Keynotes

Affiliation: Metrology and Machine Control cluster, ASML

Official role: Principal Architect

Co-authors: Milan Stanic & Darko Zivanovic (Software Architects at Metrology and Machine Control cluster, ASML)

Title: Deploying modern software architecture on a high-value, high-utilisation install base: an ASML case study

Abstract: ASML produces high value systems for semiconductor manufacturing. Given the cost of these systems, our customers demand that the systems are maintained over decades, and that they are updated to account for new requirements. However, a critical requirement is that the customer has to be able to run existing products without regression, even improvement, since the scanner is part of a much larger machine, the wafer fab. In recent years, we have created a new software stack for the measurement of wafers entering the machine, based on a decomposition of Data, Control and Algorithms (DCA). This allowed a simplification of the software and significantly better testability, but also opened the door for moving to a much more common software architecture across platforms, where most of the business logic uses abstract interfaces towards the remaining non-common elements. Since the original deployment of the DCA software stack in PEP-Align (a speed / accuracy-improving option) in 2019, we have been rolling out this architecture to as many systems as possible. As well as new platforms, we have also looked at ways of introducing this to the installed base via options packages, the first of which was PEP-B, which coupled the new software stack to a hardware upgrade package which also addressed hardware EOL issues. Each subsequent delivery added more functionality or improved the architecture, enabling the next. In this presentation, we will look in detail at our approach to this, the evolution of the architecture and functionality as more platforms were added, and key lessons learned, especially regarding customer acceptance.

Bio: Lewis is a Principal Architect within the Metrology and Machine Control cluster at ASML, where he has been a software architect for the last 10 years and senior software engineer before that. Prior to ASML, Lewis developed image-based measurement techniques in the semiconductor industry at Nanometrics, and also worked in autonomous systems research at British Aerospace, in early work on deploying Decentralised Data Fusion and SLAM. He holds an MSc in Advanced Scientific Computation, and a BSc in Physics with astrophysics. He is a Chartered Engineer with the Institution for Engineering and Technology.

Affiliation: European Space Agency (ESA)

Official role: Head of the Flight Software Section

Title: When Less Is More: Flight Software Challenges in ESA Space Missions

Abstract: Modern ESA space missions increasingly depend on sophisticated autonomous flight software controlling complex onboard functionality, while dealing with strict resource and reliability constraints and operation in a harsh environment. While spacecraft capabilities continue to expand, their onboard computing environments remain tightly limited in power, memory and processing margin. This talk examines how these constraints shape flight software engineering across recent ESA programmes, highlighting recurring challenges such as managing rapidly growing functional complexity, ensuring robust behaviour in safety‑critical scenarios, and validating systems that must operate far beyond the reach of ground support. It also explores the tension between adopting innovative methods—such as new programming languages, advanced V\&V techniques, and modern execution platforms—and the need to maintain the high assurance demanded by spaceflight. Through mission examples and lessons learned, the talk outlines how “less” in hardware resources and architectural simplicity can become “more” in terms of resilience, predictability, and mission success when approached with the right engineering strategies.

Bio: Marek got his PhD in computer science at the Charles University in Prague and the University of Evry in France in 2002\. After that he was a postdoc at the French National Institute for Research in Digital Science and Technology (INRIA) in France and later at the Purdue University in the USA. In 2005-2009 Marek worked for SciSys, UK (now CGI) on flight software projects and activities for the European Space Agency (ESA). In 2009 Marek became the first Czech ESA staff member and got a software engineer post in the Flight Software Section, Directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality in the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, The Netherlands. In 2010-2018 he was in charge of the flight software of Sentinel-2 constellation of two satellites which continuously scan the Earth’s land surface changes, including vegetation, soil, and water cover, using high-resolution optical imagery. In 2019-2020 he was in charge of the platform software of the PLATO exoplanet chaser with 26 cameras to detect and characterize exoplanets by monitoring thousands of stars for subtle dips in brightness that occur when a planet passes in front of its star. In 2020-2025 he was in charge of the flight software of the international habitable module (I-Hab) which is a part of the manned Gateway space station to orbit the Moon, part of the Artemis international endeavour to bring humanity back to the Moon. Since April 2025 he has been the Head of the Flight Software Section, which provides expert technical support for all ESA missions: science, human and robotic exploration, Earth observation, telecommunications, navigation and launchers. The section is also responsible for technology research and development activities in its field of expertise to ensure that future ESA missions will use state-of-the-art technologies.

