Research on Software and Systems Engineering studies the application of engineering to the design, development, assurance, management, and maintenance of software-reliant systems over their life cycles. At Vanderbilt, this research encompasses multiple topics including cyber-security, data-centricity, human-computer interaction, human-systems interaction, middleware frameworks, mobile cloud computing applications and systems, model-integrated computing, and software patterns.
Aniruddha (Andy) Gokhale
Associate Professor of Computer Science and Computer Engineering
Dr. Aniruddha S. Gokhale research topics have addressed model-driven engineering (MDE), middleware solutions involving design patterns for quality of service (QoS) assurance, and correct-by-construction design and development of distributed real-time and embedded systems. His current research focuses on developing novel solutions to emerging challenges in mobile cloud computing, real-time stream processing, publish/subscribe systems, and cyber physical systems. He is also working on using cloud computing technologies for STEM education.
Gabor Karsai
Professor of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Computer Engineering
Associate Director of the Institute of Software Integrated Systems
Gabor Karsai is leading a team of researchers to develop the technology for the next-generation of resilient software systems. Resilience is an important property of biological systems - they are often able to adapt to and recover from damaging impact from the environment or catastrophic faults in the system. This is an important and expected property of our technical systems used every day, like mobile phones, cars, devices with embedded computers, and the power grid. We expect them to work even if some parts fail or degrade, or when they are stressed by their environment. As these devices are reliant on software, they must be resilient to software faults as well. As cyber-security exploits are related to latent software faults, the definition of resilience includes 'resilience to cyber attacks', too. The project aims at developing the engineering techniques, the analytical framework, and a prototype 'operating system' for resilient software-integrated systems.
This research is being supported by the National Science Foundation and various government research programs. The project is focusing on cyber-physical systems (CPS) where resilience and dependability are critical due to the interactions with the physical environment. The key to building more sophisticated and complex yet more resilient and dependable systems is clearly design automation and engineering tools. The project uses and develops model-integrated computing techniques, including tools for the model-driven design, analysis, verification, implementation, operation, and maintenance of resilient CPS.
Douglas (Doug) Schmidt
Professor of Computer Science and Computer Engineering
Dr. Douglas C. Schmidt's research covers a wide range of software-related topics, including patterns, optimization techniques, and empirical analyses of object-oriented middleware frameworks that facilitate the development of mobile cloud computing applications running over data networks. Schmidt has more than 20 years of experience leading the development of ACE, TAO , CIAO and CoSMIC, which are widely used, open-source middleware frameworks and model-driven engineering tools that implement patterns and product-line architectures for open systems. The middleware platforms and modeling tools developed by Schmidt and his colleagues at ISIS constitute some of the most successful examples of software R&D ever transitioned from research to industry.
Jules White
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
Dr. White's research focuses on mobile cyber-physical systems and spans four key focus areas: (1) mobile security and data collection, (2) high-precision mobile augmented reality, (3) mobile device and supporting cloud infrastructure power and configuration optimization, and (4) applications of mobile cyber-physical systems in multi-disciplinary domains, including energy-optimized cloud computing, smart grid systems, healthcare/manufacturing security, next-generation construction technologies, and citizen science.
He was previously a faculty member in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech and won the Outstanding New Assistant Professor Award at Virginia Tech. His research has won 4 Best Paper Awards. He has also published over 95 papers. His research has been licensed and transitioned to industry where it has received over $13.5 million in venture backing and won an Innovation Award at CES 2013, attended by over 150,000 people, was a finalist for the Technical Achievement at Award at SXSW Interactive, and was a top 3 for mobile in the Accelerator Awards at SXSW 2013. His research is conducted through the Mobile Application computinG, optimizatoN, and secUrity Methods (MAGNUM) Group at Vanderbilt University, which he directs.