Application for 2024 intake

The application period for the 2024 intake will start in March. The application deadline is 1 May 2024. The link to the application system will bei published on our Application page.

Informationsveranstaltungen 2024

Der Elitestudiengang Software Engineering bietet im Januar und Februar Informationsveranstaltungen an den beteiligten Universitäten an:

  • Universität Augsburg: 23.01.2024 ab 17:15 Uhr (Raum 3017N)
  • Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München: 5.2.2024 ab 17:00 Uhr
  • Technische Universität München: 8.2.2024 ab 17:20 Uhr

Hierbei werden wir die Details des Studiengangs und des Bewerbungsverfahrens vorstellen und die Vorteile und Besonderheiten des Studiengangs darstellen.

Der Masterstudiengang Software Engineering bietet ein deutschlandweit einmaliges Ausbildungsprogramm und qualifiziert bestens für herausfordernde Tätigkeiten in Praxis und Wissenschaft.

Guest lecture by Annika Madejska and Karola Klarl from Nitor (25.1.2024)

Annika Madejska and Karola Klarl from Nitor will give a talk in the elite program’s special lecture series. The title of the talk is “Just because we can – it doesn’t mean we should” and it will take place as an online meeting at 4PM on 25 January 2024.

Abstract

Why we need to care about ethics in tech and how we can bring ethical thinking into the development process

With the recent big leaps in AI capabilities, it is becoming evident that a future that many thought were at least 20 years away – in fact is here.

This has raised voices of concern, and regulators are suddenly troubled about the safety of emerging technologies and their use.

But ethicists and ethical practitioners in the field of technology have been troubled about the intrusion of privacy, violations of copyright and manipulative applications for years.

This talk will open up this ethical can of worms that currently exists within tech, why we as employees or researchers in the field of computer science need to care about it – and what we can do to build a better foundation for future technology.

Biography

Annika Madejska is a Senior UX-designer at Nitor. She holds a Master of Science in Informatics with a specialization in Digital Design. She has also studied Behavioral Sciences and the Ethics of AI, and before she started working in the tech business she had a 16 year long career as a Visual Journalist at newspapers in Sweden and Finland. She has worked as a designer for companies within e-commerce, postal services and health tech. Her latest assignment was for a software company that provides deep-learning based image analysis AI models for microscopy images.

Karola Klarl is an Enterprise Coach / Agile Coach at Nitor. She studied in the Elite Program Software Engineering from 2014-2016 before working at Allianz and BMW in different agile roles. In 2023 she moved to Stockholm, Sweden and started working as Enterprise Coach / Agile Coach at Nitor.

Guest lecture by Dr. Lucas Braun from Oracle Labs (13.12.2023)

Dr. Lucas Braun from Oracle Labs will give a talk in the elite program’s special lecture series. The title of the talk is “JavaScript and Databases: a Perfect Match” and it will take place as an online meeting at 3PM on 13 December 2023.

Abstract

Oracle 23c just released with in-database JavaScript application programming, powered by GraalVM. JavaScript boosts developer productivity because of its popularity and availability of open-source code.

But what does it take to make a JavaScript runtime (GraalVM) work (efficiently!) in a complex system like a database (Oracle) and scale to thousands of users?

This talk will not only answer this question, but also show JavaScript application development live in the database.

Join us in this talk, given by Dr. Lucas Braun who is working with the Oracle Labs team in Zurich, Switzerland. Oracle Zurich is where the major bits of Oracle Database Multilingual Engine (for JavaScript) and Property Graphs, MySQL Heatwave, Oracle Graph Studio, Oracle Cloud Autonomous Dependency Management and generative AI components, as well as many other flagship Oracle products are being developed. Besides the main part of the talk, you will also get a short glimpse into all of these topics as well as learn about Oracle Labs’ internship program.

Guest lecture by Dr. Cornel Klein from Siemens (16.11.2023)

Dr. Cornel Klein from Siemens will give a talk in the elite program’s special lecture series. The title of the talk is “safe.trAIn – Engineering and Assurance of a Driverless Regional Train” and it will take place in room 1055N at 4PM on 16 November 2023.

