Nominations for Humphrey Software Quality Award Open Through September 1
• Article
May 16, 2024—The 2025 IEEE Computer Society/Software Engineering Institute Watts S. Humphrey Software Quality Award is open for nominations through September 1. The award, which is cosponsored by the IEEE Computer Society and the SEI, recognizes outstanding achievements in improving an organization’s ability to create and evolve high-quality software-dependent systems.
“As our world becomes more and more dependent on software-intensive systems, the need for high-quality software is greater than ever,” said Julia Mullaney, chair of the award selection committee.
The Humphrey Award nominee may be an individual or, unique among IEEE Computer Society awards, a group or team who has improved an organization’s software engineering. Self-nominations are permitted.
A nominee must have made a significant improvement in software quality. “As our industry grows and changes, we hope to see nominations from groups and individuals leveraging new and upcoming techniques for software quality, including the use of artificial intelligence, Agile methodologies, model-based system engineering, and other emerging technologies,” said Mullaney. “This is an opportunity to get international recognition for your achievements.”
The award recipient will be invited to the IEEE Computer Society’s Award Ceremony in fall 2025. The award committee will help the recipient to produce an SEI technical report detailing their accomplishments and participate in a webinar to share their lessons learned and best practices.
The award, established in 1994 as the Watts S. Humphrey Software Process Achievement Award, is named for Watts Humphrey, known as the “Father of Software Quality.” Humphrey served at the SEI from 1986 until his death in 2010. He addressed problems in software development including software quality, programmer motivation and commitment, team process discipline, and how organizations can support these areas. His efforts laid the groundwork for the Personal Software Process, the Team Software Process, the Capability Maturity Model (CMM) for Software and, eventually, CMM Integration (CMMI). In 2005, Humphrey received the National Medal of Technology for his work in software engineering.
Nominate an individual or team for the Humphrey Software Quality Award by September 1 on the IEEE Computer Society website. Learn more on the award website or watch a video about the award. Submit questions to award@sei.cmu.edu.
