September 12, 2002
This talk will describe the Function Point (FP) estimation methodology within the context of early project cost estimation and in contrast to the Source Line of Code (SLOC) based estimation models such as SLIM and COCOMO. Case studies outlining the accuracy of FP-based estimation in comparison to the SLOC-based estimation will be presented. The basic procedure for counting function points will be outlined with examples drawn from applications encompassing databases, GUI and web-based software development. CASE tools and standardization efforts related to FP process metrics will conclude the talk

October 10, 2002
Don Wells tries to describe what is new and unique about the newest, and in
some people's opinion, craziest software development methodology.  What
makes it work, what makes it so hard to achieve? As you will see it is
founded on simple principles that are aligned with the Agile Manifesto.  Is
it too simple? Does it require too much discipline to be practical?
Software methodologist will be arguing these issues for years. Don will
provide a gentle introduction.

Don Wells has over two decades of programming experience. He has built
financial applications, military applications, expert systems, cockpit
simulators, computer aided engineering (CAE) systems, web sites, and even
published a video game. Don has been on projects ranging in size from 1 to
150 people. He has developed software to run on large corporate mainframes,
all the way down to shrink-wrapped software for home computers, and
everything in between. He has been experimenting with ad hoc software
development methods for many years. He was a member of the world's first
Extreme Programming (XP) project called C3 at Chrysler. He applied XP to a
second project called VCAPS while at Ford. Don created the website at
extremeprogramming.org to share his experiences and serve as a first
introduction to XP. He was an invited speaker at the XP2001 conference in
Italy and guest lecturers at universities. He started the XP Universe
conferences and continues to serve as co-chair of the program committee.
Presently, Don is a methodology coach at Ford Motor Company.

November 14, 2002
Bio: Rahul Khimasia is a Programmer/Analyst at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan with wide experience in creating dynamic database driven web applications. His programming language of choice is Java and he often reads about it in his spare time. He is a Sun Certified Java Programmer and a Sun Certified Java Developer. He got interested in learning Design
Patterns about 3 years ago and has since read many books on them. Design Patterns have fundamentally influenced the way he designs reusable components in object-oriented software.  Rahul holds a BS in Computer Science from eastern Michigan University.

Abstract: Studies of programmers for conventional languages have shown that knowledge and experience is not organized simply around syntax, but in larger conceptual structures such as algorithms and data structures. Design patterns provide a common vocabulary for designers to use to communicate design alternatives. They show how to use primitive OO techniques such as objects, inheritance and polymorphism in different combinations to create patterns, that can be used repeatedly in object oriented software.