[Apologies for multiple copies] QEST'06 CALL FOR PARTICIPATION EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINE is August 1, 2006. QEST'06 - http://www.qest.org/qest2006/ 3nd International Conference on Quantitative Evaluation of SysTems September 11th-14th 2006, Riverside, CA, USA OVERVIEW The International Conference on Quantitative Evaluation of SysTems is a major forum for contributions on evaluation and verification of computer and communication systems, through measurements and stochastic models, possibly incorporating non-deterministic behavior. It combines three events: the International Conference on Modeling Techniques and Tools for Computer Performance Evaluation (TOOLS), the International Workshop on Petri Nets and Performance Models (PNPM), and the Joint International Workshop on Process Algebras and Performance Modeling and Probabilistic Methods In Verification (PAPM-ProbMIV), that have discovered an increasing convergence in their interests and in their communities of researchers. The first and second QEST conferences were held, respectively, in Twente, The Netherlands and Torino, Italy. The third QEST conference will be held at the University of California, Riverside, USA. INVITED SPEAKERS Joseph Y. Halpern (Cornell University) Causality, responsibility, and blame: a structural-model approach Pierre L'Ecuyer (IRISA-INRIA and Universite de Montreal) Staffing and scheduling optimization problems in telephone call centers Arif Merchant (Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Palo Alto, California) Designing and managing storage systems: issues, techniques, and challenges TUTORIALS The first day of QEST'06, September 11, will feature the following tutorials: Jane Hillston (University of Edinburgh) Quantitative evaluation of biological systems David J. Lilja (University of Minnesota) Statistical techniques for performance measurement and evaluation Oleg Sokolsky, Usa Sammapun, Insup Lee (University of Pennsylvania) Analysis of simulation traces by run-time verification William H. Sanders (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) Probabilistic validation of computer system survivability ACCEPTTED PAPERS The conference will feature 32 technical papers and 14 tool papers. Please check QEST 2006 preliminary program at http://www.qest.org/qest06/ for more details. GENERAL CHAIR Gianfranco Ciardo (USA) PROGRAM CO-CHAIRS Pedro D'Argenio (Argentina) Andrew Miner (USA) Gerardo Rubino (France) TOOL CHAIR Enrico Vicario (Italy) TUTORIAL CHAIR Peter Kemper (Germany) PUBLICITY CHAIR Alma Riska (USA) TECHNICAL PROGRAM COMMITTEE Christel Baier (Germany) Gianfranco Balbo (Italy) Andrea Bondavalli (Italy) Mario Bravetti (Italy) Peter Buchholz (Germany) Hector Cancela (Uruguay) Juan Carrasco (Spain) Giuliana Franceschinis (Italy) Reinhard German (Germany) Serge Haddad (France) Mor Harchol-Balter (USA) Boudewijn Haverkort (The Netherlands) Holger Hermanns (Germany) Jane Hillston (UK) Alain Jean-Marie (France) Joost-Pieter Katoen (Germany) Peter Kemper (Germany) William Knottenbelt (UK) Gabriele Kotsis (Austria) Marta Kwiatkowska (UK) Kim G. Larsen (Denmark) John C.S. Lui (Hong Kong) Raymond Marie (France) Patrice Moreaux (France) Carroll Morgan (Australia) Gethin Norman (UK) Prakash Panangaden (Canada) Alma Riska (USA) William H. Sanders (USA) Roberto Segala (Italy) Evgenia Smirni (USA) Scott Smolka (USA) Edmundo de Souza e Silva (Brazil) Marielle Stoelinga (The Netherlands) Miklos Telek (Hungary)Kishor Trivedi (USA) Yann Thierry-Mieg (France) Franck van Breugel (Canada) Murray Woodside (Canada) STEERING COMMITTEE Gianfranco Balbo (Italy) Pedro D'Argenio (Argentina) Susanna Donatelli (Italy) Boudewijn Haverkort (The Netherlands) Jane Hillston (UK) Joost-Pieter Katoen (Germany) Marta Kwiatkowska (UK) William H. Sanders (USA, chair) Roberto Segala (Italy) Evgenia Smirni (USA) Manuel Silva (Spain)