ark%ritcv@cs.rit.edu (02/16/89)
Recent postings lamenting the demise of the Wang Institute, and wondering
where master's degrees in software engineering may be obtained, prompt me to
make this public service announcement:
The Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY) offers a Master of
Science Degree in Software Engineering. (I am one of the R.I.T. faculty
members who teach in this program.)
The degree's official title is "Software Development and Management." There
are two reasons for this, one legal, and one that reflects our approach to
software engineering education.
1. The Legal Reason: New York State will not approve any degree called
"engineering" unless the engineering accrediting body, ABET,
accredits that kind of program. At present, engineers don't consider
something to be engineering unless it is civil, mechanical, electrical,
chemical, industrial, etc. Hence, we can't call the program
"engineering."
2. The Philosophical Reason: Software engineers build LARGE software
and hardware/software systems--systems much larger and more complex
than any other kind. Software engineers must therefore not only have
TECHNICAL expertise, but also MANAGERIAL expertise. They must be
able to analyze, specify, design, code, and test software; AND they
must be able to plan schedules, estimate costs, do risk analysis,
do hardware/software tradeoffs, manage documentation, control
quality, and manage the large number of human beings who must
cooperate to get the job done.
Accordingly, our program consists of both technical courses and managerial
courses--"Software Development and Management." Students take these 12
courses, two-thirds of which are primarily technical (T) and one-third of
which are primarily managerial (M):
Systems and Software Engineering (T)
Principles of Software Design (T)
Principles of Distributed Systems (T)
Principles of Data Management (T)
{ Analysis and Design Techniques (T)
{ -or-
{ Analysis and Design of Embedded Systems (T)
Software Verification and Validation (T)
Organizational Behavior (M)
Project Management (M)
Technology Management (M)
Software Project Management (M)
Software Tools Laboratory (T)
Software Engineering Project (T)
We use the Ada programming language throughout the degree program and require
all incoming students to know Ada. Students who do not know Ada take one or
two prerequisite Ada programming courses, depending on their previous
programming background.
If you desire further information about this degree program, please contact
me at the E-mail or US-mail address below.
Alan Kaminsky P. O. Box 9887
School of Computer Science Rochester, NY 14623
Rochester Institute of Technology 716-475-5255
ark@cs.rit.edu