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Software Engineering, Minor

Michael Hilton, Director
mhilton@andrew.cmu.edu

s3d.cmu.edu/education/undergrad

Software Engineering Minor

available to non-SCS undergraduate students in any major at Carnegie Mellon University

Effectively building modern software systems at scale requires not just programming skills, but also engineering skills. These skills include the ability to interact effectively with customers to gather the requirements for a system in a precise way; to develop a design that resolves competing quality attributes; to make tradeoffs among schedule, cost, features, and quality to maximize value to stakeholders; to work effectively with other engineers; and to assure the quality of the delivered software system. We hear regularly from industry that these skills are crucial to them, and that they are interested in students with a strong software engineering background.

The software engineering minor is designed to teach the fundamental tools, techniques, and processes of software engineering. Through internships and a mentored project experience, students gain an understanding of the issues of scale and complexity that motivate software engineering tools and techniques. The core curriculum includes material both on engineering the software product and on the process, teamwork, and management skills that are essential to successful engineering. Graduates of the program should have the technical, process, and teamwork skills to be immediately productive in a mature engineering organization.

Admission

The Software Engineering Minor is open to non-SCS undergraduate students in any major in the university. We encourage students to submit applications no later than 3 days before the beginning of Spring and Fall course registration, so that subsequent decisions can help students plan their subsequent course schedule effectively.  However, students may petition the Director for admission outside this general schedule.

To apply, send the director an email.  Include in your email:

  • Full name
  • Andrew ID
  • Preferred email address (if different)
  • Semester you intend to graduate
  • QPA
  • All (currently) declared majors and minors, or home college if no major declared
  • Statement of purpose (maximum 1 page) - Describes why you want to take this minor and how it fits into your career goals
  • Proposed schedule of required courses and internship (this is your plan, NOT a commitment)

Curriculum

Prerequisite

Units
17-214Principles of Software Construction: Objects, Design, and Concurrency12

Core Course Requirements

Complete both of the following courses. Units
17-313Foundations of Software Engineering12
17-413Software Engineering Practicum12
or 15-413 Advanced Foundations of Programming Languages

Electives

The minor requires three elective courses, one selected from each of the following categories:

1. One domain-independent course focused on technical software engineering material (min. 9 units): 
Must complete at least 9 units, may comprise one 9-12 unit course or multiple minis
15-414Bug Catching: Automated Program Verification9
17-355Program Analysis12
17-356Software Engineering for Startups12
17-480API Design and Implementation12
17-653Managing Software Development (Prerequisite 17-413 or internship)6
17-614Formal Methods ** Mini pair with 17-6246
17-612Business and Marketing Strategy
**Mini: pair with either 17-626 or 17-627		6
17-622Agile Methods ** Mini pair with another min-course of your choice from this list6
17-623Quality Assurance ** Mini pair with 17-443/17-643 6
17-731Foundations of Privacy12
17-423Software System Design12
Crosslisted courses allowed. 

Other courses may be allowed, with prior approval from the Director of the Software Engineering Program.

2. One engineering-focused course with a significant software component (min. 9 units):
At least 9 units of the following:
15-410Operating System Design and Implementation15
15-412Operating System Practicum9
17-437Web Application Development12
15-440Distributed Systems12
17-422Human-AI Interaction using Sensing Systems12
15-441Networking and the Internet12
15-445Database Systems12
18-749Building Reliable Distributed Systems12
67-443Mobile Application Design and Development12
Crosslisted courses allowed 

Other courses may be allowed, with prior approval from the Director of the Software Engineering Program.

3. One course that explores computer science problems in society and industry, related to existing and emerging technologies and their associated social, political, legal, business, and organizational contexts (min. 9 units):
At least 9 units of the following: Units
15-390Entrepreneurship for Computer Science12
17-200Ethics and Policy Issues in Computing9
70-311Organizational Behavior9
17-331Information Security, Privacy and Policy in the Age of AI12
17-733Privacy Policy, Law, and Technology12
17-334Usable Privacy and Security9
19-403Policies of Wireless Systems12
70-471Supply Chain Management9
17-562Computer and AI Law9
17-781Mobile and IoT Computing Services12
17-801AI Enabled Network Science12
17-821Computer Simulation of Complex Socio-Technical Systems12
88-341Team Dynamics and Leadership9
Crosslisted courses allowed. 
Required Internship and Reflection Course

A software engineering internship of a minimum of 8 full-time weeks in an industrial setting is required. The student must be integrated into a team and exposed to industry pressures. The intern may work in development, management, quality assurance, or other relevant positions. The director of the SE minor program has sole discretion in approving an internship experience based on these criteria. Students should confirm that an internship position is appropriate before accepting it, but internships that fulfill the criteria will also be accepted after the fact.

  • 17-415 Software Engineering Reflection (required 6 unit course, number to be determined, to be offered Fall semester):  Each student will conduct an analysis of some personal software engineering experience, typically (but not always) based on the engineering internship above. The student will then write and edit a short paper presenting this analysis. Initial course meetings will cover the reflective, writing, and speaking process. In later meetings, each student will present his or her experience through a 30-45 minute talk, which will be evaluated for communication skills and critical reflective content. This course is limited to enrollment of 16, and students who are admitted to the minor program are given first priority.

Double Counting

At most 2 of the courses used to fulfill the minor requirements may be counted towards any other major or minor program. This rule does not apply to 17-214 (a prerequisite for the minor) or courses counted for general education requirements, nor does it apply to double-counting with the SCS General Education requirements.

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