RESEARCH STATEMENT:

Creativity in finding and applying analogies across disciplines can yield useful results as well as open new fields of exploration. For example, during my doctoral research I discovered provable similarities between my partitioning solutions for software design problems and those of researchers solving different, but in many ways similar, problems involving data clustering. I found that software design has roots in the study of diverse fields such as information/data organization, complexity, and human factors. Software design problems have applicable solutions from multiple disciplines, namely mathematics, science, and engineering. By its nature, automating software design to reduce human effort and error depends on an interdisciplinary study of systematic ways to analyze and organize design knowledge and elements.

As discussed in my dissertation, studying software design from an information theoretic point of view is an untapped area of research. [1] One approach is to determine aspects of software design that involve automatable functions, such as searching, sorting, or partitioning. My current research involves relating/mapping software design problems to problems in other fields, such as digital circuit design and data clustering, in which known programmable solutions exist. I am working with researchers in the fields of aerospace, electrical, and software engineering to explore ways to more fully automate the design of software that satisfies selected quality attributes such as changeability, real-time constraints, or security.

Business and technical professionals work in a multidimensional world involving synergies between economics, politics, society, and technology. It is not sufficient to solve a technological problem without considering the ramifications of the solution with respect to economy and commerce, government regulation, and societal benefits and values. As researchers in science and engineering, we too should consider the multiple contexts in which our work will affect our world. My focus is on the development of software technologies that could significantly reduce the cost of ubiquitous embedded systems, while delivering enhanced or new functional value. I am working on ways to build software components and systems that satisfy quality constraints and reduce the cost of developing related systems. [2]

REFERENCES:

[1] Hoover, Carol L. (2001). Analytical Design of Evolvable Software for High-Assurance Computing. Dissertation. Pittsburgh, PA: Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University. Microform edition published by UMI Dissertation Services, Bell & Howell Information and Learning, Ann Arbor, MI. Published as Technical Report: CMU-CS-01-111, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University.

[2] Mathur, D., B. W. Edwards, J. Goldstein, H. Nguyen, J. Pine, B. A. Plante, J. Thacker, and C. Hoover. (2005). “An Approach for Designing Reusable, Embedded Software Components for Spacecraft Flight Instruments.” To be published in the Proceedings of the Eleventh IEEE Real-Time and Embedded Technology and Applications Symposium (RTAS 2005), Mar. 7-10. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press.

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