Affiliation: IBM Consulting, Netherlands

Official role: CTO IBM Consulting North Europe

Title: Responsibility by Design: How to shape Ethical AI Leadership

Abstract: As AI rapidly reshapes decision‑making, value creation, and risk, leadership faces a new responsibility: to harness AI’s power without eroding trust, agency, or societal values. Leading responsibly demands a multi‑lens perspective \- combining ethics, law, human behavior, business strategy, and technology \- focused on should do, and at what cost. This talk explores multiple perspectives leaders must actively integrate: Human and societal impact, Business and economic value, Risk awareness, Technological reality. Crucially, the session dives into how well‑designed AI and digital architectures embed responsibility by default.

Bio: Sophie Kuijt (MSc, MBA) is IBM’s Chief Technology Officer for IBM Consulting North Europe. In 2022, Sophie got appointed as an IBM Distinguished Engineer. She is certified as Distinguished IT architect (Open Group). Sophie is working for IBM clients within the Consumer Industry and beyond, where delivering IT services infused with AI is key. She is the founder of the Data, Artificial Intelligence & Ethics community within IBM Netherlands, where ethical questions related to the application of AI are discussed and further developed. Sophie represents IBM in various local AI and ethical committees in the Netherlands. She is also a volunteer for VHTO to support young children in STEM and responsible tech.

Affiliation: Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Software and Societal Systems

Official role:A.J. Perlis University Professor of Computer Science

Title: Software Architecture Then, Now, and in the Future

Abstract:

Thirty years ago David Garlan and I published Software Architecture: Perspectives on an Engineering Discipline ^[1]. The key idea is that system-level abstractions about the organization of a software system are as important as the code itself, and they are equally rich in diversity and semantics. These abstractions shape the character of the system; they ensure the overall conceptual integrity of the system.

I’ll reflect on how that view of software architecture emerged from system design folklore and how it has evolved since then, using the Redwine-Riddle model of technology maturation ^[2]. This evolution did not follow the path we originally envisioned, but it is a robust path of its own. I identify opportunities for new research that are rooted in the approach I used in the original architecture work ^[3].

Moving to the present, there is currently much hue and cry about generative AI’s threats to software engineering and, by extension, to software architecture. I believe these are overblown. This is partly because of persistent confusion between programming and software engineering. More significantly, though, successful software design at the architecture level depends on a deep understanding of nuance in both the problem context and the implementation technology ^[4]. This is especially challenging for problems deeply embedded in social contexts ^[5].

In general, we should automate things that are well understood, tedious, and error-prone in the hands of humans. It follows that generative AI has great potential for brainstorming, handling tedious detail, running checklists, and offering code, designs, or models for human evaluation. I critically review claims about AI and their dissonance with actual SE practice and identify roles in which AI can constructively contribute to SA design and maintenance ^[6].

Bio: Mary Shaw is the Alan J. Perlis University Professor of Computer Science in the Software and Societal Systems Department at Carnegie Mellon University. Pittsburgh PA, USA. She helped to found the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon. She has made fundamental contributions to an engineering discipline for software through developing data abstraction with verification (with W. Wulf and R. London), establishing software architecture as a major branch of software engineering (with D. Garlan), working on high-level design and design spaces in adaptive systems and systems for vernacular programmers, and designing influential and innovative curricula in software engineering and computer science. She has received the United States’ National Medal of Technology and Innovation and the IEEE Computer Society TCSE’s Lifetime Achievement, Distinguished Educator, and Distinguished Women in Software Engineering Awards, She is a Fellow and Life Member of IEEE, ACM, and AAAS.

References:

1. Mary Shaw and David Garlan. Software Architecture: Perspectives on an Engineering Discipline. Prentice Hall, 1996. ISBN 978-0131829572.
2. S. T. Redwine and W. E. Riddle, “Software technology maturation.” In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE ’85), 1985, pp. 189–200.
3. M. Shaw, D. V. Klein, and T. L. Ross, “Revisiting Abstractions for Software Architecture and Tools to Support Them,” IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 768–773, March 2025. doi: 10.1109/TSE.2025.3533549.
4. M. Shaw, “Design Obligations for Software, with Examples from Data Abstraction and Adaptive Systems,” IEEE/ACM International Workshop on Designing Software (Designing), Ottawa, ON, Canada, 2025, pp. 55–58. doi: 10.1109/Designing66910.2025.00016.
5. H. W. J. Rittel and M. M. Webber, “Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning,” Policy Sciences, vol. 4, pp. 155–169, 1973. doi: 10.1007/BF01405730.
6. E. Kang and M. Shaw, “Tl;dr: Chill, y’all: AI Will Not Devour SE.” In Proceedings of the 2024 ACM SIGPLAN International Symposium on New Ideas, New Paradigms, and Reflections on Programming and Software (Onward! ’24), Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 2024, pp. 303–315. doi: 10.1145/3689492.3689816.