Abstract

With the introduction of highly automated train operation (Grade of Automation (GoA) 4 operation) a significant performance increase of railway systems can be achieved. This includes the enhancement of the transport capacity in existing tracks, energy savings by means of an optimized driving strategy, reduced mechanical wear and tear as well as increased passenger comfort by means of homogeneous driving, and increased flexibility for demand-oriented train services. Traditional automation technologies alone are not sufficient to enable the fully automated operation of trains. However, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) offers great potential to realize the mandatory novel functions to replace the tasks of a human train driver, such as obstacle detection on the tracks. The problem, which still remains unresolved, is to find a practical way to link AI/ML methodologies with the requirements and approval processes that are applied in the railway domain. The safe.trAIn project (2022 – 2024) aims to lay the foundation for safe use of AI/ML for the driverless operation of rail vehicles and to thus addresses this key technological challenge hindering the adoption of unmanned rail transport. Within the project, which is funded by the German government, there is a budget of €23 million available for this task.

The project goals are to perform integrated development of guidelines and methods for the safety assurance of artificial intelligent in highly automated train operation. Based on the requirements for the certification process in the railway domain, safe.trAIn creates a safety argumentation for an AI-based obstacle detection function of a driverless regional train. Therefore, the project investigates methods to prove trustworthiness of AI-based functions taking robustness, performance, uncertainty, transparency, and out-of-distribution aspects of the AI/ML model into account. These methods are integrated into a comprehensive and continuous testing and verification process for trains. Moreover, a GoA 4 train architecture incorporating safe, AI-based functions for automated train operation is defined and assessed in terms of safety. The feasibility of the guidelines and methods developed in safe.trAIn is evaluated with a real case study in which an exemplary safety case for a driverless regional train is created and assessed by auditors. Safe.trAIn builds on the results from the latest research and development activities (e.g., Shift2Rail, BerDiBa, ATO-Sense and ATO-Risk, and KI-Absicherung (“AI safeguarding”) and will continue the development of those activities in line with the new requirements.

The participating project partners are from the railway domain, academia, standardization bodies, and safety assessment bodies. The industrial partners will use the project’s outcomes to launch automation solutions in the market that enable highly automated and driverless operation of rail vehicles. In addition, relevant results from the safe.trAIn project will be integrated into standardization activities in the areas of safe and trustworthy AI and rail transportation.

Guest lecture by Jonathan Streit from itestra (18.1.2024)

Jonathan Streit from itestra will give a talk in the elite program’s special lecture series. The title of the talk is “Agile Entwicklung – Herausforderungen und Irrwege” and it will take place in room 1055N at 4PM on 18 January 2024.

Abstract

Agile Methoden wie SCRUM sind inzwischen Standard in der Softwareentwicklung bei vielen Unternehmen. Mit der breiten Anwendung kommt es allerdings auch zu Missinterpretationen: Anstelle der ursprünglichen Fokussierung auf die Produktion nutzbringender lauffähiger Software durch flexible Teams dominieren dann starre Prozesse, Overhead durch kleinteilige Sprintplanung und Ziellosigkeit. Jonathan Streit, seit 17 Jahren Entwickler, Projektleiter und Berater bei der itestra GmbH, zeigt in seinem Vortrag mit Praxisbeispielen aus verschiedenen Unternehmen welche agilen Elemente wann Sinn machen, welche Alternativen es gibt und worauf man achten sollte.

Guest lecture by Arjen Spaans and Klaas Birkenfeld from Capgemini (30.11.2023)

Arjen Spaans and Klaas Birkenfeld from Capgemini will give a talk in the elite program’s special lecture series. The title of the talk is “Beyond Software Engineering with Systems Engineering” and it will take place in room 1055N at 4PM on 30 November 2023.

Abstract

The world does not consist of software alone, but it seems she is controlled and driven by it. The ever-growing connectivity, support, and abilities that software provides, can easily be considered the eighth wonder of the modern world. However, the complexity that inherently comes along with this software driven world is more that we as humans and organizations can handle.

