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A graduate program that awards the Master of Software Engineering degree is not as easy to find as you might think. Many universities today make include software engineering as an area of concentration for the graduate degree in computer science or computer engineering. Software engineering remains an afterthought in many graduate level programs at the high profile schools, although many of those universities offer an undergraduate degree in the field. A degree devoted solely to software engineering is,

at the graduate level, often made available only to working professionals. This list of resources for the degree is compiled from schools that have a respected school of computer science, have a manageable tuition structure and offer a terminal graduate degree in software engineering. New Jersey Institute of Technology is the state's principal academic institution for technology and management degrees. The NJIT offers masters degrees and doctoral programs in the principal engineering fields, architecture, and a wide range of IT programs. The Master of Science in Software Engineering is a comparatively new program offered by the Department of Computer Science designed to equip students with advanced knowledge of the concepts, techniques, skills and tools for developing modern large-scale software systems. This is clearly a business oriented degree. University of Maryland offers the Master of Software Engineering as a collaboration between the College Park campus and the University's professional education division, University College. The thirty six credit curriculum has several courses in project design and management, preparing students for supervisory roles in software and systems design. Electives include a course in Engineering Economics & Financial Analysis and an Introduction to Artificial Intelligence. Arizona State University has one of the highest ranked computer and electrical engineering programs in the country. They are also proactive in the development of online degree options; the Master of Science in Software Engineering is available to Arizona students on campus and to students from across the country online. This program incorporates instruction for designing and developing software projects with the business and management skills needed to manage a team engaged in software systems development or redesign. Santa Clara University turns out many of the computer science and computer engineering graduates that go to work in the Silicon Valley firms located throughout the region where the campus is located. The Master of Science in Software Engineering requires applicants to have an undergraduate degree in computer science or engineering; or to pass the computer science section of the GRE exam. This degree is oriented to the science and technology of software development with a minimum of the curriculum devoted to project management. The programming requirement in the program may be waived for professionals who have at least a year's experience. University of Minnesota offers a two year program for the Master of Science in Software Engineering that is designed for professionals who have work experience in software development or a related field. The course load is flexible enough to allow students to continue working, and classes are taught on alternating Fridays and Saturdays so that normal work hours are not significantly disrupted. There is an industrial seminar series incorporated into the curriculum that includes instruction in software re-engineering & maintenance, as well as a course on legal and intellectual property issues. Bob Hartzell writes for several websites on graduate education programs found both on campus and online. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Bob_Hartzell/387052 Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5313174

The number of different types of engineering jobs posted on job websites can be mind-numbing to the layman. It can even befuddle experienced professionals who have spent a lifetime working in an engineering trade, because most of these job types did not exist until the rapid adoption of personal computing and intranet in the eighties and nineties.

 The coming of the internet age has created endless engineering job opportunities for computer science students. In a large computer software and services company, each software programming team is a led by a dedicated engineering project manager. The manager draws work plans to meet specific objectives across the project lifecycle and allocates work to the software programmers. In smaller companies, each project manager handles several software engineering projects. Although the engineering project manager is not expected to do programming himself, he should be aware of the challenges faced by his team members to ensure optimal resource and time allocation. The project manager works in conjunction with a client-facing senior engineer called a software business analyst. The business analyst discusses the top-level project objectives and elicits specific system requirements through consultations with the client. Before the requirements document is handed over the engineering project manager, it must be signed off by the client. The requirements document is legally binding as the terms of the contract between the client and the software company with regards to the specific functionalities desired in the software. After the client's approval, the requirements document is handed over to the project manager. The project manager reaches out to a software engineering architect to draw the high level game plan regarding technical architecture of the software. It includes information such number of modules, programming language, and coding platform to be used etc. The software architect's contribution becomes the blueprint for all other programmers. After the software architecture has been defined, the project manager makes project plans accordingly. Next, the software programmers are handed over task-level requirements of each software module. The code written by the software programmers is neatly documented for future testing by qualified software quality engineers. Software quality engineers can use either manual testing for all modules of the software or create automated testing scripts. For large software engineering projects, manual testing is practically infeasible. The software quality engineers provide their inputs back to the programmers regarding any errors in the programming. The software programmer then revised the code accordingly and sends it back for another round of testing. The process is repeated until the quality engineer has finally approved the code completely. Mane provide aerospace jobs and automotive jobs Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Claire_Jarrett/77297 Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5934255

I have been reading this abstracts paper from the Dagstuhl Seminar End-User Software Engineering and it has lots of interesting points to make.

