What is Software Systems Engineering?

Software Systems Engineers apply computing knowledge to solve real-life problems. They become engineering professionals and leaders in a broad scope of projects. Software Systems Engineers work as software architects, analysts, designers, consultants, and project managers.

Our Program

The Software Systems Engineering (SSE) program is designed to give students the knowledge to analyze, design, and develop software operating on many types of computers and microprocessors.

Students graduate with a Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.) in Software Systems Engineering
Students in Co-operative Education graduate with a B.A.Sc. (Co-op) in Software Systems Engineering
Students in the Internship Program graduate with a B.A.Sc. (Internship) in Software Systems Engineering

The SSE program is fully-accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board. An accredited program is one that is evaluated and monitored through the CEAB by Engineers Canada, the national organization for the provincial and territorial associations that govern and license professional engineers. An accredited program ensures that graduates will be eligible to be licensed as professional engineers in Canada. For further information visit www.engineerscanada.ca/e/index.cfm.

How do I apply to the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science?

See under Future Students for how to apply.

What do our students do?

All engineering students take a common initial core program consisting of the basic maths and sciences needed by all engineers, plus introductory design courses.

Our SSE students apply computational theories to real-life programming techniques; analyze software requirements; design, implement, and test software systems; plan and manage software projects; solve technical problems; and practice co-design and embedded systems construction.

Undergraduate Labs

Our Software Engineering Laboratory features up-to-date Intel PCs and a wide range of software, ideal for undergraduate study and project work. The Technology Transfer Laboratory supports multimedia and software design and development for students, plus an experimental and test facility for industry partners. Available technology includes Sun servers and workstations, Intel and AMD microcomputers, Performance Design Desktops, Atmel microcontroller development boards, plus and up-to-date array of programming, development and graphics software.

What is Co-operative Education?

What sort of career could I have?

Software Systems Engineers typically work in the following areas or hold the following job titles:

Design Engineer
Embedded Systems Engineer
Integration Engineer
Multimedia Engineer
Software Developer
Software Process Engineer
Software Project Manager
Software Quality Engineer
Software Systems Engineer

Are there any special groups and activities for SSE students?

See our list of student groups under Student Activities and Events.

SSE Graduate Program

We offer the following graduate degrees in SSE:

Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) – project focus or co-op
Master of Applied Science (M.A.Sc.) – thesis-based
Doctoral (Ph.D.) program

Research Areas and Faculty Expertise

Precision navigation systems, protein structure analysis, mobile computing agents, image processing in bio-medical applications, urban infra-structure analysis, petroleum telemetry, energy utility design, telecommunication, ionizing radiation monitoring.

Major Research Programs and Institutes

WestGrid: A $50 million grid computing project for the operation of high performance computing (HPC), collaboration, and visualization infrastructure across western Canada.

TRLabs: “Canada’s largest information and communications technology (ICT) R&D consortium.”

Laboratory and Research Facilities

Our graduate-level laboratories offer ample research space and access to a variety of industry-current computing systems and software. We also have full-time professional laboratory management and instruction. Several research centres offer a range of laboratories for graduate studies.

In addition, the Engineering Workshop is available to assist with design and production of specialized laboratory equipment and set-ups.

Software Systems Engineering