The software industry - domestically and internationally - is growing at a phenomenal rate and there has been an increase in the demand for highly qualified graduates with the requisite knowledge and skills in software engineering.

The BEng( Hons) in Software Engineering degree from the Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT) and the prestigious University of Westminster UK, gives students a solid grounding in software engineering as an academic discipline and secondly, as a profession within the industrial sector. The programme is designed to ensure that students have expertise in all aspects of software engineering.

This course teaches the best ways to design, build, maintain and evaluate software systems. It makes use of many of the technical aspects of computer science, especially programming, and aims to develop the professional attitudes, interpersonal and technical skills needed in the software engineering industry.

Covering many key subject areas it provides an education in software engineering, supported by fundamental topics in computing science, equipping its graduates to apply best-practice software engineering skills to the development of a wide range of information systems in organizations.

The course includes systematic study of the theory and principles of programming and software engineering, computer software technologies, and the role of computing systems in organizations.

As a BEng course its emphasis is on fundamental principles, design, acquisition of practical skills and evaluation of technologies and covers software development, various programming languages, technologies and applications including Java, C, UNIX, UML, Graphics, Networks, Concurrent Systems, Databases, Web and Mobile Computing.

What differentiates IIT from others is that the 3rd year of the degree, is as an industrial placement year, where students are placed in the industry for 48 weeks giving them practical knowledge and hands on work experience.

In addition students in the 4th Year get the opportunity to showcase their final year projects at "Cutting Edge," an exhibition of innovative state-of-the-art IT and Business solutions which has received high commendations from the captains of the IT industry.

The BEng( Hons) in Software Engineering degree from IIT gives students the opportunity to acquire a full British degree in Software Engineering from the University of Westminster here in Sri Lanka where the students at IIT will be awarded the same Certificate as their fellow graduates on identical courses delivered in UK.

IIT's reputation in higher education and professional training has spanned over twenty years and has made it the largest, and the most reputed private academy offering both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from British Universities in Sri Lanka. Pix by M D Nishanka