 In the Dagstuhl Seminar report (Burnett et al) it is stated that "The number of end users creating software is far larger than the number of professional programmers. These end users are using various languages and programming systems to create software in forms such as spreadsheets, dynamic web applications, and scientific simulations. This software needs to be sufficiently dependable, but substantial evidence suggests that it is not." This point relates to that of (Ko) (Carnegie Mellon University) who explains that the goals of end-users may be unrelated to production of code, but instead they are interested in their domain problem, this means they perceive programming barriers as distractions. Ko explains that end-user programmers must be allowed to focus on their goals, and an important part of the solution is to visualise the whole program execution not just the output. A further problem outlined by Ko is that of programs which were intended to be temporary and owned by a particular person becoming central to a company, this often happens with spreadsheets. (Henry Lieberman) of MIT Media Laboratory asks "Why is it so much harder to program a computer than simply to use a computer application? I can't think of any good reason why this is so; we just happen to have a tradition of arcane programming languages and mystically complex software development techniques. We can do much better." He argues that researchers should use program transformation, and visualisation to make the end-user programming process as automatic as possible. In order that people can become End-User Software Engineers without their even realizing it. This needs to involve interdisciplinary research to combine different research approaches. (Blackwell) also argues the need for interdisciplinary research on the end-user programming problem to identify techniques within software engineering that can assist with this problem. (Coutaz) explains how Model Driven Engineering and Service Oriented Architecture can be combined. Coutaz also explains that "An interactive system is a graph of models related by mappings and transformations." This would fit in well with the structure of RDF (Resource Description Framework) a Semantic Web standard, which is also a graph structure. Alexander Repenning of University of Lugano explains the need for enhancements to UML (Unified Modeling Language) to aid end-user programming. (Engels) of University of Paderborn also explains that UML should be extended to allow development of user interfaces in order to assist end-users to program. (Repenning) also argues that "Visual programming languages using drag and drop mechanisms as programming approach make it virtually impossible to create syntactic errors." So "With the syntactic challenge being - more or less - out of the way we can focus on the semantic level of end-user programming." (Rosson) of Pennsylvania State University also explains about creation of a web based drag and drop interface. Abraham and (Erwig) of Oregon State University integrate spreadsheet modelling into the UML modelling process. (Gerhard Fischer) of University of Colorado explains the concept of meta-design as aimed at creating infrastructures for collaborative design assuming future uses and problems cannot be completely anticipated during development of a system. (Dittrich) of University of Copenhagen argues that more research is needed into the software lifecycle and methods and tools needed for end-user developers, especially when they are collaborating. These end-users often need to adjust old software for new purposes. (Costabile and Piccinno) also explain that new methodologies and environments are required for supporting end-user collaborative development (De Souza) argues that the goal of human-computer interaction (HCI) will evolve from making systems easy to use to making systems that are easy to develop. Lieberman also argues that HCI experts have concentrated on ease of use and should examine ease of programming. (Begel) of Microsoft Research explains that if programming is left only to programmers rather than allowing domain experts to be involved the program becomes a black box and the domain expert cannot trust or verify the results. He explains that text based computer languages are often too obscure for end-user programmers. Begel also explains that end-users may lack an engineering mindset to form mental models of how to make the computer do what they want. Segal of the Open University argues that professional engineers have a history of programming so can be distinguished from other end-user programmers as having less problems with coding. (Fischer) explains that it is the mismatches between end-users needs and software support that enables new understandings. Fischer also argues that software development can never be completely delegated to software professionals because domain experts are the only people that fully understand the domain specific tasks that must be performed. He also argues for an approach