Visit of Prof. Daniela Damian Next Tuesday July 15, 2025 at 1:30 pm
Foutse Khomh
Next Tuesday July 15, 2025, at 1:30 pm, Prof. Prof. Daniela Damian will visit Polytechnique and give a talk on her innovative educational program INSPIRE in room L 4812 of Pavillon Lassonde at Polytechnique Montreal.
Please attend in large number.
Title: REconnect: How being a requirements engineer made me a better, yet humble, software engineer
Abstract: Software is now deeply embedded in our society, shaping how we live, work, and connect. As a result, understanding users and their interactions with technology is more crucial than ever. User-centered approaches have long been recognized as fundamental to requirements engineering. However, in an increasingly digital world driven by online interactions and AI, how effectively can we engage with users to understand their complex lived experiences and how software we design might affect them? How well are we equipped to grasp users’ values, preferences, and needs, which might be closely tied to or informed by their unique backgrounds, cultures, and life experiences?
In this talk, I highlight the importance of developing the skills, knowledge, and mindset necessary to co-design with, and alongside, the people we build for. Drawing on experiences in several software engineering projects focused on societal impact, I reflect on the challenges that expanded my own understanding and abilities as a requirements engineer. I explore the critical role that complementary skills of relationship-building, authentic empathy, perspective-taking, and cultural sensitivity play, particularly when differing viewpoints emerge. In today's increasingly complex, technology-driven world, these skills are more important than ever. I advocate for a deeper awareness of how we engage empathetically with those we design for and collaborate with. This awareness is not only essential for achieving the desired impact of our work, but also for preventing unintended harm and exclusion.
Bio: Daniela Damian is a Professor of Software Engineering and the ECS-CAPI Chair in Inclusive Science, Technology and Engineering at the University of Victoria. Along the years, together with her students she led empirical research that studied the human and social aspects of requirements engineering and software development, with a special focus on teamwork, remote communication and collaboration. She is the founder of the INSPIRE:STEM for Social Impact Program at the University of Victoria and where diverse teams engage in community-driven, experiential-learning science and engineering projects for societal impact. Daniela served as Program Chair for major Software Engineering conferences and in particular, was the Co-Chair of the inaugural conference on Software Engineering in Society in 2014, RE 2019 and ICSE 2022; she has served on the editorial boards of Transactions on Software Engineering, and is serving on the Advisory Board at the Empirical Software Engineering Journal. Daniela was the recipient of the 2019 Faculty of Engineering Teaching Award and of the 2020 Provost’s REACH Award for Excellence in Teaching for Experiential Learning. In 2019 she received the Royal Society New Zealand Catalyst: International Leader Award, and in 2024, she became a Lero Parnas Fellow. Read more about her projects and research at danieladamian.ca, and listen to her TEDxVictoria talk on her humble take on the power of empathy in tech design for a diverse, kinder world. She can be contacted at dani...@uvic.ca.