Teaching Modern Software Engineering

Abstract

Today, software projects are typically late and over budget and deliver poor-quality products. Software is now so important to businesses and the public that change is required. A growing number of businesses now demand warranties, guarantees, and penalty clauses in their software contracts. While contractual provisions alone will not produce better software, they do motivate demand for properly trained software professionals. There are known methods for consistently producing quality software on predictable schedules but these methods are not widely taught. In this talk, Watts Humphrey describes the knowledge and skill software engineers must have to meet future demands and he explains why these capabilities are needed. In closing, he comments on the impact that properly trained software engineers can have on project performance.

Speaker Biography

Watts S. Humphrey founded the Software Process Program of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University. He is a Fellow of the Institute and is a research scientist on its staff. From 1959 to 1986 he was associated with IBM Corporation where he was director of programming.

His publications include numerous technical papers and nine books. His three most recent books are TSP: Coaching Development Teams (2006), TSP: Leading a Development Team (2005), and PSP: A Self-Improvement Process for Software Engineers (2005).

Mr. Humphrey holds five U.S. Patents. In 1991 he served on the Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige Board of Examiners National Quality Award. He holds a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Chicago, a master's degree in physics from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago. In 1993, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronauts presented Mr. Humphrey with the Aerospace Software Engineering Award. Mr. Humphrey was awarded an honorary Ph.D. degree in software engineering by Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in 1998. In 2000, the Watts Humphrey Software Quality Institute was named in his honor in Chennai, India, and the Boeing Company presented him with an award for leadership and innovation in software process improvement.

During a formal ceremony at the White House in the spring of 2005, the President of the United States awarded Mr. Humphrey the prestigious 2003 National Medal of Technology for his contributions to the software engineering community. The National Medal of Technology is the highest honor awarded by the United States to America's leading innovators.