A Technical History of the SEI

CMU Master of Software Engineering Program
The Challenge: The Need for a Strong Academic Software Engineering
Program
As interest in developing new educational programs for software engineering grew in the 1980s,
one problem was the absence of software engineering programs at major universities. Even with
the SEI-led design of a recommended curriculum, some schools were reluctant to establish a new
graduate degree until they had seen leadership from the top programs in computer science.
A Solution: Creation of the CMU Master of Software Engineering Program
In 1988, the dean of the CMU School of Computer Science (SCS) asked a group of faculty from
the SCS and senior staff from the SEI to create a graduate program in software engineering. The
SEI had just published a recommended curriculum for master’s degrees in software engineering
[Ardis 1988]. Carnegie Mellon would implement a version of that program, but with a unique
component: a design studio modeled after those used in
schools of architecture and design [Tomayko 1991]. The
dean liked the way students worked informally with
their peers and faculty advisors in the CMU School of
Architecture; the master-apprentice model seemed as
appropriate for learning software design as it did for
other types of design.
The CMU Master of Software Engineering degree was a
16-month full-time program consisting of six required
core courses, seven electives, and a four-term design
studio [Gibbs 1990]. The program also included a twosemester
weekly seminar that enabled students to improve
their writing and presentation skills. Students
from local industry could also attend part time, and all
students were expected to have software development
experience before entering the program. Many of the
early students worked at the SEI or in local industry.
Initially almost all the core courses were taught by SEI
staff in the video studio classroom at the SEI. This allowed
the SEI to distribute videotaped lectures to educational
partners interested in adopting those courses at
their campuses. 14 The idea was to reduce the high
startup cost of teaching new courses, but with the goal
of training the faculty to eventually teach those courses
on their own.
The View from Others
My career now has a potential that
I never before dreamed of. When I
speak in meetings or conferences
about software, people listen.
– Anthony J. Lattanze, USAF.
Andrews AFB, CA, MSE
1996 [CMU 1996a]
The MSE was a great experience!
The top of the line courses and the
access to the SEI resources and
documentation, combined with the
real-world hands-on experience of
the studio was the perfect preparation
for my current job.
– Alejandro Danylyzyn,
Senior Consultant,
Management Consulting/IT
Practice, Deloitte & Touche
Consulting Group, MSE
1996 [CMU 1996b]
14 Yodannis, J.; Hallman, H.; & Ardis, M. An Assessment of the Pilot-Course Offering for the Video
Dissemination Project (CMU-SEI-88-MR-8). Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University,
1988.
CMU/SEI-2016-SR-027 | SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INSTITUTE | CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY 83
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