[ecoop-info] Post-Doc on "Open Dynamic Distributed Systems"

[Noury Bouraqadi]

Please find below the description for a post-doc position open at the  
Ecole des Mines de Douai (France).
-Topic: "Open Dynamic Distributed Systems"
-Keywords: software components, Service-Oriented Architecture, Multi- 
Agent Systems

Noury
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Dr. Noury Bouraqadi - Enseignant/Chercheur
Responsable de l'option I.S.I.C.
ARMINES - Ecole des Mines de Douai - Dept. I.A.
http://csl.ensm-douai.fr/noury

European Smalltalk Users Group Board
http://www.esug.org
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CONTEXT
The position is open within the Informatics & Automatics Departement  
of the Ecole des Mines de Douai (France). The post-doc will join the  
informatics research team which works on component-based engineering  
and re-engineering for distributed and embedded systems. Examples of  
targeted applications are related to terrestrial transport systems,  
mobile robotics, and distributed computing.

Open Dynamic Distributed Systems is among topics we are interested in  
as part of the VerySmallTalk Project. By "Open" we mean a system that  
bears the addition of new devices or the deployment of new software.  
Characteristics of added devices or hardware are not known by system  
designers. Openness is also related to topology and characteristics  
of networks connecting devices. By "Dynamic" we mean systems that may  
evolve in a non-anticipated manner at run-time. New devices may join  
the system during its functioning. Symmetrically, a device being part  
of the system may "disappear" because of a failure, or a  
disconnection decided by a user. Moreover, changes occurring at run- 
time may affect also software and communication networks.


TASK
The post-doc will be assigned the study and the development of a  
software platform for open distributed systems. This platform will be  
assessed using concrete applications related to the VerySmalltalk  
project and particularly to scientific computing (http://csl.ensm- 
douai.fr/VerySmallTalk). The scientific computing application example  
is to be built for colleagues from the department of civil and  
environmental engineering (CEE). The starting point of this  
application is a set of scientific software that compute material  
physical properties. These software were developed in C by people  
from the CEE and partners and weren't meant to interact initially.  
The targeted platform should allow to address this issue and allow  
users to make computations involving at least two softwares. For  
instance, a hydration software may collaborate through the platform  
with an elasticity software in order to compute the evolution of  
elasticity according to hydration.

We target a two layered architecture. The lower layer is service- 
oriented and developed using software components. The higher layer is  
a Multi-Agents System. Agents, are built by assembling components  
provided by the lower-level of the platform.

APPLICATION
Candidates should owe a PhD in a topic related to the position and  
particularly software engineering, distributed systems, or multi- 
agent systems. Mastering OO programming is mandatory.

The position is for 18 months.

Application letters and a CV should be sent till 18 of may 2007 to :
Ecole des Mines de Douai
Département Informatique et Automatique
M. Philippe HASBROUCQ
941, Rue Charles Bourseul – BP 10838
59508 DOUAI Cedex

or by email to: hasbroucq AT ensm-douai DOT fr

For further information, please contact
Dr. Noury BOURAQADI (bouraqadi AT ensm-douai DOT fr)