Curtin University of Technology Division of Science and Engineering Department of Computing GPO Box U1987 Perth, Western Australia 6845

The 19th Australian Software Engineering Conference (ASWEC 2008) was held in Perth from 26-28 March 2008. See the conference web site.

See local IT and Software Engineering career opportunities.

Interested in studying one of the related computing fields, but confused about the difference? See the Wikipedia definitions of Information Systems, Information Technology, Computer Science, and Software Engineering. The article on the history of Software Engineering is also interesting and informative!

See photos and videos from the following events:

See recent Curtin media releases:

Policies and Discussion Papers:

Visit the Department of Computing Software Engineering Research web page.

Until the end of 2007, Brian was the Course Controller for both the four year Bachelor of Engineering (Software Engineering) and the new three year Bachelor of Science (Software Engineering) degree programs. See the BSc(SE) Media Release announcing the new three year course and its accreditation. More information about the BSc(SE) program is also available. The aim of both software engineering degree programs is to produce graduates who are well equipped to work in the software industry. Both courses comprise a solid foundation in computer science and software engineering, engineering design, engineering applications, technical communication skills, professional responsibility, social effects, ethical aspects of engineering practice, interpersonal relationships, team work and time management. The four year BEng(SE) program includes the Bachelor of Engineering Pre-Major, which is a common first year in engineering taken by all engineering students regardless of their intended engineering specialisation. This prepares BEng(Software Engineering) students to work with engineers from other engineering specialisations, or who may wish to take optional engineering subjects outside of the software engineering area. The structures of the three and four year software engineering programs are very similar. The main difference is that the three year BSc(SE) program does not include the Bachelor of Engineering Pre-Major. The BSc(SE) degree is offered in response to industry and market demands for graduates with the software engineering knowledge and skills required by the IT sector, but without the breadth of non-software subjects found in a traditional four-year engineering degree. An additional honours year is available to qualified candidates who wish to pursue a research career path. The Institution of Engineers Australia (IEAust) and the Australian Computer Society (ACS) have awarded the BEng(SE) program full professional accreditation. The three-year BSc(SE) program has full accreditation from the Australian Computer Society (ACS). Brian is the unit controller and lecturer for: Software Engineering 351 Advanced topics in software engineering, including Quality Management Systems (ISO 9001:2000, ISO 9004:2000, CMM, CMMI) and Verification & Validation. Requirements analysis using formal methods and graphical modeling languages is presented in the context of managing project quality and safety. Software Engineering Tools and Metrics 352 Profiling and performance measurement, product and process metrics, implementation of a metrics program and its use in software management and decision making, testing tools, static and dynamic analysis tools. SE Project 451 and SE Project 452 Software engineering projects are selected and undertaken in consultation with a member of the academic staff, usually working in a small group in conjunction with an Industry Partner or Project Client. Projects are related to the design, implementation and testing of computing systems with associated literature reviews. Team-oriented software engineering processes are applied during all phases of the project. Management activities are undertaken and a range of software engineering tools are applied to resolve problems arising during the execution of the software development process. See an article entitled Building Teamwork by Hilburn and Humphrey, discussing the use of the Team Software Process used in SE Project 451 and 452.

What core Body of Knowledge should all Software Engineers possess? How should this be assessed? Should Software Engineers be licensed? See the following web sites for a discussion of these topics:

For a detailed report on the economic impact of faulty software resulting from lack of appropriate testing tools, see:

RTI for Tassey, G. (2002) The Economic Impacts of Inadequate Infrastructure for Software Testing, Planning Report 02-3, The National Institute of Standards and Technology, The U.S. Department of Commerce,
http://spinroot.com/spin/Doc/course/NISTreport02-3.pdf

If you are in need of a chuckle today, see SE Humour. If you are looking for something a bit more serious, see Brian's other Software Engineering and Education Bookmarks.

Listen to Software Engineering Radio. It contains many interesting interviews and presentations on software engineering topics. For example, listen to Episode 47: Interview with Grady Booch.

You've got to find what you love...
Read the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

Follow the course of your heart's desire
Read an article by Gavin Moodie that appeared in the Australian on 6 December 2006 on selecting and succeeding in a university degree program.

If you have a valid Unix account with the Department of Computing, you may access the SE 351, SETM 352, SE Project 451, or SE Project 452 course material.

Check the list of important dates and times in the Academic calendar.

