In a rapidly evolving engineering landscape where systems must not only function but persist reliably, the imperative for dependable and trustworthy software has never been greater. This keynote explores how software engineering education must adapt to the growing demands for safe, resilient, and AI-augmented systems. In doing so, it outlines how academic programs can embed principles of dependability—such as fault-tolerance, resilience, maintainability, and verification—alongside modern practices driven by machine learning and deep learning. Through project-based learning, co-design with industry, and flexible credentialing, institutions can cultivate engineers who are not only proficient in code but also skilled as stewards of mission-critical, intelligent systems.
Software Engineering Department Chair
Al-Yamamah University, Saudi Arabia
Mohammed Akour is a Professor in Software Engineering. He got his Bachelor's (2006) and Master's (2008) degrees from Yarmouk University in Computer Information Systems with honors. He joined Yarmouk University as a Lecturer in August 2008 after graduating with his Master's in Computer Information Systems. He joined Yarmouk University again in April 2013 after graduating with his PhD in Software Engineering from NDSU with honors. He serves as Keynote Speaker, Organizer, a Co-chair, and publicity Chair for several IEEE conferences, and as ERB for more than 10 ISI-indexed prestigious journals. He is a member of the International Association of Engineers. (IAENG). Dr. Akour at Yarmouk University served as Head of accreditation and Quality assurance for two years, and then was hired in 2017 as director of the Computer and Information Center.
In 2018, Dr. Akour was hired as vice Dean of Student Affairs at Yarmouk University. In 2019, Dr. Akour got a sabbatical leave and joined Al Yamamah University -Riyadh, Saudi Arabia- as an associate professor in Software Engineering. He served as a Software Engineering program coordinator. In 2021, Dr. Akour joined Prince Sultan University as a professor in Software Engineering. Akour served as the Computer Science department chair from 2023 to 2024, and now he is the Software Engineering department chair.