Regardless of we want to put people on Mars or create the next carriable device that improves our lives or create an app that revolutionizes the way we communicate with the world; a system view is required. A view that involves more than just software, more than data, more than protocols. What we need is a full and complete understanding of what a system needs to do regardless of whether we use software, letters, or pigeons to send messages.

This solution neutral approach is precisely what Systems Engineering encompasses. Together with System Thinking, Systems Engineering put man on the moon. Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their life cycles. The current trends in the industry, whether it is automotive or medical, is that organizations are adopting the discipline and changing their way of developing complex systems such as cars and other devices.

With organizations increasingly adopting Systems Engineering, the need for skilled people who are capable of understanding and applying the techniques is growing rapidly. Hence the relevance for this Systems Engineering lecture.

In the lecture we will introduce Systems Engineering in a nutshell by using real world examples and explain why software engineers have a head start in learning Systems Engineering.

Guest lecture by Raphael Krauthann from MaibornWolff (2.11.2023)

Raphael Krauthann from MaibornWolff will give a talk in the elite program’s special lecture series. The title of the talk is “Cyber Resilience in Action! – Über Chain of Trust, PKI und Secure Development in der Welt der Smart Devices” and it will take place in room 1055N at 4PM on 02 November 2023.

Abstract

Jeden Tag geschehen unzählige Angriffe auf die Geräte, die wir zu unserem Komfort in unseren Alltag integriert haben.


Aber nicht nur eine Alexa, ein Homepod oder ein Thermomix sind betroffen; die Maschinen unserer Industrie sind inzwischen auch „Smart“ geworden und bieten so eine komplett neue Angriffsfläche.
Spätestens mit dem Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) und der ISO 62443 ist klar, dass Security für IoT- und Embedded-Entwickler zu einem zentralen Thema werden muss.


Entwickler der namenhaften, deutschen Maschinenbauern merken dies jeden Tag und geben ihr Bestes, ihre Systeme kontinuierlich sicherer zu machen.


Raphael Krauthann zeigt anhand von Best Practises, wie das Thema Security in diversen Projekten gelöst wird und wie man dabei Open Source Bausteine wie z.B. OP-TEE nutzen kann.
Außerdem wird er einen tiefen Einblick in den Alltag eines Security-fokussierten Embedded-Entwickler geben, mit allen Höhen und Tiefen die dieser mit sich bringt.

Guest lecture by Dr. Johannes Leupolz

Dr. Johannes Leupolz will give a talk in the elite program’s special lecture series. The title of the talk is “Qualitative and quantitative analysis of safety-critical systems with S#” and it will take place in room 1055N at 9AM on July 6th 2023.

Abstract

Safety-critical systems are expected to operate safely under regular circumstances as well as in many degraded situations. In the latter case, these systems have to cope with one or more components that are not working as specified, while at the same time they have to avoid (serious) economical or environmental damage, injuries, or even loss of lives. S# provides a modeling language specifically designed to express important safety-related concepts such as faults and the physical environment of a safety-critical system. For safety assessments, model simulations as well as formal safety analyses are supported.

Guest lecture by Christina Karle and Dr. Christoph Tenbrock from TNG (15.6.2023)

Christina Karle and Dr. Christoph Tenbrock from TNG will give a talk in the elite program’s special lecture series. The title of the talk is “Requirements Engineering in der Realität” and it will take place in room 1055N at 4PM on 15 June 2023.

Abstract

Requirements Engineering ist von zentraler Bedeutung für den Erfolg eines Projekts. Zwischen theoretischen Ansätzen und der praktischen Umsetzung klafft jedoch wie in vielen Bereichen mitunter eine Lücke.

Um zur Schließung der Lücke beizutragen, möchten wir zwei konkrete Beispiele für Requirements Engineering aus unserem Arbeitsalltag vorstellen: ein Fall von beinahe gescheitertem und ein Fall von gelungenem Requirements Engineering. Anhand dieser Beispiele werden wir einige Probleme und mögliche Lösungsansätze des Requirements Engineering in der Praxis beleuchten, die dem Publikum hoffentlich bei der zukünftigen Arbeit mit Requirements helfen werden.

Biography

Christina Karle is a graduate of the elite program Software Engineering.