Speaker Series
Software GR Presents Goran Rydqvist
Tuesday, February 28
6:00pm-8:00pm
Atomic Object, 1034 Wealthy St, SE, Grand Rapids, MI
The Art of Programming and the Future of Programming Languages
Why is programing often slow and expensive? Why do the results create a painful experience for end users? What factors define the bounds of what we are able to create through programming? Is it not overdue to design a truly great Programming Language -- one language to rule them all?
Bio:
Göran Rydqvist is the co-founder and Vice President Research and Development of Configura, a Sweden-based company specialized in space planning and system configuration.
With more than 40 years of computer programming experience, Göran’s achievments include developing the CM incremental programming language which is the foundation of Configura's CET Designer technology. Göran excels in Dynamic Syntax & Metaprogramming, Large System Programming and Parametric Manufacturing. He holds a Master of Science from Linköping Institute of Technology (LiTH) (1984-1987) and was a PhD Student in Hardware Synthesis at LiTH (1987-1889) including a year at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in Palo Alto, California (1989) before co-founding Configura in 1990.
Software GR Presents Brian Tol: After the Cloud: Using Fog computing in IoT
January 24, 2017
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Atomic Object, 1034 Wealthy St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI
Abstract:
The Internet of Things represents one of the largest opportunities for the software industry since the rise of the web back in the 1990s. And like the early days of the web, IoT is a wild west of standards and best practices: security is fast and loose, interoperability is mostly a pipe dream, and user experiences are very basic… when they work at all. Despite these short comings, the technological and commercial factors driving IoT aren’t slowing down anytime soon. And they haven’t stopped early adopters from succeeding in the space. In our experience, one of the major factors impeding the maturity of IoT is the lack of common design patterns. Too many organizations, including IoT platforms, are reinventing the wheel, and doing a bad job of it. In this talk, Brian Tol presents a case study on how SpinDance inherited a poorly architected IoT product, and how they improved it using Fog computing. He then builds on this story to show how a solid knowledge of Computer Science’s past can guild us into the future.
Bio:
Brian Tol is a Sr. Software Engineer at SpinDance, a software firm focused on the Internet of Things. He’s a software guy passionate about the intersection of technology, business, and user experience. During his time in the industry, he’s worn many hats, including sale guy, project manager, marketer, and information architect, all while maintaining a foot in software development. Before coming to SpinDance, Brian was a CTO focused on web analytics and realtime advertising.
Brian is a graduate of Calvin College, where he eared his Bachelors in computer science. When not coding, Brian enjoys cooking, listening to old vinyl records, learning new board games, and spending time with his family.
SoftwareGR Presents Anatoly Polinsky: Clojure is powerful, simple and fun
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Atomic Object, 1041 Wealthy St., Grand Rapids, MI
Abstract
Clojure is powerful, simple and fun. Depending on how the application state is managed, these 3 superpowers can either stay, go somewhat, or go completely. Apps we build for clients are quite different from tools and libraries on github; they are full of state. While there are frameworks that allow you to join the "application context party", this talk will take a very different approach to manage and reload Clojure and ClojureScript state with the help of a tiny library called "mount".
Bio
Anatoly loves people, music and coding. He went from "ZX Spectrum The Great" to IBM z/Series and then back to human oriented hardware. He works at Chariot Solutions where he has an opportunity to hack on Clojure, Scala, Java, Mobile and this thing people call big data. In his free time he drinks scotch, smokes hookah, jams some guitar chords with others, and then some.
SofwareGR Presents Andy Van Solkema: Creativity, invention and innovation
October 25, 2016
6:00pm-8:00pm
Atomic Object, 1034 Wealthy St., Grand Rapids, MI
In this talk, I explore the evolution of creativity, invention and innovation. How at the heart of the movement to embrace design in organizations is not a silver bullet processes, role or set of method. Instead it is how we deal with the complexity of an incomplete picture by building understanding and clarity.
To deal with this state of unknown and complexity, I will share why business must embrace ambiguity as a tool by creating an environment for framing, sketching and invention, just as it did for optimization, efficacy and performance metrics. And how, in this new reality, the required tool to deal with this state of ambiguous decision-making is how we decide to work together
About Andy
Andy is Chief Designer at Open Systems Technologies. As Chief Designer he is responsible for the practice, vision and integration of design services while infusing human-centered design expertise with OST’s strong technology experience. Andy also is founder of Visualhero, a midwestern based experience design studio, where he practices on strategic projects as a Principal Designer. Visualhero, the official design studio of OST, offers a systems approach to creative problem solving by helping organizations take insights and ideas to action.
Andy combines a systems thinking approach with his craft of graphic, information and interface design. As technology, communication and business converge, he works
under the belief collaboration, design methods and leadership, and the ability to articulate through making should be the hub of innovation. Although most days are spent in practice, he also enjoys speaking, advocating and educating others of design value, methods and process.
Software GR Presents Mark Vander Voord: Testing like a Mad Scientist
Tuesday, September 27
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Atomic Object, 1034 Wealthy St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI
Abstract: Testing like a Mad Scientist
Mad Scientists aren't known for having infinite resources nor time. They're not afraid to glue together mismatched parts; They know when they can use a bottle of hairspray and a lighter in place of a butane torch. We're going to talk about applying Mad Science ideals to embedded software testing. Mark is going to share what he's learned from other mad scientists, and he'd love to hear your tips and tricks!