Are you a research or project student looking for information on accessing the library's scholarly database? See the step-by-step guide to using the library databases. You can also access the Catalogue of the Curtin Library. The full text of IEEE articles is available using IEEE Xplore from any on-campus IP address. Articles published by the ACM are available from the ACM Portal. Curtin staff and students working from off campus can access the full text of IEEE and ACM articles using the Gecko Gateway. Citeseer is also a useful tool for literature searches.

Looking for another Curtin staff member? Check the on-line phone directory.

Looking for a Curtin venue on the Bentley campus? Check the on-line campus map.

Those with Department admin duties can access forms for site licensed software and courses management .

Students who are interested in applying for Recognition of Prior Learning can download the application form, and read the associated policy.

The Academic Staff Certified Agreement 2005-2008 is an important document for all Curtin academic staff members.

Brian is the 2007 Division of Science and Engineering representative on the Steering Committee for the Curriculum 2010 project. This project has the goal of ensuring sustainable courses of high quality at Curtin by the year 2010.

Brian is an Academic Member of the Digital Ecosystems and Business Intelligence Institute (DEBII). DEBII investigates Frontier Technologies that intersect between business, human endeavours and advanced information systems, which form the foundations of digital ecosystems.

Brian's current PhD students include David McMeekin and David Cooper. In collaboration with Professor Elizabeth Chang, Brian is an Associate Supervisor of the PhD work of Kum Leng Chin. Chin's thesis title is An Ontology-based Approach to the Organization of IT Pedagogical Knowledge and an Application to IS Curriculum Design.

Brian's outside interests include astronomy.

In S2/2006, Brian taught Programming in Basic 102 as a service unit for first-year forensic science and chemistry students. Through the end of 2002, Brian was the unit controller for Software Technology 152 and 502. Beginning in 2003 until October 2004, the unit controller was Dr. Andrew Turpin. From 1995 through Semester 2, 1999, Brian was the unit controller and lecturer for Foundations of Computer Science 151 and 501. Beginning in S1/2000, FCS 151 and 501 was taught by Dr James Cooper.

PUBLISHED PAPERS AND ABSTRACTS

McMeekin, D.A., von Konsky, B.R., Robey, M. and Cooper, D.J.A. (2009) The significance of participant experience when evaluating software inspection techniques, 20th Australian Software Engineering Conferene, Gold Coast, Australia, 14-17 April, 2000. (in press)

McMeekin, D.A., von Konsky, B.R., Chang, E. and Cooper, D.J.A. (2009) Evaluating software inspection cognition levles using Bloom's Taxonomy, 22nd Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training 2009 ( CSEE&T 2009), Hyderabad, India, 17-19 February 2009. (in press)

McMeekin, D.A., von Konsky, B.R., Chang, E., Cooper, D.J.A, (2008) Measuring Cognition Levels in Collaborative Processes for Software Engineering Code Inspections, ICST I.T. Revolutions, Venice, Italy, 17-19 December, 2008. (in press)

Gregor, S., von Konsky, B.R., Hart, R., and Wilson, D. (2008) The ICT Profession and the ICT body of Knowledge (Vers. 4.0), Australian Computer Society, Sydney, Australia.

von Konsky, B.R. (2008) Defining the ICT Profession: A partnership of stakeholders, Keynote talk, Conference of the National Advisory Committee on Computing Qualifications (NACCQ 2008), Auckland, New Zealand, 4-7 July 2008.

McMeekin, D.A., von Konsky, B.R., Chang, E., Cooper, D.J.A. (2008) Checklist Inspections and Modifications: Applying Bloom's Taxonomy to Categorise Developer Comprehension, 16th International Conference on Program Comprehension (ICPC2008), Amsterdam, 10-13 June.

McMeekin, D.A., von Konsky, B.R., Robey, M.C., Chang, E., and Cooper, D.J. (2008) Checklist Based Reading's (CBR) Influence on a Developer's Understanding, 19th Australian Conference on Software Engineering (ASWEC 20008), Perth, 26-28 March, 2008, pp 489-496.

von Konsky, B.R., Hay, D., and Hart, B. (2008) Skill set visualisation for software engineering job positions at varying levels of autonomy and responsibility, 19th Australian Conference on Software Engineering (ASWEC 20008), Industry Experience Report, Perth, 26-28 March, 2008.

von Konsky, B.R., and Ivins, J. (2008) Assessing the Capability and Maturity of Capstone Software Engineering Projects, 10th Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2008), in conjunction with the Australasian Computer Science Week (ACSW 2008), Wollongong, 22-25 January, 2008, Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology, Vol. 78, Simon and Margaret Hamilton, Eds.

