High Integrity Systems Engineering

Research

Systems Software Engineering University Technology Centre

The Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre in Systems and Software Engineering was set up in October 1993 to research advanced software engineering techniques in the context of safety-critical aero-engine control systems, and its research programme completed in June 2009.

Key research transferred into the company during this time included:

process metric collection and feedback into programme management, using Process Engineering Language (PEL);
schedulability analysis technology using deadline-monotonic fixed-priority scheduling
safety-case structuring and representation using the Goal Structuring Notation (GSN)

The UTC also had a long-running programme of work in reuse, and was instrumental in getting the company to adopt product-line practices.

UTC research was carried out in conjunction with the following projects:

CONVERSE (EPSRC grant GR/L42872/01) developed a change-management approach using explicit decision models and a complementary test-data generation approach to offset the impact of variation.
COGENT (DTi) targeted cost-effective lifecycle management through automated generation and product-line modelling.
MOSAIC (TSB) applied advanced analysis techniques such as model-checking, static analysis and SAT-solving throughout the development lifecycle to address the costs of embedded systems testing.

The University of York is still involved with Rolls-Royce in a number of ways, most directly through the MSc in Gas Turbine Controls taught to engineers from Rolls-Royce and Aero Engine Controls.