National Committee on Software Engineering (NCSWE)
1. Public role and professional standing
- The highlight of the year for NCSWE was the annual Australian Software Engineering Conference (ASWEC), held on the Gold Coast in Apr 2009, with the theme ‘Agile, the New Mainstream’. ASWEC is a joint conference of Engineers Australia and the Australian Computer Society, and attracts software engineering researchers, practitioners and educators from across Australia, from our region, and internationally.
2. An inclusive professional team
- Committee members are active in their Divisions. Committee member Jocelyn Armarego was on the ASWEC 2009 steering committee and led a Risk Management Workshop in Perth. Jennifer Murray is an active member in Canberra Division, and chaired the Division’s Engineering Week activities. Unfortunately, two committee members have resigned due to work commitments - Sanjay Mazumdar and Christopher Skinner. Their contributions and enthusiasm in raising the software engineering profile will be sorely missed.
3. Youth appeal
- ITEE College and NCSWE sponsored a ‘Smart Minds’ program within ASWEC 2009. This provided an opportunity for over 50 students to attend a ‘conference afternoon’, networking with conference delegates, a technical session, and career discussions. The benefits of EA student membership was championed by committee members and demonstrated to the students via the ‘Online Library Services’.
4. Chartered Status
5. Continuing professional development
- ASWEC 2009 was the highlight of the CPD program.
- Individual divisions included software engineering topics in their CPD programs, often within the ITEE College program. Canberra Division featured a public forum on ‘The Social Impact of the National Broadband Network’ as part of its Engineering Week activities.
6. International reach and influence
- ASWEC 2009 will be held in Auckland New Zealand.
7. Internal (member) communications
- ASWEC 2009’s success with ‘Smart Minds’ was featured in Monitor. In addition, an article on the conference by Organising Committee Chair Paul Strooper was featured in the Journal of Engineers Australia.
8. A capable organisation
- NCSWE is seeking new members to fill its vacant positions. The NCSWE Chair is now a member of the ITEE College Board committee and participated in two of its face-to-face meetings. It was most valuable and beneficial.
