iCarnegie Press Release

iCarnegie Offers Higher Education Partners New Enhancements to its World-Class Software Systems Development Curriculum

Recent improvements to iCarnegie’s courses include expanded teaching of modern software engineering practices, development tools, and web-centric technologies

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - February 10, 2004 - iCarnegie, Inc., an educational affiliate of Carnegie Mellon University and provider of world-class software systems development curriculum and professional certifications, announces a number of new enhancements to many of its courses, which ensures students and global instructors continue to easily keep pace with ongoing changes in technologies and software development practices found in the modern IT workplace. Highlights of the new course upgrades include greater curriculum-wide emphasis on software design and engineering practices, additional project development for driving practical experience, and the increased application of web-centric technologies and development tools.

“These new enhancements further bolster our leadership position in giving educational institutions the ability to offer their local students excellent, workforce-focused professional training and iCarnegie certifications. From the time the iCarnegie curriculum was created in partnership with Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science faculty, we together have continued to refine and improve our courses to prepare students and IT employees for the demands of a globalizing software development workforce,” said Dr. Allan Fisher, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of iCarnegie.

The updates to the 10-course curriculum program are now available and being delivered through iCarnegie’s higher education and training partners to students for 2004 terms, after an initial introduction by several partners in Fall Term 2003 (US). These and all ongoing enhancements result from feedback collected from IT employers and software industry personnel, Carnegie Mellon faculty, current iCarnegie education partners, and student performance data.

“What iCarnegie brings to the table is a way for educators to offer an extremely competitive and very relevant academic program in computer programming and software development,” said Michael Kazar, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Spinnaker Networks, recently purchased by Network Appliances, and formerly the co-founder of Transarc Corporation (now IBM Pittsburgh Lab). Mr. Kazar was among the industry representatives who contributed to this latest round of enhancements to the iCarnegie curriculum. “As new trends or technologies become more popular in the workplace, iCarnegie has a business model that can quickly get those changes into the hands of students in less than one year. In turn, students with iCarnegie certifications are an attractive pool of candidates for filling highly skilled software jobs.”

iCarnegie’s latest curriculum enhancements fall into four major categories:

1. Software engineering processes - Across all iCarnegie courses, there is an even stronger emphasis on studying and practicing modern software engineering processes, with new training additions in the areas of software systems architecture, re-usability and design patterns, and commercial-grade testing.

2. Technologies - Updates to the courses have been made to provide greater focus on widely used tools and technologies for web-centric computer programming and software development, stressing closer integration of HTML and Java programming.

3. New IT trends and issues - Software security and software engineering ethics are topics that can be found in several iCarnegie courses, keeping students current with broader IT workplace issues.

4. Overall curriculum design - Because of the importance iCarnegie places on having students connect fundamental concepts to real-world experience, several projects have been added to the curriculum, including the development of an online auction system and the design of a point-of-sale cash register kiosk. Also, there is improved articulation between iCarnegie courses, so that students experience seamless transitions from one course to the next.

iCarnegie’s 10-course curriculum program includes the following modules: Introduction to Information Systems; Introduction to Computer Systems; Object-Oriented Programming & Design; User-Centered Design & Testing; Data Structures & Algorithms; System-Level Programming; Database Systems; Networks & Distributed Programming; Software Specification, Test & Maintenance; and Software Project Organization & Management. A student successfully completing the first five courses can earn an iCarnegie Certificate in Computer Programming, and the successful completion of the last five courses can earn an iCarnegie Certificate in Software Systems Development.

iCarnegie courses are available through partners in the continental United States and Hawaii, Mexico, Chile, Spain, The United Kingdom, Greece, India, Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, and South Australia. Visit www.icarnegie.com for a map of specific partner locations. For more information on the iCarnegie courses and their recent enhancements, please contact iCarnegie’s Business Development team at +1 412-622-2150 or email marketing@icarnegie.com.

About iCarnegie, Inc.
iCarnegie, Inc. was established in 2002 as an independent, private company with the goal of sharing leading curriculum programs with individuals worldwide, through a community of partner schools and training institutions. iCarnegie originated in 1998 as Carnegie Technology Education, founded by Dr. Allan Fisher and Dr. Phil Miller as a nonprofit subsidiary of Carnegie Mellon University, to bring the university’s award-winning computer science programs to larger populations. Today, iCarnegie provides curriculum and certifications in Computer Programming and Software Systems Development to education institutions and employers worldwide. For further information, contact iCarnegie by e-mail: info@icarnegie.com or phone: +1 412-622-2150.

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