Introduction
Software-based systems have established themselves as essential
parts of business and everyday living in the emerging global economy.
As software becomes ubiquitous, the relation between end users and
software development undergoes fundamental changes. No longer
is software produced from scratch by a team of experts and delivered
to clients. Increasingly,
- The software is developed by adapting existing components and
services;
- The delivered systems are highly distributed and software-intensive
but not purely software;
- The systems must be designed and fielded under economic and legal
constraints;
- Clients are intimately involved in the development and configuration
of the system; and
- The requirements for the systems emerge as the clients understand
better both the technology and the opportunities in their own settings.
Carnegie Mellon has established the Institute for Software Research
(ISR) in the School of Computer Science (SCS) as a
center of excellence for long-term interdisciplinary fundamental
research,
apprenticeship-based
education
and training,
and international collaborations to address the challenge of designing,
developing, integrating, validating, and maintaining practical, large-scale,
high-quality software-intensive systems. The creation of the ISR
is a natural extension of Carnegie Mellon's long-standing commitment
to research in software systems.
ISR research activities include experimental prototyping, empirical
modeling, codification of experience, formal analysis, creating design/development
strategies for modern software, and developing public policy positions. The
educational activities are tightly integrated with the research and
demonstration projects.
ISR's Software Engineering PhD program infuses the research agenda
with deep appreciation of the practical issues of developing product-quality
software-intensive
systems.
|
