Carnegie Mellon West
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Carnegie Mellon West is a branch campus of Carnegie Mellon University located in the heart of Silicon Valley in Mountain View, CA. It was established in 2002 at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field.[1] CMU West, as it commonly referred to, offers both part-time as well as full-time professional Masters programs in Software Engineering and Software Management[2]. One key differentiator between programs in the traditional Pittsburgh campus and the new West Coast campus is a new focus on project-centered learning by doing approach to education.
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[edit] History
After years of planning from the Pittsburgh campus, CMU West opened in September 2002 to an original class of 56 students. Jim Morris, the Dean of the School of Computer Science at the Pittsburgh campus, was instrumental in establishing the West Coast initiative and served as the new campus' first Dean.
[edit] Location
CMU West is located on NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field. The campus (or in particular Moffett Field), is surrounded by high-tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, HP, and Lockheed Martin. CMU West currently occupies only building 23, though future plans are calling for an expansion of the campus to other buildings[citation needed].
[edit] Programs
While CMU West has already phased out the long-distance capability to Pittsburgh's Tepper School of Business and has recently started offering a full-time program, the west campus is now mostly known for its part-time, two-year Masters programs in Software Engineering and Software Management [3]. The Software Engineering Masters is divided into a Technical Track, aimed at advancing software developers to senior positions and architect roles, and the Development Management Track, aimed at providing software developers with technical project management and development management skills. The Software Management Masters program, on the other hand, targets senior software developers and managers that wish to pursue senior management and executive careers.
The programs differ from traditional software programs through their project and simulation-based curriculum. Instead of attending classes and taking exams, students are expected to work in close teams along with team advisors and faculty in an environment that closely resembles the industry. [4] For instance, professors often act as the VP of Engineering/Marketing of a fictitious company, while students gather and negotiate requirements, plan software development cycles and deliver products throughout the course.
At the end of the two year (six semesters) program, students are then expected to apply their skills and knowledge to a practicum that involves a real project negotiated with high-tech companies in Silicon Valley, though this practicum is now an elective.
[edit] Student population
Approximately 300 students are enrolled in CMU West's part-time program. With its strong technical support for long-distance learning, a significant portion of the student population reside outside of the Bay Area. However, with its unique location in Silicon Valley, many local students stem from prominent companies such as Yahoo, Google, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Oracle, Boeing and Microsoft, providing a vibrant environment with many diverse corporate experiences.
[edit] Silicon Valley Events
Besides the educational programs, CMU West regularly also organizes software-related events in Silicon Valley, such as CMU's Tour de Silicon Valley, where selected CMU students from the Pittsburgh campus are flown to Silicon Valley for a week of networking at various software companies.
The school is also organizing in association with the UC Berkeley, regular software conferences in the outlook of the software industry. Its first incarnation took place on April 30, 2007 at the Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus and focused on the The New Software Industry - Forces at Play, Business in Motion, while the second conference will take place on April 22, 2008 at Santa Clara Convention Center and focus on The Mobile Future - Technology Revolutionizing our Lives.[5]
[edit] External links
- Official Site
- Article on CMU West
- The New Software Industry
- The Mobile Future - Technology Revolutionizing our Lives
- West Coast Grads - Program Celebrates 5th Year
[edit] See also
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