Innovative Professor receives Distinguished Education Award

John Grundy is the recipient of the 2014 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Technical Council on Software Engineering (TCSE) Distinguished Education Award.

The Swinburne University of Technology Professor receives the award for his major influence on the Software Engineering curriculum, and says that it signifies the great impact teaching innovations have on student outcomes.

“I am honoured to receive this award,” Professor John Grundy says. “Software Engineering has grown at an unprecedented rate and it has been both a challenging and rewarding experience developing the discipline within the higher education landscape.”

The Distinguished Education Award is international recognition for researchers and practitioners who demonstrate long-standing, sustained and meaningful contributions to the theory and practice of the information sciences.

Throughout both New Zealand and Australia Professor Grundy has contributed to the development and implementation of higher education Software Engineering programmes.

“Setting the frameworks to give the next generation of software engineers an impactful and meaningful learning experience sets up society with a richer and more knowledgeable digital infrastructure,” he says.

As Deputy Chair of the Swinburne Senate Courses Committee, Professor Grundy has been involved in a number of refinements to the Computer Science and Software Engineering programmes to improve quality of structure and delivery.

At the Swinburne University of Technology Professor Grundy also had an extensive role in the development of the new Bachelor of Engineering (Software Engineering) programme.

Prior to that, in 2002 he played a major role in the development of the Bachelor of Engineering (Software Engineering) programme at the University of Auckland, and ran the programme as Director for three years. The programme is now the largest of its kind in Australasia.

Nominator Professor John Hosking of the Australian National University says that Professor Grundy is innovative in his approach to teaching and learning.

“His ability to inject real life industrial and research experience into his teaching is extremely well received by his students,” Hosking says.

“He is the epitome of a research and industrial experience led educator, taking cutting edge experience and bringing it into the classroom in accessible and appealing ways.“He is always willing to experiment with new methods of delivery and new pedagogical styles and to use evidence to understand the effectiveness of his approaches.”