Projects

Current projects

 SERT Software Engineering ReThought (start 2018 – ongoing)

SERT – Software Engineering ReThought is a groundbreaking research project with the aim to take on the next generation challenges facing companies developing software intensive systems and products. SERT are blazing the road introducing 3:rd generation empirical software engineering – denoting close co-production of pragmatic problem solving in close collaboration with our industrial partners as we perform engineering research into topics critical for engineering and business success.

SERTs formulation of 3:rd generation empirical software engineering will utilize related knowledge areas as catalysts to solve challenges. Value-based engineering, Data-driven evidence based engineering, and Human-based development will complement software engineering competence in an integrated eco-system of competence focused on the challenges at hand.

All areas in software engineering, ranging from inception, realization to evolution are part of the research venture – reflecting that companies need solutions covering their entire ecosystem.  

Read more about SERT at rethought.se

– PROMPT Academic courses for Industrial competence development (Start 2013 – ongoing)

Software is a business-critical resource for large parts of Swedish private enterprise and an important source of innovation and competitiveness. In cooperation with academia and industry we have established PROMPT, a national education alternative with the aim of guaranteeing the supply of software-related advanced skills and innovative power for Swedish private enterprise.

PROMPT is a collaboration between BTH, Mälardalen University, Chalmers, the University of Gothenburg and RISE SICS and a number of leading Swedish industrial companies and organizations. The project is funded by the Knowledge Foundation and by participating universities and companies.

PROMPT provides customized, free education for engineers and software developers. The university courses, 22 in total, are web-based and developed to suit professionals who need to be able to combine work and studies. All courses are on master’s level and have been produced in close cooperation with companies involved in the project.

Read more about PROMPT at www.promptedu.se

– PLEng Professional Licentiate of Engineering School (2013 – ongoing)

PLEng (Professional Licentiate of Engineering School) is a concept of integrated research school that enables the industry to develop skills-based specialists and objective problem solvers. The research school, which is conducted for 3 years part-time, focuses on developing applied research and innovative solutions to specific problems. Participants in PLEng’s combine their research studies in parallel with work in their respective companies, which means a more flexible form compared with traditional research studies. During their time in the research school, they are given the opportunity to delve into an area for an extended period to build skills and develop new ideas.

Read more about PLEng

– ERSAK & KREDA (2015- ongoing)

ERSAK and KREDA 2015-2019 are two research projects with the goal of improving requirements management at the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket). 

ERSAK aims at developing and streamlining regulatory frameworks, regulatory requirements and project requirements, through improved specification, analysis, and communication, with the goal of improving both efficiency and effectiveness in projects through improved requirements management.

Read more

KREDA develops tools for systematic requirements management and requirements databases, to achieve more efficient requirements management and take advantage of the new opportunities that arise from Trafikverket’s work to digitize their business.

– Software Value Analysis (Telenor)(start 2013-ongoing)

The implementation of “agile” methodologies promises waste reduction and improved time-to-market as well as customer satisfaction. However, there is a danger of sub optimization as waste on a project level might not be waste on product level. In addition, maximizing value as customer satisfaction goes beyond short term feature selection. This AGILE/LEAN project is under startup, but involves scaling AGILE and LEAN methodologies up to be able to handle large organizations with complex product development with distributed engineering. As an example we are looking at finding a balance between agility and long-term maintainability, but the project handles the entire product development cycle.

– Software Value Analysis (Ericsson)(start 2009-ongoing)

Re-defining how software is valued. This involved the creation of the Software Value Map, value patterns and themes to support product development at Ericsson. [download poster]

Keywords: Value based software engineering, product management, requirements engineering, decision support, measurement, reuse.

– Global Engineering (Daimler AG)(start 2009-ongoing)

Daimler AG faces many challenges and a complex product development environment spread over global partners. Excellence in handling and optimizing distributed development includes GSE practices, models, but also statistical factor analysis to measure feature coherence.

Keywords: Global Software Engineering, Automotive, Factor Analysis, Reuse, Refactoring.

– Value and Innovation BESQ+ (IBM, Ericsson, Qtema)(start 2011-ongoing)

In the value context, companies need to estimate total cost of ownership and total value of ownership for a software product or a feature, which enables a cost basis for determining the economic value of that product or feature. This requires estimating total direct capital investment in hardware and software plus indirect costs of installation, training, maintenance, downtime, technical support, and upgrading. These estimations will help in making decisions that are better for value creation. This calls for a radical reinvention of the value term to include all perspectives of software value, ranging from what implication a decision today has on the architecture, sustainability, innovation and quality, to user perspectives like usability and user experience.

Keywords: Value based software engineering, product management, requirements engineering, decision support, measurement, innovation.

– Verification and Requirements Engineering EASE  (Axis)(start 2011-ongoing)

Adaptive Framework for Streamlined Requirements and Test Co-optimization involves the utilization of natural overlap between requirements and test to achieve a minimal overlap and waste by using variation selection aspects. Variations depend on e.g. domain, criticality, time-to-market etc, making it possible to choose what type of requirements engineering and tests to perform in relation to the needs and goals of the organization. Variation selection aspects can be used on company, product or even feature level to adapt what is done to assure good-enough for purpose.

Keywords: Verification and Validation, Requirements Engineering, Taxonomy, Co-optimization.

– Lean Software Development (Volvo PV)(start 2008-ongoing)

Introduce lean software product development focusing on complex automotive projects. This project has thus far mapped challenges in the boundary between product development, software development, and production to an extremely detailed extent. The continuation is to add automotive lean to software development, and enhance the lean standard, enabling effective and efficient collaboration in product development.

Keywords: Lean / Streamline / Agile, Automotive, Process Assessment and Improvement, Project Management, Automotive Software

Research projects

Science is the systematic and repeatable pursuit of knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Engineering is the application of that knowledge. We do both.

Software Engineering Research School Initiative

... is an initiative that allows excellent candidates to apply and be selected for becoming a PhD student at BTH in the Software Engineering Research Lab. This is reserved for Brazilian student going through the Brazilian governments funding program of research studies abroad. 

Below you will find additional information about this program and related items.

 

Project ideas

As an empirical researcher I see many needs and challenges facing companies – I have written down a couple of possible research projects/directions that I know would be relevant to pursue, and would result in great benefit. These ideas are examples, if you have your own idea that you think is interesting, let me know. I am a firm believer in that the best idea should be premiered, not the idea from a specific source.

Research project ideas

If you have any questions don´t hesitate to send me an email. If you are interested in becoming a PhD student send an email to SERL-PhD@bth.se (also cc me please tgo@bth.se).