Bio & CV

Education 

2005–2010: Doctor of Philosophy, PhD 

Monash University, Melbourne, Australia 

PhD Thesis: Pervasive Services Engineering for SOAs 

  • PhD Thesis passed with no amendments required by both examiners. 
  • Supervisor: Dr. Sita Ramakrishnan (Monash University, Australia).
    Examiners: Prof. Schahram Dustdar (Technische Universität Wien) and Prof. Luciano Baresi (Politecnico di Milano).
  • Publications: 10 Research Papers and 5 Technical Reports as first author. 
  • IBM Award at the ICSOC’08 PhD Symposium. 
  • Faculty of Information Technology Full Research Scholarship.

2004: Honours Degree of Bachelor of Computing 

Monash University, Melbourne, Australia 

Honours Thesis: An Interactive and Incremental Model for Dynamic Web Service Composition 

  • First Class Honours (Thesis Mark 87%, Coursework Mark 83%).
  • Supervisors: Prof. Shonali Krishnaswamy (Swinburne University, Australia & AIDA Technologies, Singapore) and Prof. Seng W. Loke (Deakin University, Australia).

2001–2003: Bachelor of Computing 

Monash University, Melbourne, Australia 

Specializations: Distributed Computing Systems, Object-Oriented Systems Development 

  • High Distinction Average (i.e. >= 80%) in all three academic years. 
  • Scored 100% for Java Programming unit. 
  • Membership in Golden Key International Honour Society, offered to first 15% of Faculty in recognition of outstanding scholastic achievement and excellence.

Professional

Feb. 2024 – Current Research Fellow (Autonomous Systems)

Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester, UK

  • My work focuses on assurance for generating better evidence and arguments to ensure the safe, ethical, and secure design and implementation of robotics and autonomous systems. The main research themes include evidence generation, informing future standards, and design for assurance. This work is part of CRADLE (The Centre for Robotic Autonomy in Demanding and Long-lasting Environments), which researches new technologies for demanding and heavily regulated industry sectors such as space, nuclear decommissioning, energy generation, and urban infrastructure.

Oct. 2022 – Jan. 2024 Research Fellow 

Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol, UK

  • I worked with a multidisciplinary team to develop new verification methods for specific case studies in autonomous systems with evolving functionality (swarm robotics, soft robotics and unmanned aerial vehicles/UAVs). This position is part of the multidisciplinary UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Node project in Functionality, which explores how evolving functionality influences autonomous systems need to be specified, designed, verified and regulated in order to be trustworthy.

Apr. 2021 – Oct. 2022 Senior Research Associate 

Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Bristol, UK

  • I worked with a multidisciplinary team to develop new specification methods for specific case studies in autonomous systems with evolving functionality (swarm robotics, soft robotics and unmanned aerial vehicles/UAVs). This position is part of the multidisciplinary UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) Node project in Functionality, which explores how evolving functionality influences autonomous systems need to be specified, designed, verified and regulated in order to be trustworthy.

Nov. 2019 – Feb. 2021: Senior Research Fellow 

Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick, UK

  • Agent-based modelling of norms emergence using reinforcement learning.
  • Proposed a novel agent-based modelling approach to make agent interactions more nuanced. In our approach, while there is an ideal set of compatible actions, there are also combinations that have positive rewards and are not incompatible. This study provides a step towards identifying the conditions under which globally compatible conventions are likely to emerge.
  • The approach was evaluated using the Cooperative Car project sponsored by Jaguar Land Rover and EPSRC under TASCC.
  • Publications: 1 Journal Article and 1 Conference Paper.

Apr. 2018 – Oct. 2019: Research Fellow in Responsible AI

Department of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, UK

  • Development of novel methodologies to implement responsible forms of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
  • Proposed a novel, systematic model checking approach for responsible decision-making of human-agent collectives to ensure they are safe, controllable, and ethical. The approach is validated using a case study in human-UAV teaming in disaster response, extended with different dilemma situations for agents.
  • Publications: 1 Conference Paper, 1 Journal Article.

Sep. 2017 – Apr. 2018: Postdoc

DISMI, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy 

  • Formalized and extended the State Of The Affairs (SOTA) framework, which is a general, goal-oriented framework for developing self-adaptive systems. 
  • Conducted a systematic literature review on the evaluation of self-adaptive software architectures. 
  • Publications: 1 Conference Paper, 1 Journal Article. 

Feb. 2015 – Jan. 2017: ERCIM Research Fellow (Research Scientist at VTT) 

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Oulu, Finland

  • ERCIM Fellowship (European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics, https://fellowship.ercim.eu/) (2 years). 
  • Proposed a model-based methodology and a domain-independent, unified adaptation framework for evolutional, reflexive and autonomous software intensive systems (digital service ecosystems). Designed and developed the prototype solution. Evaluated the practical significance of the approach using a digital health revolution case study. 
  • Participated in one Research Exchange Program:
    • Information Systems and Software Engineering group (Prof. John Krogstie), Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway: November 2-6, 2015 
  • Publications: 1 Journal Article and 2 Conference Papers.

Sep. 2013 – Sep. 2014: EU Marie Curie Fellow (Research Scientist at Fraunhofer FOKUS) 

Fraunhofer-FOKUS, Berlin, Germany  

  • ERCIM Fellowship (1 year) supported by the European Commission FP7 Marie Curie Actions. 
  • Proposed a monitoring and visualization framework for autonomic systems based on a language defined for developing autonomic systems. Developed an Eclipse plug-in to visualize and observe the behavior of the awareness mechanism and adaptation at runtime using graph-like representation. Validated and assessed the approach and tool using a case study in swarm robotics. 
  • FP7-IST-FET Autonomic Service-Component Ensembles (ASCENS) project (http://www.ascens-ist.eu/). 
  • Participated in two Research Exchange Programs:
    • MiMove Team (Dr. Valérie Issarny), Inria Research Institute, Paris, France: May 19-23, 2014
    • Software and Systems Engineering Laboratory (Prof. Jakob Axelsson), Swedish Institute of Computer Science, Stockholm, Sweden: September 1-5, 2014.
  • Participated in the ERCIM Seminar on non-scientific skills in Athens, Greece: November 2013.
  • Publications: 2 Book Chapters and 1 Conference Paper. 

Jul. 2012–Jun. 2013: Consultant in Autonomic Systems 

Volkswagen AG, Berlin, Germany (project sponsor) 

DISMI, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy (contract: Postdoc) 

  • Designed and developed an integrated Eclipse plug-in called SimSOTA for engineering (modeling, simulating and validating) and implementing self-adaptive software architectural patterns based on feedback loops. This integrated plug-in adopts model-driven development to model and simulate complex self-adaptive architectural patterns, and to automate the generation of Java-based implementation code. Validated the approach using a case study in cooperative electric vehicles (e-mobility). 
  • FP7-IST-FET ASCENS project. 
    • Publications: 1 Journal Article and 2 Conference Papers.
    • Best Paper Award at the ACEC track of the 23rd International WETICE Conference (WETICE’14). 

Jul. 2011– Jun. 2012: Postdoc 

DISMI, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy 

  • Proposed SOTA, a general goal-oriented framework, for analyzing self-awareness and self-adaptation requirements of adaptive systems. 
  • Performed an early, goal-level model checking analysis for self-adaptive systems. Validated the approach using a case study in e-mobility. 
  • FP7-IST-FET ASCENS project. 
  • Publications: 3 Conference Papers and 1 Technical Report.