Software Engineering Professors You Should Know

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David Garlan - Carnegie Mellon University

David Garlan is the director of professional software engineering programs within the software engineering program at Carnegie Mellon University, where he also serves as a professor of computer science. He assisted with redesigning the core program curriculum, leading to the influential paper “Agents of Change: Educating Software Engineering Leaders.”

Chenglie Hu - Carroll University

Chenglie Hu is the program director for the masters in software engineering at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin. His areas of specialization include software engineering, computer science education, scientific computation, and numerical analysis.

Spiros Mancoridis - Drexel University

As the interim dean and professor within the college of computing and informatics at Drexel University, Spiros Mancoridis teaches software engineering, and focuses on autonomic computing, software design and architecture, software security, and genetic algorithms, among other fields. He has authored or co-authored over 70 refereed technical publications, and in 2008 he was recognized with an Outstanding Researcher Award from the college of engineering. Classes he teaches include Foundations of Software Engineering and Software Verification and Validation.

Cem Kaner - Florida Institute of Technology

Cem Kaner is a professor of computer sciences and cybersecurity at the Florida Institute of Technology, where he currently teaches courses focused on software testing and software metrics and modeling. He joined the Florida Institute of Technology as a professor of software engineering in 2000, where he teaches classes on topics such as Special Topics in Software Engineering: Quantitative Financial Modeling. He also has 17 years of experience working in the software industry in Silicon Valley, and has been honored with the Making a Difference Award through the Association for Computing Machinery.

Samik Basu - Iowa State University

Samik Basu is the director of graduate education within the department of computer science at Iowa State University, where he also serves as a professor. He has taught courses on topics such as Formal Methods in Software Engineering and Software Construction and User Interface, and in spring of 2016 will cover a course on Principles of Programming Languages.

Frank Tsui - Kennesaw State University

Frank Tsui is a professor within the software engineering program at Kennesaw State University. He has over 30 years of experience in software development, project management, and director and vice-president level executive experience with various companies, and he has authored and co-authored three books.

Konstantin Läufer - Loyola University

Konstantin Läufer is the professor and chairperson of computer science at Loyola University, where his current research focuses on pervasive computing in the context of an air and water quality study in the Chicago metropolitan area through the Clean Air, Clean Water (CACW) program and on innovative file systems. As the chairperson, he is responsible for oversight of all undergraduate and graduate programs in the field of software engineering, and has assisted in the development of numerous courses on software engineering and related pursuits. He also co-directs Loyola’s Emerging Technologies laboratory, and is involved in several open-source software and documentation projects.

Paul E. MacNeil - Mercer University

Paul E. Macneil is the graduate chair within the software engineering program at Mercer University, where he also acts as an associate professor. His teaching and research interests include applied computational intelligence and software engineering, and he is a member of a number of reputable institutions, including IEEE and the American Physical Society.

Wade H. Shaw - Mercer University

Wade H. Shaw is the dean of the school of engineering at Mercer University, where he is also the Kaolin Chair of Engineering. He holds and has held many prestigious positions, including fellow of the IEEE currently, board membership with the Macon Economic Development Commission from 2012-2014, president of the IEEE Engineering Management Society from 2000-2001, and editor-in-chief of the Engineering Management Review from 2004-2010.

Dean Knudson - North Dakota State University

Dean Knudson is an associate professor within the department of computer science at North Dakota State University, where he teaches courses on the topic of software engineering. He has held positions with Microsoft, Northrop Grumman, Bell Labs, and other organizations during his 35 years of professional experience.

Valdis A. Berzins - Naval Postgraduate School

Valdis A. Berzins is a professor within the department of computer science at the Naval Postgraduate school, where his research and teaching interests focus on software engineering. He is an associate editor of the International Journal of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering, and is a senior member of IEEE.

Colin J. Neill - Penn State Great Valley

As an associate professor of software engineering and systems engineering at Penn State Great Valley, as well as the director of engineering programs, Colin J. Neill focuses his research on engineering teams, collaborative learning, software and system design and architecture, and other studies. He is the co-director of the Software Engineering Research Group at this institution, and he is a senior member of IEEE.

Joanna DeFranco - Penn State Great Valley

Joanna DeFranco is an assistant professor of software engineering at Penn State Great Valley. Her areas of expertise include collaborative problem solving, e-learning, computer forensics, and project management, and her research focuses on STEM education, concept mapping, and teamwork, among other fields.

Meng Su - Penn State University – Erie

Meng Su is the chair of the department of computer science and software engineering at Penn State University – Erie, where he also acts as an associate professor of computer science and software engineering as well. His research interests include machine learning, nonlinear analysis and numerical analysis, among other areas of study.

Philip Laplante - Penn State University

Philip Laplante is a professor of software and systems engineering at Penn State University. He has published more than 30 books and 250 scholarly papers, and since 2010 he has led the effort to develop a national licensing exam for software engineers.

Frank Coyle - Southern Methodist University

Frank Coyle is the director of the software engineering program at Southern Methodist Univerity, where he also teaches courses on the topic. His research largely focuses on techniques and strategies for distance learning, XML and Java, and wireless communications.

Josh Dehlinger - Towson University

Josh Dehlinger is an associate professor within the department of computer and information sciences at Towson University. His areas of focus include software engineering, software analysis and design, and programming languages.

James Clause - University of Delaware

James Clause is an assistant professor within the department of computer and information sciences at the University of Delaware, where his general research are is focused on software engineering, and more specifically helping developers fix bugs. He has taught courses on Formal Methods in Software Engineering, Software Process Management, Software Testing and Maintenance, and other topics related to software engineering and computer science.

Gary Boetticher - University of Houston – Clear Lake

Gary Boetticher is an associate professor within the department of computer science at software engineering at the University of Houston – Clear Lake, where he teaches courses on software engineering, bioinformatics, and other subjects. In 2010 he received the First Place Instructional Innovation Award, and as of 2014 is teaching a new course titled “Big Data and Hadoop.”

Michael Brown - University of Maryland Global Campus

Michael Brown is the program director of software engineering at the University of Maryland Global Campus, where he is also a collegiate professor. He has 20 years of experience working in the field of information technology, including positions with Sun Microsystems and NASA.

Katerina D. Goseva-Popstojanova - West Virginia University

Katerina D. Goseva-Popstojanova is a professor within the department of computer science and electrical engineering at West Virginia University. Her research interests include software risk assessment and computer security and survivability, among others, and her teaching interests include computer security, software engineering, software reliability and performance, and software verification and validation.

Methodology

There is certainly no shortage of highly talented and experienced individuals working as professors of software engineering and computer science. As such, we selected these educators using a set of specific criteria in order to amass a list of some of the foremost leaders in the field. Indeed, the four criterion we used are listed below:

  • Current employment – all of the professors listed above are currently teaching at their associated institution, some of whom may be leading online classes as well.
  • Association with professional societies  – in addition to acting as professors within the field of software engineering and computer science, these individuals are associated with a number of professional societies, as well.
  • Recipient of awards  – the professors listed above have been the recipients of awards from a number of professional societies related to the field of software engineering and computer science.
  • Position at a four-year university or college – finally, these professors are employed within a four-year university or college. While it is not necessary to obtain a degree from a four-year institution, it may prove beneficial when searching for employment in the future.

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