feeder device for animals at the National Zoo that imitates their natural hunting process.

E4USA partners with several universities, 18 of which accept the course to fulfill credits and guide placement.

We actually want students to get credit for high school and potentially credit for college because we want to get them on [an engineering] trajectory, Pines said.

Five years after its inception, E4USA has had more than 6,000 students from 82 participating high schools across the country. The organization was also granted funding to collect data on the educational progress of its participants and instructors.

Surveys taken at the end of the course have shown overwhelming positive feedback from the students. More preliminary data shows that teachers have improved performance in their personal courses after instructing an E4USA program.

Pines has approached the project with a strong emphasis on demographic diversity within the participating student body. He has partnered with high schools across a variety of backgrounds and locations in order to promote diversity.

[We wanted] to show that all demographic groups can learn this [material] and do well, and to make sure it [is] very inclusive for all population groups, Pines said.

Since its creation, E4USA has been receiving funding from the NSF; however, NSF recently said that their funding would stop next year.

In response, Pines has decided to transition the program to a 501(c)(3) and raise money through fundraising. Going forward, E4USA will focus its efforts on scaling the program in Maryland, where they have already received funding from the state legislature.

They plan to expand from their current partnership with 18 high schools in the state to include all 282 Maryland high schools, growing at a pace of 50 schools per year before spreading to nearby states.

Pines said that E4USA is talking about how programs in other states can follow the same path as Maryland through their own state-wide foundations.

The program will also spread internationally. In a meeting last week with Ghanas Minister of Education, Yaw Osei Adutwum, Pines said he discussed implementing E4USA in 12 high schools there in order to grow their STEM capacity. Training for the Ghanaian instructors has already been scheduled for this summer.

My goal is to make sure that every high school student can learn the principles of engineering, Pines said.

Read the rest here:

Darryll J. Pines, president of the University of Maryland, discusses ... - Tufts Daily

Read More..