With the advent of ever more sophisticated and powerful computer environments, the techniques needed to develop and produce the software to run on these systems are themselves becoming increasingly complex. Whether on a super-computer or on a smart phone, the trend in software development is towards parallel and concurrent execution of applications. This approach introduces many challenges for the developer that must be addressed if the resulting software is to maintain a suitable level of quality and remain competitive. Cranfield University has many years of specialist knowledge and experience in High Performance Computing. What was once a set of techniques used only in the narrow confines of numerical simulation is now the mainstream approach to developing software on modern computing hardware. As such, the Software Engineering for Technical Computing MSc offers a unique insight into the development of computer applications across a wide spectrum of modern computing environments, from multi-core CPUs to specialist GPUs to Cloud Computing, all of which are relevant to the IT industry today. In tandem with using modern computing technologies, we also recognise that software application development must use the latest software engineering techniques. In practice, the writing of software source code is just one link in a long chain of processes, starting at requirements capture and flowing through to deployment and maintenance. By understanding these processes, a software engineer can make a real difference when they join a team in a commercial environment, making them a more attractive prospect to potential employers. We ensure that students have every opportunity to explore the best practices of the software industry and put them into effect in their own work.

The Software Engineering for Technical Computing masters, attracts enquiries from companies all over the world, who wish to recruit high quality software development graduates. There is considerable demand for students with expertise in engineering software development and for those who have strong technical programming skills in industry standard languages and tools. Graduates of this course are in demand by financial software developers, mobile application developers, commercial engineering software developers, automotive, telecommunications, medical and other industries and research organisations, have been particularly successful in finding long-term employment. We have had positive feedback from companies in industries as diverse as finance to computer games studios. As such, we enjoy excellent employment statistics, with over 95% of graduates employed within six months. Some students may go on to register for PhD degrees, many, on the basis of their MSc research project. Thesis topics are most often supplied by individual companies on in-company problems with a view to employment after graduation - an approach that is being actively encouraged by a growing number of industries.