The Phase 2 exam is the first milestone for a Ph.D. student in the Software Engineering Program at UC Irvine. It entails the reading of 62 research papers from all fields of software engineering and finally a 6 hour long essay-based exam that tests the examinees about the different aspects of software engineering as a field of practice and research, how it has progressed over the years, the major spheres of innovation within and what the future looks like for practitioners and researchers alike.

I am happy to report that I have passed it in my first attempt and thus have completed the first official milestone towards my PhD. Still a long way to go, but there is now one less thing to worry about!