to enabling end-user programming that makes it interesting to end-users. He explains that often the problem is that end-users find programming boring rather than that they find it hard. (Spahn et al) explains that end-users of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems are domain experts not IT professionals, and this is forcing them to communicate their needs to IT developers. Spahn et al argue for the empowerment of users to customise software by providing an abstraction layer to hide technical details and allow for concentrating on business needs. (Clarke) of Microsoft examines the characteristics of end-user developers in order to assist with meeting their needs. (Fischer) hypothesises that this emphasis on end-user development also changes the emphasis on testing "Software testing is conducted differently. Because domain expert developers themselves are the primary users, complete testing is not as important as in the case when the developers are not the users." References End-User Software Engineering - Dagstuhl Seminar - Summary - http://www.dagstuhl.de/en/program/calendar/semhp/?semnr=2007081 - PDF Abstracts and links to papers - http://eusesconsortium.org/docs/dagstuhl_2007.pdf - Margaret M. Burnett, Gregor Engels, Brad A. Myers and Gregg Rothermel - From 18.01.07 to 23.02.07, the Dagstuhl Seminar 07081 End-User Software Engineering was held in the International Conference and Research Center (IBFI), Schloss Dagstuhl. During the seminar, several participants presented their current research, and ongoing work and open problems were discussed. Abraham, R., Erwig, M., 2007. Exploiting Domain-Specific Structures For End-User Programming Support Tools. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Begel, A., 2007. End User Programming for Scientists: Modeling Complex Systems. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Blackwell, A., 2007. Interdisciplinary Design Research for End-User Software Engineering. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Burnett, M. M., Engels, G, Myers, B. A., Rothermel, G., 2007. End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Clarke, S., 2007. What is an End User Software Engineer?. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Costabile, M. F., Piccinno, A., 2007. Software environments for supporting End-User Development. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Coutaz, J., 2007. Meta-User Interfaces for Ambient Spaces: Can Model-Driven-Engineering Help?. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. De Souza, C., 2007. Designers Need End-User Software Engineering. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Dittrich, Y., 2007. Rethinking the Software Life Cycle: About the Interlace of Different Design and Development Activities. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Engels, G., 2007. Model-Driven Development for End-Users, too!? In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Fischer, G., 2007. Meta-Design: A Conceptual Framework for End-User Software Engineering. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Gross, M. D., 2007. Designers Need End-User Software Engineering. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Ko, A. J., 2007. Barriers to Successful End-User Programming. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Lieberman, H., 2007. End-User Software Engineering Position Paper. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Repenning, A., 2007. End-User Design. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Rosson, M. B., 2007. Position paper for EUSE 2007 at Dagstuhl. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Segal, J., 2007. End-User Software Engineering and Professional End-User Developers. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. Spahn, M., Scheidl, S., Stoitsev, T., 2007. End-User Development Techniques for Enterprise Resource Planning Software Systems. In: End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar. I am a Researcher in the final year of my PhD. I specialise in applying Semantic Web techniques. My current research is on a technique of 'User Driven Modelling/Programming'. My intention is to enable non-programmers to create software from a user interface that allows them to model a particular problem or scenario. This involves a user entering information visually as a tree diagram. I am attempting to develop ways of automatically translating this information into program code in a variety of computer languages. This is very useful for many employees that have insufficient time to learn programming languages. Home Page - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~phale/. End-User History - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/amrc/seeds/PeterHale/EndUserHistory.htm. End-User Programming - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/amrc/seeds/EndUserProgramming.htm. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Peter_Hale/32680 Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/663202

