Darren O'rourke

Pilot eLog – A Study in Technical Management and Software Engineering by Darren O’Rourke A MASTER OF ENGINEERING REPORT Submitted to the College of Engineering at Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ENGINEERING Approved ______________________________________ Dr. A. Ertas ______________________________________ Dr. E.W. Kiesling ______________________________________ Dr. T.T. Maxwell ______________________________________ Dr. M.M. Tanik October 15, 2005 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge those who have supported me throughout this unique educational experience. Throughout our lives we enlist the help of our respective support systems to meet our goals. For me, this endeavor was no exception. The people in the following paragraphs are a part of that support system and their contributions in helping me played a significant role in the completion of the Texas Tech University/Raytheon Master of Engineering degree program. First, John O’Rourke, my father, an educator, who instilled in me the noble idea of bettering one’s self through the pursuit of higher education and the curiosity to seek answers to life’s questions. I would like to thank him also, for giving me the drive to see things through to the end and for shaping me into the man and the husband I am today. Second, I would like to thank the members of my extended family who played a role in who and where I am in life. In addition, I would like to acknowledge my wife’s extended family, for teaching me that even if you sometimes disagree with one another; you still come together and support each other. I would like to extend a very special thank you to my mother-in-law, who puts up with a lot of grief from me, especially this past year. She handles many household responsibilities, allowing my wife and I to take advantage of opportunities outside the home. I would like to express thanks to Dr. Ertas, Dr. Maxwell, and all of the instructors for the opportunity to participate in the program and for their classroom iii instruction. Thank you to Steven Huss, Stan Kopec, for organizing and scheduling the classrooms and handling of the needs of the students. Thanks are due also to Pam Tarver in the Engineering Department and Deb Crosby in the VA Affairs office on the Texas Tech University campus for the time and effort they spent handling additional administrative tasks for me with regard to my Veterans benefits. I would like to thank my friends. Particularly, Scott and Brenda Burnell, Mark Manners, Brad Webb, and my former supervisor, MSgt Chuck Watson (USAF Retired), for their assistance and encouragement. Thanks are due especially to Michael Hogan for convincing me to participate in the program and for sharing the hours upon hours of toil with me throughout the past year on the program. And, a special thank you goes to my classmates, most of whom somehow managed to practice adequate restroom hygiene throughout the past year. Finally, and most importantly, thank you to my wife, Martha. Her dedication and sacrifices enabled me to complete the program. She is a woman of uncommon character who picked up the slack with many household tasks and allowed me to put important home projects off while I was in class, studying or working on projects for the master’s program. Even though she is a college student and has a fulltime job herself, she sacrificed, encouraged, and motivated me to push myself when it seemed I was too tired to continue. Her confidence in me helped drive me to finish the most difficult classes. I could not have done this without her and this report is for her. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 1 CHAPTER II POSSIBILITY – CREATING A CORPORATE VISION ................... 3 2.1 VALUES..................................................................................................3 2.1.1 Integrity ........................................................................................ 6 2.1.2 Trust ............................................................................................. 6 2.1.3 Diversity ........................................................................................ 7 2.1.4 Openness ...................................................................................... 8 2.1.5 Excellence...................................................................................... 8 2.1.6 Initiative........................................................................................ 9 2.1.7 Teamwork...................................................................................... 9 2.1.8 Taking Care of Each Other..............................................................10 2.1.9 Community Involvement & Social Conscientiousness ........................11 2.1.10 Fun ............................................................................................12 2.2 VISION ................................................................................................12 2.2.1 Who Do We Hire............................................................................14 2.3 PURPOSE..............................................................................................15 2.4 ENGINEERING METHODOLOGIES ...........................................................16 2.4.1 Software Engineering Methodology .................................................16 2.4.2 Software Maintenance Methodology ................................................21 2.5 ENGINEERING STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES.........................................24 2.5.1 Documentation Standards ..............................................................24 2.5.2 Software Coding Standards ............................................................25 2.5.3 GUI Implementation Framework .....................................................27 CHAPTER III TIMING .................................................................................. 29 3.1 GROWTH STRATEGY..............................................................................29 3.1.1 Staying Current with Technology ....................................................29 3.1.2 Increasing Customer Base..............................................................29 3.2 CORPORATE ROADMAP ..........................................................................32 CHAPTER IV LEVERAGING........................................................................... 33 4.1 CREATING ADVANTAGE .........................................................................33 4.2 TECHNOLOGY .......................................................................................33 4.2.1 Software & Software Development Tools .........................................33 4.2.2 Business Support Software.............................................................34 4.2.3 Hardware......................................................................................34 4.3 CORPORATE INFRASTRUCTURE ..............................................................34 4.4 TAKING ADVANTAGE OF EXTERNAL RESOURCES .....................................34 4.4.1 Online accounting and Payroll services ............................................35 4.4.2 Advertising ...................................................................................35 4.4.3 Online Payment Solutions...............................................................35 CHAPTER V MASTERY .................................................................................. 36 5.1 BUILDING CORPORATE KNOWLEDGE......................................................36 5.2 TRAINING ............................................................................................36 5.2.1 Technical Training .........................................................................36 5.2.2 Non-Technical Training ..................................................................37 v CHAPTER VI LEADERSHIP ........................................................................... 38 6.1 DEFINITION..........................................................................................38 6.2 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEADING AND MANAGING ............................38 6.3 DEVELOPING LEADERS ..........................................................................39 CHAPTER VII THE PRODUCT ....................................................................... 42 7.1 STATEMENT OF WORK...........................................................................42 7.1.1 Project Overview ...........................................................................42 7.1.2 Preliminary Requirements ..............................................................42 7.1.3 Project Schedule ...........................................................................44 7.1.4 Development Environment .............................................................44 7.1.5 Version History..............................................................................44 7.2 REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION ............................................................45 7.2.1 System Overview ..........................................................................45 7.2.2 Reference Documents ....................................................................45 7.2.3 Requirements................................................................................45 7.2.4 Notes ...........................................................................................49 7.2.5 Version

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