Software Engineering
Accredited Software Engineering Program
The Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) has accredited our Software Engineering program (B.S.E.). This accreditation applies to all future graduates of the program as well as any student who has already graduated, provided their convocation was after January 1, 2007. Graduates of the program will now be able to apply to become registered as Professional Engineers, either in Quebec at the "Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec" OIQ or in whichever Canadian province they are working.
All our programs provide students with a strong background in mathematics, basic sciences, engineering science, engineering design and complementary studies, in conformity with the requirements of the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB).
Graduates of a Software Engineering program will receive a degree of "Bachelor of Software Engineering (B.S.E.). This new program offers students the opportunity to focus their studies on the skills needed to design and develop complex software systems. This emerging field of engineering is a major component of the growing Information Technology (IT) sector of the economy, in which the demand for qualified personnel continues to outstrip supply. Graduates of this program will have a solid foundation for careers in the software industry. For detailed information, please see the program description in the Undergraduate Calendar.
B.S.E. or B.Sc.?
In addition to the B.S.E. offered by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, a B.Sc. program in Software Engineering is offered by the School of Computer Science. Details of the program can be found at the following website. Choosing the right program is important since the programs are offered in two different Faculties and it is much trickier to switch between Faculties than to switch between programs within one Faculty.
Both programs share a common core of software engineering courses. Outside of this core, the requirements of the two programs are different.
The B.S.E degree requires several courses that are common to all Engineering degrees, and some courses related to hardware (e.g. Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering). Students graduating from this program are eligible for registration as professional engineers, since the program has been accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board.
The B.Sc. degree does not require the general engineering courses or the hardware courses, but rather provides a broader scope in software and general computer science. The B.Sc. degree also includes more elective courses, which allows students to pursue other interests or to include, within their degree requirements, a minor program from a different field such as management, arts or other sciences.
Students in both software engineering programs are well prepared for a wide variety of jobs and may participate in the Internship Year in Engineering and Science.
Students who wish to take the B.S.E. degree should indicate “Faculty of Engineering” on their application form, whereas students who wish to take the B.Sc. degree should indicate the "Faculty of Science" on their application form.
For further information on this program, please refer to the Faculty of Engineering section of the McGill Undergraduate Program Calendar.