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CORVALLIS - Oregon State University and Tektronix, Inc., have created a new program called the Oregon Software Technology Exchange to improve education in computer software engineering, enhance collaboration with private industry and better prepare students for entering the workforce.

The initiative is being made possible by a donation from Tektronix to the Department of Computer Science in the OSU College of Engineering. The donation includes a computer server, software engineering tools, training and technical advice to use their "TekForge" software system.

This system allows students to control changes to software modules, organize their tasks, create discussion forums for collaboration with other teams and groups, track problems, manage software integration and perform many other software engineering tasks.

The TekForge system is already being used quite widely at Tektronix. Its use at OSU is expected to increase the ability of students to coordinate work with other students, apply industry practices and learn skills that will be immediately useful when they graduate.

"Our primary objective is to enhance the quality, quantity and employability of computer and software engineering students," said Kal Toth, an associate professor of computer science. "Use of these systems should also help the university better collaborate with private industry, sharing and exchanging best practices, methods, tools, components and data with industry participants."

The new "software technology exchange" will be used as a virtual laboratory for both graduate and undergraduate students doing work in software engineering, system administration and computer networking, Toth said.

When fully integrated into various software and systems courses at the university, the new tools will help students emulate software industry practices in the classroom and later enter the workforce with hands-on experience in the newest technologies, educators say.