Computer Engineering/-Accelerated Software Engineering

Overview

This accelerated program allows exceptional students to complete a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering and a Master of Software Engineering in just five years. This five-year program produces engineers with a sound foundation in computer engineering from their undergraduate work, an advanced knowledge of software engineering practice, and real-world experience in software development.

The program requires two summer internships in industry. One of the internships is typically completed between the third and fourth years, and the other between the fourth and fifth years. At the completion of the program, the student simultaneously receives both the BS degree in Computer Engineering and the Master of Software Engineering degree. degree.

The five-year program covers the following areas:

• Undergraduate discipline fundamentals;
• Development of software systems for real-time embedded applications;
• Use of personal and team software processes;
• Understanding the breadth of software engineering methods, tools, and techniques;
• Application of requirements engineering and software architecture and design;
• Use of modern software development methodologies (e.g., object-oriented analysis and design); and
• Software development in the real world.

Advantages

The Five Year Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering / Master of Software Engineering allows the student to complete what would normally be a six-year course of study in just five years, gaining invaluable industry experience along the way through internships and co-operative work/study components. The program combines the advantage of both the undergraduate and graduate programs.

In some academic programs, the student designs only a semblance of a real-world device or does so only “on paper” or, perhaps, in a senior-design class, but in our Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering, design and build are hands on from day one. Working both individually and in teams, students have the opportunity not only to learn about embedded computer systems, but also to develop those systems and learn from that process throughout the curriculum.

The sequence of design culminates in a near real world capstone design experience: Students, working in multidisciplinary teams of engineers with a core of computer, electrical, and software engineers, determine a customer’s requirements for a system, convert those to system specifications, perform the design of a system to meet the requirements using a formalized process from industry, implement and build the system, and then test the system to ensure that it meets the customer’s requirements, fully documenting the process along the way. Capstone design students get not only a chance to show their technical expertise in designing digital systems, but also their proficiency in managing the process and communicating with each other and the “customer.” Employers come back to ERAU year after year for program graduates both because of the technical skills and because of those graduates’ ability to enter the workplace familiar with design, development, and quality assurance processes, with industrial-strength documentation, and with working with teammates to bring a project to a successful conclusion.

The BSCE program has an expert faculty, many with industrial experience, and instruction takes place in small classes with state-of-the-art facilities, including a wide range of hardware and software development environments. Being located at Embry-Riddle allows the student to take advantage of knowledge and expertise on campus of a vast array of aviation and aerospace matters. And beyond the projects in the curriculum, student projects are available through professional organizations like the Student Branch of the IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers) or competition hosts like AUVSI (Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International).

For the Master of Software Engineering, software engineering currently stands as the highest-paid engineering field. The U.S. Department of Labor projects that it will continue to be one of the fastest-growing occupations for the near future. Employers continue to seek professionals with strong skills in programming and software system analysis, design, construction, and maintenance.

Recently, ERAU Master of Software Engineering graduates have achieved 100 percent job placement within one year of program completion; most receive multiple job offers. Graduates work at some of the nation’s leading aircraft, defense, electronics, and medical companies, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky, Raytheon, Rockwell Collins, NASA, USAF, Motorola, Bausch and Lomb, and Boston Scientific.

Employers state that program graduates know how to plan and structure software in a way that meets a company’s needs. Our most successful graduates have achieved positions of substantial responsibility within their organizations in a very short period of time.

Requirements

To pursue Five-Year Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering / Master of Software Engineering, the student must meet the following requirements:

• Maintain at least a 3.2/4.0 grade point average through the academic program;
• Maintain at least a 3.0/4.0 grade point average for all graduate credits;
• Complete a total of 151 credits: 124 undergraduate credits and 27 graduate credits; and
• Complete two summer internships in industry. Credit for undergraduate and graduate level work will be awarded for approved and successfully completed internships.

*Students in the Software Engineering program are encouraged to take CS 225 during the first year, postponing COM 219 until the second year.

The student spends the term engaging in a co-op or internship in the software industry and may be engaged in a software engineering activity such as analysis, design, coding, testing, etc.

The student spends the term engaging in a co-op or internship in the software industry and may be engaged in a software engineering activity such as analysis, design, coding, testing, etc.

While other elective courses may be selected, the student’s advisor and the program coordinator must approve the selection.

Department of Electrical Computer Software and Systems Engineering

Accredited engineering programs emphasizing avionics, autonomous systems, and safety critical real-time systems.

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