Ph.D. Software Engineering

2014 - 2020

(Philosophiae Doctor)
Institution: McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Advisors: Mark Lawford, Alan Wassyng
Thesis: "Making Simulink Models Robust with Respect to Change"

Abstract: Model-based development (MBD) is an approach that uses software models to describe the behaviour of embedded software and cyber-physical systems. MBD has become an increasingly prevalent paradigm, with Simulink by MathWorks being the most widely used MBD platform for control software. Unlike textual programming languages, visual languages for MBD such as Simulink use block diagrams as their syntax. Thus, some software engineering principles created for textual languages are not easily adapted to this graphical notation or have not yet been supported. A software engineering principle that is not readily supported in Simulink is the modularization of systems using information hiding. As with all software artifacts, Simulink models must be constantly maintained and are subject to evolution over their lifetime. This principle hides likely changes, thus enabling the design to be robust with respect to future changes. In this thesis, we perform repository mining on an industry change management system of Simulink models to understand how they are likely to change. Then, we explore the various modelling mechanisms available in the Simulink language to see how they could support modular design with information hiding. Next, we propose a module structure, syntactic interface, and modelling conventions for Simulink designs, which are supported by our open-source Simulink Module Tool. Finally, we apply the proposed techniques on case studies from the aerospace and nuclear domains, in order to demonstrate their practicality and validate their effectiveness. Overall, the approach helped support information hiding by encapsulating secrets and facilitating likely changes. It also had a positive effect on interface complexity, cohesion, and coupling. The larger system also exhibited reductions to cyclomatic complexity, testing effort, and execution time, but the smaller case study benefited less in these areas.

M.A.Sc. Software Engineering

2012 - 2014

(Master of Applied Science)
Institution: McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Advisors: Mark Lawford, Alan Wassyng
Thesis: "A Methodology for the Simplification of Tabular Designs in Model-Based Development"

Abstract: Model-based development (MBD) is an increasingly used approach for the development of embedded control software, with Matlab Simulink/Stateflow as the widely accepted language. The adoption of this development paradigm is prevalent in many safety-critical domains, including the automotive industry. With an increasing reliance on software for controlling vehicle functionality and the yearly advent of new vehicle features, automotive models have been growing in size and complexity, causing them to become increasingly difficult to maintain, refactor, and test. Given the centrality of models in MBD, it is a requisite that they be maintained under well-defined and principled software development processes that use precise notation to document system requirements and behavioural design description. Tabular methods have long been used for defining decision-making logic in software, due to their concise and precise manner of communicating complex behaviour, so it is not surprising that they are finding increased use in automotive software models. Thus their presence in Simulink models is increasingly prominent in the implementation of complex behaviour in production code. As a result of the safety-critical nature of the automotive industry, as well as the increasing size and complexity of its models, reliable refactoring and simplification techniques for tabular expressions are becoming an important need for automotive companies. To address this need, this thesis presents a methodology for refactoring complex tabular designs to improve requirements traceability with a focus on Matlab Simulink/Stateflow and the MBD approach. A case study of industrial examples from an automotive partner are used to motivate the work and demonstrate the proposed methodology's effectiveness in reducing design size and complexity, while also increasing testability and requirements traceability.

B.Co.Sc. (Hons.)

2008 - 2012

(Bachelor of Computer Science with Honours)
Institution: Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, Canada
Advisor: Aaron Langille
Thesis: "Implementation of a graphical user interface and noise reduction techniques for 3D points clouds"

Abstract: With the evolution of computing technology, computer graphics and hardware sensors, various advanced digital terrain representation techniques have been developed. A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is a representation of the earth's surface, and is commonly used for modeling and analyzing topography and terrain. Square-grid elevation models have emerged as the most widely used data structure because of their simple, convenient means of storing data, as well as their ease of implementation in applications. This thesis describes the implementation of a proof-of-concept application called CloudLab for refining point clouds using noise reduction techniques in order to create high-quality and accurate square-grid DEMs. The tool was applied on real elevation data collected via ground-level photogrammetry. This work identifies several avenues for further research and development.

Secondary School Diploma

2004 - 2008

Institution: St. Basil Secondary School, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada
Specialized Courses: Computer Engineering, Computer and Information Sciences I, II & III, Website Design