Cooper, D.J.A., von Konsky, B.R., Robey, M.C., McMeekin, D.A. (2007) Obstacles to Comprehension in Usage Based Reading, 18th Australian Conference on Software Engineering (ASWEC 20007), Melbourne, 10-13 April, 2007.

von Konsky, B.R., Ivins, J., and Gribble, S.J. (2007) Engaging Undergraduates in Discussions about Ethics in Computing, 9th Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2007) in conjunction with the Australasian Computer Science Week (ACSW 2007), Ballarat, Victoria, January 2007, Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology, Vol. 66, S. Mann and Simon, Eds., ACS, 147-154.

Ivins, J., von Konsky, B.R., Cooper, D., and Robey, M. (2006) Software engineers and engineering: a survey of undergraduate preconceptions, 36th Annual Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE 2006), Sponsored by ASEE and the IEEE Education Society, San Diego, USA, 28-31 October, 2006.

Robey, M., von Konsky, B.R., Ivins, J., Gribble, S.J., Cooper, D. (2006) Student self-motivation: lessons learned from teaching first year computing, 36th Annual Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE 2006), Sponsored by ASEE and the IEEE Education Society, San Diego, USA, 28-31 October, 2006.

Hope, J., von Konsky, B.R., Murray, L.C., Chew, L.C., Farrugia, B. (2006) A Cisco Education Tool Accessible to the Vision Impaired, The Eighth International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS 06), Portland, USA.

Cooper, D., Chan, M.W., Harding, M., Mehra, G., Woodward, P., von Konsky, B.R., and Robey, M. (2006) Using Dependence Graphs to Assist Manual and Automated Object Oriented Software Inspections, Australian Software Engineering Conference (ASWEC 2006), Sydney, April 18-21, 2006.

von Konsky, B.R., Loh, A., Robey, M., Gribble, S.J., Ivins, J., and Cooper, D. (2006) The Benefit of Information Technology in Managing Outcomes Focused Curriculum Development Across Related Degree Programs, 8th Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2006), Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology, Vol. 52, D. Tolhurst and S. Mann, Eds., pp. 235-242.

Mason, A., Courser, P., Mason, G., Smith, C.R., and von Konsky, B.R. (2005) Optimisation of Vessel Resistance using Genetic Algorithms and Artificial Neural Networks, 4th International Conference on Computer Applications and Information Technology in the Maritime Industries (COMPIT 2005), Haus Rissen, Hamburg, Germany, 8-11 May 2005, ISBN 3-00-014981-3, pp 440-454.

von Konsky, B.R. and Robey, M. (2005) Case Study: GQM and TSP in a software engineering capstone project, 18th Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training (CSEE&T 2005), Assessment of Software Engineering Education: Are We Making the Grade?, April 18-20, 2005, Ottawa, Canada, ISBN 0-7695-2324-2.

von Konsky, B.R., Ivins, J., and Robey, M. (2005) Using PSP to evaluate student effort in achieving learning outcomes, 7th Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2005), Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology, Vol. 42, A. Young and D. Tolhurst, Eds., ISBN 1-920682-24-4.

Couser, P., Mason, A., Mason, G., Smith, C.R., von Konsky, B.R. (2004) Artificial Neural Networks for Hull Resistance Prediction, 3rd International Conference on Computer Applications and Information Technology in the Maritime Industries (COMPIT 2004), Parador Siguënza, Siguënza, Spain, 9-12 May 2004.

von Konsky, B., Robey, M., and Nair, S. (2004) Integrating Design Formalisms in Software Engineering Education, 17th Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training, (CSEE&T 2004), Educating Software Engineers to Face the Future's Challenges, 1-3 March, 2004, Norfolk, USA, pp. 78-83.

Cooper, D. Khoo, B., von Konsky, B.R., and Robey, M. (2004) Java Implementation Verification using Reverse Engineering, Proceedings of the 27th Australasian Computer Science Conference, The University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology, Vol. 26, V. Estivill-Castro, Ed., ISBN 1-920682-05-8, pp. 203-211.

Blackwell, L, von Konsky, B, and Robey, M (2001) Petri Net Script: A Visual Language for Describing Action, Behaviour and Plot, Twenty-Fourth Annual Australasian Computer Science Conference, Australasian Computer Science Week.

