1. Good morning, my name is Andrew Ireland, and I would like to welcome you to Heriot-Watt and VSTTE 2010. Before we get started, I just need to tell you about the Fire Instructions for the conference centre:
  1. If you discover a fire then please raise the alarm using the nearest break-glass-call-point.
  2. The Fire Alarm is a 2-tone siren.
  3. There are 2 exit/assemble points, i) concourse outside the main university reception, and ii) the car park to the east of the building.
  4. In the event of a fire alarm, please leave by the nearest exit – all fire exists are clearly marked.
  1. And don’t forget to turn off your mobiles! Thanks.
  1. Now it gives me great pleasure to invite Heriot-Watt’s Deputy PrincipalProfessor Julian Jonesto formally open our conference …
  1. I’ll now say a couple things about the nature and aims of the conference:
  1. Firstly, we have organised the event to be as interactive and inclusive as possible:
  2. this is reflected in thewide variety of program sessions we have created, as will be highlighted by the Program Chairs.
  3. a room set aside with large screens for the presentation of informal system demos– which we will encourage!
  1. Secondly, we have been keen to attract and support as many research students as possible – as they are the next generation of theoreticians and tool-builders – to this end we have been very fortunate in terms of our sponsors, in particular National Science Foundation and SICSA:
  2. NSF has provided significant funding for all the VSTTE conferences, and has support around a dozen PhD students at this conference and much more.
  3. SICSA is the Scottish Informatics & Computer Science Alliance – a collaboration between the leading Scottish Informatics & Computer Science departments – and supported by the Scottish Government:
  4. SICAS funded 10 student delegates and also funded
  5. a Summer School that took-place over the weekend (Mathematical & Computer Sciences) and which was organised by Lucas Dixon, Gudmund Grov and Ewen Maclean and attracted30 participants and 10 distinguished speakers – this was a new development for VSTTE and we hope it will become a feature.
  1. But I should also highlight our full list of sponsors and supporters – all of whom have played a significant roleputting on the conference – many thanks.
  1. Returning to the theme of interaction, as well as this state-of-the-art conference centre, our woodland campus is very picturesque, and has numerous routes for walking and jogging – ideal for blue sky research, and all described in aguide book you will find in your delegate bags.
  1. In contrast to the quietness of the campus, I hope you have realised that Edinburgh is in Festival mode – in particular the Edinburgh International Festival and the Festival Fringe are in full flow. To help you explore the festivals we are running coaches into Edinburgh tomorrow evening for SICSA sponsored drinks reception, with our colleagues at Edinburgh Informatics are providing the venue.

Provides the Perfect Launch pad for an evening in the Festival!

  1. I have had an excellent local team working with me on the conference, and in particular, I would like to introduce you to Gudmund, Ewen, Teresa and Dominicwho will be looking after you in the coming days!
  1. Now I am going to pass you over to Tony and Shankar who will say a few words on behalf of the Steering Committee …
  1. Finally, I’ll pass you over to Peter O’Hearn for the perspective from the Program and Workshop chairs …