SAC '99

1999 ACM Symposium on Applied Computing
February 28-March 2, 1999
The Menger, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.

Messages from the Chairs

Conference Chair

It is a pleasure to welcome you to SAC'99, the 14th Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing. SAC '99 continues its tradition of high-quality, broad international participation in all areas of applied computing. The symposium is organized as a set of tracks in Artificial Intelligence and Computational Logic, Biomedical Computing, Computational Economics and Finance, Computer and Telecommunication Networks, Computer Graphics and Visualization, Computer Uses in Education, Coordination Models, Languages and Applications, Database Technology, Fuzzy Applications, Genetic Algorithms, Mobile Computing Systems and Applications, Multimedia Systems, Parallel and Distributed Processing, PC Clusters Applications, Programming Languages, Scientific Computing, Software Engineering and Management, and WWW Applications. There is also a tutorial program covering various application areas. Finally, we are honored to have Distinguished Professor Edsger W. Dijkstra of The University of Texas at Austin as our keynote speaker.

The successful organization of SAC has required the talents, dedication and time of many volunteers and strong support from sponsors. SAC is sponsored by ACM and ACM Special Interest Groups in Applied Computing (SIGAPP), Ada (SIGAda), Biomedical Computing (SIGBIO), and Computer Uses in Education (SIGCUE). Special gratitude and appreciation is due the various track chairs as they are primarily responsible for the content of the technical program. The program chair, Hisham Haddad, has done an excellent job coordinating with the track chairs and putting together the advanced program schedule. I would also like to thank Richard Sincovec for arranging the tutorial program, Janice Carroll for her continuing service to SAC and organization of the proceedings, Aaron Konstam for his excellent job in making local arrangements in San Antonio, Aric Lambert for publicizing the symposium, and Robert Inder for keeping the SAC web page up-to-date, even in the face of rapidly changing information as this advance program was being assembled. Gary Lamont deserves thanks as symposium co-chair and chair of SAC 2000. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to Dave Oppenheim for his service not only to SAC '99 but also many previous SAC's. He has been responsible for not only the SAC '99 financial management but also registration and publication of this advance program and proceedings.

We hope that you will find the symposium both enjoyable and valuable, and also enjoy the ambiance of San Antonio, from the beautiful River Walk and Spanish missions, including the Alamo, to such attractions as Sea World. San Antonio is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States and is well situated for welcoming the SAC '99 participants to its environs.

Barrett R. Bryant,
University of Alabama at Birmingham (bryant@cis.uab.edu)

Programme Chair

Welcome to the 1999 ACM Symposium on Applied Computing (SAC'99) and San Antonio.

As in previous years, SAC'99 provides the opportunity for researchers to present their findings and research results in the area of computer application and technology. The technical program is designed to include a wide range of sessions that address different topics of interest to all attendees. Submitted papers were carefully reviewed by highly qualified referees who have strong expertise and special interest in their research areas.

SAC'99 would not be possible without submissions and contributions from members of the scientific community like yourself. The success of SAC'99 relies on the effort and hard work of many volunteers, which results in bringing you an excellent program. On behalf of the SAC'99 Program Committee, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those who made SAC'99 a reality, including speakers, referees, track chairs, organizers, and especially presenters and attendees. Special thanks to the Chairs of SIGAda, SIGAPP, SIGBIO, and SIGCUE for their support.

We hope you will enjoy the meeting and have the opportunity to present your ideas, get new ideas, and meet new friends. We also hope you will enjoy your stay and take pleasure from some of the entertainment and activities that San Antonio has to offer.

We look forward to your involvement in SAC 2000 and encourage you and your colleagues to submit your research findings to next year's technical program.

Programme Chair: Hisham (Al) Haddad,
Marshall University (haddad@acm.org)

Tutorial Chair

The Tutorial Program at SAC'99 features four tutorials on Sunday, February 28, 1999; two run concurrently from 9:00 to noon and two from 1:30 to 4:30. The topics of the tutorials cover a broad spectrum of areas that should be of interest to significant number of SAC'99 attendees.

Intelligent Pattern Recognition and Applications
Patrick Wang,Northeastern University, MIT Consultant and Harvard U. Adjunct. (9:00AM - noon)

Addresses the issue of learning and recognition by studying pattern recognition techniques that utilize artificial intelligence and neural network methodologies. He also describes the application of these techniques to a number of interesting and important problems. Attendees should be familiar with computer science concepts with some knowledge of artificial intelligence concepts.

Using a Functional Language for Industrial Applications
Torbjorn Keisu, Sweden (9:00AM - noon)

This tutorial gives an overview of a simple but powerful functional language and demonstrates its use in industrial applications. Attendees should have a general knowledge and interest in programming languages and programming.

Analysis and Verification of Real-Time Software and Systems
Albert M. K. Cheng, University of Houston-University Park (1:30PM - 4:30PM)

As real-time, embedded systems become widespread, the correctness and efficiency of such systems becomes critical to our modern society. This tutorial presents formal techniques and tools that are practical for actual use in building, analyzing, and verifying different modules of the next generation of real-time systems. The audience is expected to have some programming experience.

An Introduction to Genetic Programming
Thomas D. Haynes, Wichita State University (1:30PM - 4:30PM)

An introduction to the field of genetic programming so that attendees can employ genetic programs to solve their tasks. Participants should be familiar with at least one programming language and comfortable with computer science concepts

We hope that you will find these tutorials sufficiently interesting to sign up for one or two of them.