Hunt, M, von Konsky, B., Venkatesh, S., and Petros, P. (2000) Bayesian Networks and Decision Trees in the Diagnosis of Female Urinary Incontinence, Proceedings of the World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, in conjunction with the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, Chicago, USA, July 23-28, 2000.

Papa Petros, P., and von Konsky, B.R. (1999) Anchoring the Midurethra Restores Bladder-Neck Anatomy and Continence, The Lancet, Volume 354, Number 9183, 18 September, 1999, pp 997-998.

Taylor, C., von Konsky, B.R., Kirtley, C. (1998) Polynomial Approximations of Gait for Human Motion Analysis and Visualization, Proceeding of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society 20th Annual International Conference, Hong Kong, SAR, Peoples Republic of China.

Chin, K.W., von Konsky, B.R., Marriott, A. (1997) Closed-Form and Generalized Inverse Kinematics Solutions for the Analysis of Human Motion, Proceeding of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society 19th Annual International Conference, 30 October - 2 November, 1997, Chicago, U.S.A.

Marriott, A., von Konsky, B.R., Ng, J. (1997), Education On the Line, Third Hong Kong Web Symposium, 7-10 May, 1997, Hong Kong.

von Konsky, B.R. and Zomlefer, M.R. (1996) The Sensitivity of Upper Limb Muscle Moments to Variation in Physiological Cross-Sectional Area, Proceeding of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society 18th Annual International Conference, 31 October - 3 November, 1996, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

von Konsky, B.R. and Zomlefer, M.R. (1996) Using Image Databases to Relate Internal Anatomy to Surface Features in Human Motion and Analysis, Proceeding of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society 18th Annual International Conference, 31 October - 3 November, 1996, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

von Konsky, B.R. (1996) Using the World Wide Web as a Delivery Mechanism for Distributed Educational Multimedia, Proceedings of the 3rd International Interactive Multimedia Symposium, Perth, Western Australia, January 21-25, 1996, pp. 203-212.

von Konsky, B.R. and Zomlefer, M.R. (1995) Energy Profile Analysis in Evaluating Synergistic Muscle Relationships Using a Dynamic Model, Proceedings of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society 17th Annual International Conference, September 20-23, 1995, Montreal, Canada, pp 1249-1250.

von Konsky, B.R. and Zomlefer, M.R. (1995) Estimating Upper Extremity Tendon Slack Lengths, Proceedings of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society 17th Annual International Conference, September 20-23, 1995, Montreal, Canada, pp. 1287-1288.

von Konsky, B.R., and Zomlefer, M.R. (1994) Interactive Visualization of Human Arm Structure and Function, Proceedings of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society 16th Annual International Conference, Engineering Advances: New Opportunities for Biomedical Engineers, November 3-6, 1994, Baltimore, Maryland, pp. 686-687.

von Konsky, B.R. (1994) Interactive Visualization of Human Anatomic Structure and Function Using a Dynamic Muscle Model, Doctoral Thesis, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia.

von Konsky, B.R., Docherty, T., Edgar, T.H., Zomlefer, M.R. (1993) Replicated Interactive Learning Aids in the Interactive Classroom of the Future and other Collaborative Environments, Multimedia and Computer Tools: The Future for Engineering, Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Conference of the European Association for Education in Electrical and Information Engineering, EAEEIE '93, Prague, Czech Republic, September, 1993, pp. 172-179.

von Konsky, B.R., Zomlefer, M.R., Hight, T.K., and Myers, D.G. (1993) Animating 3D Medical Images, ACADS '93, Proceedings of the Australian Computer Aided Design Society, Perth, Western Australia, March 17-19, 1993.

von Konsky, B.R. (1992) The Management of Scalar Volumes in Distributed Inter-Disciplinary Collaborative Environments, Australian Pattern Recognition Society Workshop On Two and Three Dimensional Spatial Data: Representation and Standards, Kingwsood College, The University of Western Australia, December 7-8 1992.

Hight, T.K., von Konsky, B.R., Zomlefer, M.R., and Hight, A.B. (1992) Estimating Joint Torques from a Solid Model of the Human Shoulder, American Society of Mechanical Engineers Advances in Bioengineering, BED-22:147-150.

von Konsky, B.R. (1991) A Computer Model to Demonstrate the Effectiveness of Safe Sex, The Proceedings of the VII International Conference on AIDS, Florence, Italy, June 1991, 2:419.