Software engineering is an essential discipline when designing and implementing high performance data enterprises. Although software engineers are not certified or sanctioned by any standards body, use of software engineers with experience in the Intelligence Community increases chances of success. Software Engineering Defined Software engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined,


quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering to software. (Source Wikipedia) Knowledge of programming is the main pre-requisite to becoming a software engineer, but it is not sufficient. Many software engineers have degrees in Computer Science or mathematics and physics due to the lack of software engineering programs in higher education. An organized mind and an interest in problem solving are also prerequisites. However, as data networks become more complex and indispensable in large organizations higher education has started to change with the introduction of new software engineering degrees, especially in post-graduate education. Software Engineering as a Discipline Software engineering contains a number of separate yet interrelated disciplines. * Software requirements * Software design * Software development * Software testing * Software maintenance * Software configuration management * Software engineering management, see also project management * Software development process * Software engineering tools and Computer Aided Software Engineering * Software quality * Social Software Engineering Each sub discipline has its own performance requirements and processes for success. Jobs in Software Engineering - A Strong Market Because the field of software engineering is broad and growing more complex because of the introduction of new technologies and applications, the potential for job growth is significant even in a down economy. According to the Federal Government studies, the demand for qualified software engineers is significant and will continue to grow, Computer software engineers are one of the occupations projected to grow the fastest and add the most new jobs over the 2006-16 decade. Excellent job prospects are expected for applicants with at least bachelor's degree in computer engineering or computer science and with practical work experience. Computer software engineers must continually strive to acquire new skills in conjunction with the rapid changes that occur in computer technology. Because computer networks and computing hardware and software are growing in power and complexity, the demand for qualified Software engineers is high. As the United States continues to be an information driven society new, high paying jobs with quality benefit packages are available in the economy. This is particularly true as the economy emerges from its depressed state. Employment of computer software engineers is projected to increase by 38 percent over the 2006 to 2016 period, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. This occupation will generate about 324,000 new jobs, over the projections decade, one of the largest employment increases of any occupation. Significant drivers of growth in the demand for software engineers include adoption of new technologies for information efficiency in a competitive environment. This is particularly true as information networks grow in sophistication and interconnect. In addition, information security concerns and cyber threats have given rise to new software requirements. Concerns over "cyber security" will result in businesses and government continuing to invest heavily in software that protects their networks and vital electronic infrastructure from attack. Cyber Security has become a major area of concern for the U,S, Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community. Very few organizations are willing to trust the security of their networks to low cost, offshore software engineering firms. Finally, in economic and competitive terms low cost offshore outsourcing is not a real threat because software engineering requires innovation and intense research and development expenditures. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics) One area with a tremendous appetite for software engineers is the Federal Government. The Federal Government continues to grow and, with the present trend in Government spending, greater demand for IT and Cyber Security engineering specialists will also generate job demand.. Ensuring Quality Standards - A Problem While there is tremendous demand for engineering professionals, the systems and networks designed and implemented by software engineers are often the heart of any large business of government enterprise. Quality and efficiency cannot be sacrificed by substandard performance. Many who call themselves "Software Engineer" are not fully qualified and often produce low quality work output. Many professions enforce quality standards through professional certification boards but professional certification of software engineers is confusing and, while many view it as a tool to improve professional practice, others consider it as an unnecessary encumbrance. In the United States, most certification programs in the IT industry are oriented toward specific technologies, and are managed by the vendors of these technologies. No matter which way the debate goes, full accreditation will not serve as a quality standard backstop for software engineers in the foreseeable future so other, on the job standards, must be used to ensure engineering quality. Documented past performance that is favorable or a history of software development in a demanding industry has now become a major factor to determine future success. Software Engineering and the Intelligence Community - Real Time Certification With the absence of any standard certification programs, employers and government service contractors must exercise great care when utilizing software engineers.to design or restore critical network or enterprise software. Because networks and the software that run them are becoming more critical to business operations and more complex, the chances of an inexperienced or unqualified software engineer irrevocably damaging all or part of the network has increased. One major error by an unqualified engineer could ruin an entire networking enterprise and bring down an organization. This is particularly true for large government.agencies tasked with the collection and processing of sensitive data. Of all Federal Government agencies, a case can be made that the Intelligence Community [http://www.intelligence.gov/1-members.shtml] is the most demanding and discriminating when it comes to software engineering. This level of excellence requirement is because of the size of the data networks involved and the mission requirements to ensure national security. In addition to the mission critical demands of each agency and its clients for real time data, continuous, massive amounts of sensitive data are collected on a 24x7 basis. This data must be processed, analyzed, protected and disseminated in an efficient way that protects national security interests. Data protection and cyber security are new challenges to the software engineer and place additional performance demands.. A design flaw in the architecture of a network could be fatal for the entire collection system and and the introduction of a virus or other cyber breach could crash the entire system. Because of the classified/sensitive nature of the data collected in the Intelligence Community high level security clearances are also required and this places further burdens on the integrity of the individual. Servicing the needs of the Intelligence Community is a demanding task but the experience will test the skills, work ethic and judgment of even the most seasoned software engineer. Thus engineers with IC experience command a premium wage and benefits based upon proving themselves capable, When a formal certification is not available, broad and extensive software engineering experience in the Intelligence Community on a job candidate's resume is often a valuable real time substitute. Jon M. Stout is Chief Executive Officer of Aspiration Software LLC. Aspiration Software LLC is an Information Technology/Cyber Security services provider focused on the Intelligence Community (IC). For more information about Software Engineering [http://www.aspirationsoftware.com/capabilites.html] and Cyber Security and Information Technology in the Intelligence Community go to http://aspirationsoftware.com. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/John_M._Stout/489402 Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3397965