Bachelor of Software Engineering
... preparing leading edge IT professionals for the next century
In 1999 the ANU introduced the Bachelor of Software Engineering. (BSEng). The degree is designed for bright and motivated people wishing to become a leading edge computing professionals.
Key Features:
- Honours degree based on merit awarded at the end of your degree.
- On-the-job, industrial experience (like testing software for the Olympic Games).
- Learn about more... communication skills, ethics and the social impact of IT.
- Group and individual project work.
The Bachelor of Software Engineering course emphasises the development of professional skills in the technical area of software engineering, that is, the systematic application of analysis, design, and construction techniques for computer systems and applications.
The computing industry has grown very rapidly in the last 40 years, despite a widely acknowledged, continual state of crisis in our abilities to manage reliably the process of developing software. The need for a mixture of technical computing knowledge with the skills of the computer programmer, and the disciplined organisation and judgement of the professional engineer, has been seen as desirable for many years.
The introduction of the Bachelor of Software Engineering degree in 1999 aims to meet this need.
The BSEng graduate will acquire technical knowledge of the fundamentals of computer systems, programming languages, and the mathematical foundations of algorithms and data structures that are required to establish reliability and safety in software. Technical knowledge is honed by a selection of advanced technical topics. The principles and practices of the design and implementation of software are built up in a sequence of units combining theoretical study and practical laboratory exercises, individual projects, and group projects. Of no less importance is an introduction to the professional skills of a competent engineer: management, communication with others and teamworking in particular, and ethical and other responsibilities. Graduates will also build their own skills of individual software development in university studies and in practical work experience which is required during the course, and will learn a systems approach developed and exemplified in individual and group project work.
Mathematics is an essential component of the degree for developing the languages and ability for abstraction that is the core of the computing discipline, and to allow rigorous formal description of aspects of the software engineering process. Discrete mathematics also has significant applications in the modelling and rigorous description of software properties, computing processes and programming languages.
The best computing professionals are informed by knowledge of a wider field than computing alone. The course includes the choice of a major line of study in another discipline in the university which can broaden the understanding of the social and cultural responsibilities of the software engineer, and strengthen the ability to communicate with others, or may be used to specialise in further fundamental sciences, or in specialised engineering streams. Both develop the capacity for lifelong learning by exposure to a broader range of ways of studying at university level.
The course is offered for the first time in 1999, when all 1000-series units and a selection of 2000-series units will be offered. The other later-year units will be introduced progressively over the next 2 years, and the degree will be submitted for approval by the Institution of Engineers Australia as an accredited Engineering degree.
