Study Software Engineering - Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
Through the Software Engineering major in the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) you develop cutting-edge skills for your future engineering career.
Professional software engineers are responsible for constructing, deploying and maintaining high-quality software in a systematic, timely and disciplined manner. Software engineers must be technically proficient and work effectively in teams and with multiple stakeholders.
You learn to design, develop, test and maintain software. To prepare you for a career as a professional engineer you also develop your communication and teamwork skills.
This is part of the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours).
If you’re studying software engineering, you’ll learn to design, develop, test and maintain software.
You also need to complete 800 hours of planned, supervised work experience to graduate, in addition to completing all your courses. This experience exposes you to common engineering industry practices and helps you gain knowledge of engineering procedures, engineering responsibilities, and health and safety practices.
You’ll explore mathematics and computational techniques, data structures and algorithms, software theory and construction, data and process modelling, interface design and engineering management.
Most of your first-year courses are shared between the majors in the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) and the Bachelor of Engineering Technology, making it easy for you to switch between our engineering degrees and majors*.
If you’re already studying at AUT and have any questions about the courses you should enrol in, email engineer@aut.ac.nz
*Cross-credits between different engineering majors and degrees are assessed on a case-by-case basis, and you may not be able to gain cross-credits for all your first-year courses.
Year 1
Semester 1 courses
- ENGE500 Introduction to Sustainable Engineering Design (15 points)
- ENGE501 Engineering Mathematics I (15 points)I
- ENGE503 Engineering Mechanics (15 points)
- ENGE504 Electrical Engineering Fundamentals (15 points)
Semester 2 courses
- COMP500 Programming Concepts and Techniques (15 points)
- DIGD507 Mahitahi | Collaborative Practices (15 points)
- ENME502 Engineering Materials I (15 points)
- ENGE601 Engineering Mathematics II (15 points)
Year 2
Semester 1 courses
- ENEL608 Introduction to Microcontrollers (15 points)
- ENSE602 Object Oriented Programming for Engineers (15 points)
- ENSE603 Database System Design (15 points)
- ENSE704 Software Engineering Mathematics (15 points
Semester 2 courses
- COMP604 Operating Systems (15 points)
- COMP610 Data Structures and Algorithm (15 points)
- ENGE600 Engineering Management I (15 points)
- ENSE600 Software Construction (15 points)
Year 3
Semester 1 courses
- COMP716 Highly Secure Systems (15 points)
- ENSE705 Software Team Project (15 points)
- ENSE706 Data Process and Software Modelling (15 points)
- ENSE803 Formal Specification and Design (15 points)
Semester 2 courses
- COMP719 Applied Human-Computer Interaction (15 points)
- ENGE707 Data Engineering and AI (15 points)
- ENSE701 Contemporary Issues in Software Engineering (15 points)
- ENSE707 Software Quality Assurance (15 points)
Year 4
Semester 1 courses
- ENGE891 Final Year Research Project (Part A) (15 points)
- ENGE803 Innovation and Research Management (15 points)
- Plus two level 8 optional courses
Semester 2 courses
- ENGE892 Final Year Research Project (Part B )(15 points)
- Plus choose:
- An elective course; and
- Two level 8 optional courses
Optional courses
In Year 4 you choose four level 8 optional courses from those listed below.
Semester 1 courses
- COMP806 Software Architecture (15 points)
- COMP821 Information Security (15 points)
- ENEL809 Digital Control (15 points)
- ENSE807 Digital Signal Processing (15 points)
Semester 2 courses
- COMP802 Data Mining and Machine Learning (15 points)
- COMP810 Data Warehousing and Big Data (15 points)
- ENSE808 Digital Systems Design (15 points)
- ENSE810 Embedded Software Engineering (15 points)
- ENSE814 Wireless Sensor-Actuator Networks (15 points)
If you started your studies in the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) before 2024, the courses you need to complete are a little different. Find out what courses you need to take to complete your qualification if you started in 2023 or earlier.
Workplace experience
Your industry-based research project in Year 4 is your opportunity to gain real-life industrial experience in a software engineering environment, under the guidance of an experienced supervisor.
Want more info about work integrated learning at AUT?
Read more about workplace experience in AUT programmes, how it works and why it’s so beneficial when you start your career.
Workplace experience in AUT programmes
Ready to enrol in your courses?
Find out how you can enrol in the courses and classes for your programme, whether you’ve just joined AUT as a new student or you’re already studying with us. If you’re looking for more info on a specific course use our course search.
Career opportunities if you study software engineering
- Software engineer
- Database programmer and architect
- Software tester
- Software development project manager
- Embedded software designer
- Embedded software developer
- Mobile apps designer or developer
- Cloud applications developer
- Solutions architect
Find out more about industry trends, job descriptions and what employers may be looking for.
Other majors in the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
- Architectural Engineering
- Civil Construction Engineering
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- Maritime Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Mechatronics Engineering
Postgraduate study
- Covers a wide range of engineering skills
- Local and international career opportunities in a variety of professional roles
- A balance between technical and soft skills
- Includes an industry-based project in your final year
- Interested in developing high-quality software
- Having a high attention to detail
- Technically proficient
The information on this page was correct at time of publication. For a comprehensive overview of AUT qualifications, please refer to the Academic Calendar.