Software Engineering Standards In The Ecet Curriculum

This paper introduces the need for including software engineering standards in the ECET (Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology) curriculum today, and discusses the desired depth of coverage. ECET comprises a broad array of topics, including both hardware and software design and development. Many current electrical and computer systems contain embedded controls of one sort or another, and in nearly all of them, the control affects the safety of the user and others, or impacts the efficacy of the system in some way. An overview of software standards is followed by a listing of national and international regulatory agencies organizations, including both private industry and public government bodies, who have an interest in software engineering standards. The criticality of software has led to the rapid growth in the use of software engineering standards for designers and developers. After the brief survey, the paper focuses on the comprehensive set of IEEE software engineering standards as an example. And it puts particular emphasis on condensing the full set to a manageable size to be incorporated in an intermediate embedded systems algorithmic processes course.