Software Factory at ASU

Although the name is horrible, the idea is commendable. Arizona State University has an organization called the "Software Factory". Their mission...

Here, as at other universities, software development is becoming ever more crucial to research. Researchers typically develop software by “ad hoc” methods, hiring students to do their programming. This works out in some cases, but more often than not the students lack experience in software development and the faculty lack experience in software engineering. This leads to a sub-optimal learning experience for the students and poor software products for the researchers.

The software factory idea, then, is simple: Gather these part-time student programmers in a common facility, put them under professional management and mentorship, and use sound software engineering techniques in the development process.