They call themselves ASERC — the Alberta Software Engineering Research Consortium.
In reality, they’re go-getters for the 21st century; academics prepared to market themselves in the working world.
Last week, politicians, industry leaders and researchers at the University of Calgary and University of Alberta unveiled their plan to make Alberta a leading software research centre in North America.
Jump-started by $1.8 million in provincial funding over three years, the consortium says it will offer its expertise to help industry solve its software problems, enhance their products and move them to market at a speed compatible with the demands of the new economy.
“If you want to do industrial research, you can’t sit in your ivory tower,” said Dr. Frank Maurer at the consortium’s official launch, held at both universities.
“Good software engineering research is coming from collaboration with industry. As an academic, you can think in very nice terms, but to do the real thing, to help industry, you have to work with them.”
The U of C’s Maurer, a co-founder of the project along with Dr. Paul Sorenson of the U of A, said the project has lofty ambitions and plans to be fully funded by industry within three years. He noted this year’s provincial contribution, handed out earlier this spring, has been matched by industry and next year’s industry funding is nearly secured.
In addition to helping businesses, Maurer said the consortium will attract top international researchers and the best and brightest students who will benefit from industry sponsorships.
The consortium consists of faculty and graduate students from the two universities who will be engaged in applied software engineering research.
Separated into four areas, teams will focus on e-collaboration and e-commerce, process and quality, software reuse, and engineering and embedded systems.
“The big challenge (anywhere) is there’s not enough local talent,” said Maurer, who arrived at the U of C three years ago from Germany. “I thought I’d be going back, but this is such a great place to be, now I’ll be staying.”
Greg McAvoy, senior manager of the wireless development centre at Nortel Networks, said the consortium helps fill some major gaps.
“Long ago we recognized software has to be developed faster, but not at the expense of quality or reliability,” said McAvoy.
Organizations such as the consortium can do much to advance the state of the art for software development, he said.
“This network will provide a focal point for research as well as a collaborative centre for university and industry liaison.”
Maurer added: “Industry is sponsoring students, a big issue. To get the best talent from around the world, you have to pay accordingly.”
Businesses are providing places for students to work full-time and do research under a credit program where they are supervised by the companies and university researchers.
McAvoy, whose company is a supporter of the project, added: “Remember, the problems being addressed are the real-world problems that industry has. These are not academic exercises, these are the problems we in industry are living and breathing every day.
“These are a new breed of researchers, they are out there soliciting input from industry. Their research is dependent on having those industry problems.”
Web Watch:
www.aserc.ab.ca