Bio:
Mark is a maker of things in ones and zeros. He spends his time helping others build embedded software. He’s written a self-published book on unit testing embedded C code, co-developed a series of online classes on the same topic, and is one of the primary maintainers of ThrowTheSwitch.org. He’s one of the authors of the embedded software tools Unity, CMock, and Ceedling and possibly spends too much of his free time maintaining those tools. He’s friends with a variety of mad scientists, but sadly hasn’t had a secret lab since he was a kid.
Software GR Presents Scott Vokes: Write a Parser Today!
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Atomic Object, 941 Wealthy St, Grand Rapids, MI
Abstract
From wire protocols to DSLs, applying structure to raw data is a core part of programming. The best tools for the job, parsers, have a scary reputation -- developers often settle for others (such as regular expressions) and suffer through their limitations instead. Parsers don't have to be intimidating, though -- they may be a huge branch of computer science, but a little knowledge goes a long way.
In this talk, I'll focus on two parsing techniques that are widely applicable and independent of language or platform-specific libraries.
The first, recursive descent parsing, is a technique that belongs in everyone's toolkit. It can be built up from only fundamental constructs, yet is able to parse practical languages. It is particularly handy for creating DSLs and other tools where usability is important.
The second, a combination of Earley and intersection parsing, is a more advanced algorithm. While comparatively obscure, it's worth knowing because it can deftly handle data that would tie most common parsers in knots. When a grammar is inherently ambiguous, it can even return all possible interpretations of the input at once, using a familiar and space-efficient data structure in an unexpected way.
About Scott
Scott works on embedded and distributed systems at Helium. His other interests include data compression, testing tools, cooking, and electronics.
Scott can often be found bicycling around Grand Rapids, MI.
SoftwareGR Presents Sylvia Pellicore: Mobile Accessibility 101
Tuesday, May 17 (special date), 2016
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Atomic Object
You've built a fantastic new mobile app or responsive site, but are you sure everyone can use it? You could be shutting out millions of potential customers without even knowing it. You could also be setting your company up for user complaints, bad press, or even a costly lawsuit.
Accessibility is the process of making sure everyone can use your apps and websites, including people with disabilities. In this talk, Sylvia Pellicore will give you a quick introduction to accessibility and tell you about the features of an accessible mobile site or application. She will talk about the business and legal case for increased accessibility. She will also demonstrate some of the most common accessibility tools on Android and iOS phones, and discuss how developers can code sites and apps to work with these features.
Background
Sylvia Pellicore is the Web Accessibility Advisor for BCBSNC, making sure their sites and tools work for users of all ability levels. Sylvia also co-leads the Raleigh/Durham chapter of Girl Develop It, a nonprofit that helps women get involved in technology. When she is not planning events for Girl Develop It, she likes to run, rock climb, and knit increasingly elaborate scarves.
Website: http://sylviapellicore.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/roenok
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylviapellicore
GitHub: https://www.github.com/Roenok
I talk about accessibility all the time! Sometimes it is on podcasts, on panels, or in classes. Sometimes I just corner strangers at cocktail parties and talk their ears off.
SoftwareGR Presents Patrick Bacon: Rx - The Reactive Revolution
Tuesday, April 26
Atomic Object, 941 Wealthy St., SE, Grand Rapids, MI
6:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M.
I want everyone to know about the power of the ReactiveX library and Reactive Programming. It's an incredibly powerful tool that's functional, asynchronous, and available in 13 languages. In addition to being the "Observer patten done right" you can treat Rx Observables like higher-order functions that are lazily evaluated only when needed - and do all of this in .NET, Java, JavaScript, Ruby, Swift, and more!
In this talk I'll explain why you should strongly consider ReactiveX for your next project, regardless of language or platform.
Bio:
Patrick is a software development generalist whose worked as a developer and consultant at Atomic Object for the last 10 years. He has written desktop applications, web applications (front and back-end), and spent the last couple of years using different variations of ReactiveX to build mobile applications for iOS and Android.
SoftwareGR Presents Richard Feldman: Introduction to ELM
Tuesday, March 22
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Atomic Object
Bio:
Richard is a functional programmer who specializes in pushing the limits of browser-based UIs. He's built seamless-immutable, a JavaScript immutables library that seamlessly interoperates with normal JS collections; elm-css, a CSS preprocessor where you write Elm instead of CSS; and Dreamwriter, a long-form writing Web App which works like a desktop app in the absence of an Internet connection.
Abstract:
Introduction to Elm
Elm is a cutting-edge functional programming language that you can use instead of JavaScript - or alongside it. It takes the concepts in React and Redux to a whole new level, with an amazing compiler that catches errors before you even run your code. Come learn the basics of Elm, and see why people say that learning Elm changed the way they wrote code in other languages...for the better!
SoftwareGR Presents Emily Richett
Tuesday, February 23
6:00pm-8:00pm
Atomic Object
Emily Richett is a former TV reporter turned publicist and media entrepreneur who coaches businesses big and small to amplify their brands & share their stories with the world (or at least their target audiences).
She owns Richett Media, a boutique PR firm in West Michigan that serves a growing list of local and national clients. She recently launched emilyrichett.com to offer coaching and online trainings for personal brands. She is also a video contributor to Entrepreneur.com and host of The Amplified Entrepreneur podcast.