Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering
The Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering (BSSE) degree prepares students for an entry-level software engineering position in industries from aerospace to video game development. Because of its inclusion of real-world hands-on projects such as flight control of an autonomous aircraft or power control in a hybrid automobile, the program gives the student a chance to develop the knowledge, skills, and ways of thinking required to design and implement large software systems. The program combines the system design and development practices of the professional software engineering community with a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of software engineering, along with a knowledge of how embedded computer hardware works, such that graduates enter the workforce ready to make a contribution and a difference.
The BSSE program focuses on software for embedded, real-time, computer systems: The kinds of systems at the heart of technologies from mobile phones and handheld computers to the control systems of modern aircraft and spacecraft. Embedded controllers take information from the physical world, such as an airplane’s altitude or the amount of light entering a lens, and use a microprocessor to generate control signals to component devices, such as that airplane’s control surfaces or a camera’s aperture opening. Many embedded devices, particularly those employed in aviation, space, and medicine, are part of safety-critical systems: applications and devices for which failure endangers life and limb. The design and development of such safety-critical systems depends on the use of well-developed processes for determining a system’s requirements and specifications, converting those to operational software, and then employing quality assurance approaches to ensure minimal risk.
The BSSE curriculum gives the student an opportunity to start to work with embedded systems, such as a small, mobile robot, upon entering the program. Through the program, not only will you learn how to develop software effectively, but also how to construct large, complex software systems in a way that ensures that they meet design specifications, customer requirements, and mandated levels of safety. The program culminates in a two-semester capstone design sequence in which you’ll work with a team of other student software engineers, computer engineers, and electrical engineers to specify, design, build, and demonstrate a working system, or even a system of systems, often for a real-world “customer.”
The detailed objectives of the program are that our graduates:
- Effectively analyze, design, and implement software systems, including embedded, real-time, and safety-critical computer systems
- Demonstrate professionalism in their work and grow professionally through continued learning and involvement in professional activities
- Contribute to society by behaving ethically and responsibly
- Communicate effectively in oral, written, and newly developing modes and media
- Assume a variety of roles in teams of diverse membership
For details on degree overview, requirements, and expected outcomes,visit Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering.
The Software Engineering program is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (111 Market Place, Suite 1050, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012; Telephone: (410) 347-7700, http://www.abet.org).
