paluno – The Ruhr Institute for Software Technology
Outlook
Digital services will increasingly converge with physical goods and things. In the future, the high-speed networks which are currently being tested will offer almost unlimited bandwidth and connectivity. As a result, software-intensive systems and applications will become inherently more interconnected and therefore considerably more complex. Trends such as cloud computing, cyber-physical systems, ultra large-scale systems and big data are examples of these changes. Mastering the technical and organizational complexity and flexibility of these systems during their development and operation will significantly increase the cognitive challenges facing software project teams. To better address these new challenges, paluno systematically develops new approaches and tests them in cooperation with industry until they are ready for technology transfer. One example of such an approach is the Interaction Room.
Supporting and promoting young researchers is essential if paluno is to continue to deliver outstanding contributions to research in the future. To support doctoral students with their research, they are given the opportunity to present their findings at national and international conferences and publish their work. Dedicated workshops offer a forum for doctoral students to discuss their research topics in detail. In addition to the usual lectures, seminars and exercises, students can also take part in concrete project and industry-related work to gain hands-on experience of the various aspects of software engineering. In addition to software, they also work with hardware, such as robots, model trains or trucks. To also raise high school students’ awareness and interest in its research areas and results, paluno actively contributes to the annual Summer University in Natural & Engineering Sciences (S.U.N.I.) and the “Probestudium” trial period of study at the University of Duisburg-Essen. In these courses, potential students have a chance to learn more about software engineering and develop their own software, for example for Lego Mindstorms.