A healthy dose of RUP

By Freelance Writer, Jane LaRoque 15 May 2003 16 August 2010 Revised.

Dr. James C. Helm chair of systems engineering, School of Science and Computer Engineering at University of Houston Clear Lake, has been using IBM Rational tools in his classes for more than five years. He started with Rational Rose and then incorporated the IBM Rational Unified Process,® or RUP,® and other tools in IBM Rational Suite® Enterprise. Helm attributes the success of the program to the fact that students are learning the latest techniques and methodologies -- and they have the freedom and flexibility to use Rational tutorials and labs 24 x 7, delivered via IBM Rational Developer Network. In his requirements engineering course, they actually develop a small project with two or three use cases. In the construction course, they can do a UML model and actually build the software. Because they have Rational Rose and RUP experience on their resumes, a lot of his students are hired directly into the aerospace industry as well as Fortune 100 companies in the Houston area that focus on e-business.

According to Helm:

"After the students go through our program with RUP and Rational Suite Enterprise, they gain more than narrow, techy knowledge. They understand the whole management process and how to integrate these tools into an iterative program or project to actually develop a useful product for a company. They know the lifecycle and all the artifacts needed to make a project successful. Most students think that computer science or software engineering is just about writing code, but in reality, it involves learning about process, documentation, configuration management, and group effort. The SEED Program gives students an opportunity to work together, develop their project, produce the documents, and present the material at the end of the course. They learn a lot about working on a project team as well as using the tools."

Overall, he adds, the IBM Rational SEED Program is a great benefit to the software engineering and computer science programs. "I plan to expand it into the system engineering program so those students can learn UML modeling. I'd even like to take it over to the business school so they can integrate UML into some of their business courses. After all, those students will be making important software project decisions some day, and knowing UML will enable them to