I am an Assistant Professor of Software Engineering at McMaster University, Canada, where I lead the Sustainable Systems and Methods Lab (SSM) and work as a researcher in the McMaster Centre for Software Certification (McSCert).
My research is situated under the broader umbrella of systems engineering, with a particular interest in advanced digital technology in the overlap of model-driven engineering (MDE) and simulation, digital twins and AI.
In my lab, we work on novel reinforcement learning techniques, digital twin architectures, and modeling and simulation methods.
I received my PhD in Computer Science in 2019 from the University of Antwerp, Belgium, for my work on model consistency management in multi-paradigm settings with Prof. Hans Vangheluwe (ex-McGill, currently at University of Antwerp, Belgium). Afterwards, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Software and Sustainability group at VU Amsterdam, the Netherlands with Prof. Ivano Malavolta; and at University of Montréal, Canada, with Prof. Eugene Syriani and Prof. Houari Sahraoui. In my Master’s years, I worked on streaming model transformations by complex event processing with the VIATRA/IncQuery team at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary, headed by Prof. Daniel Varro (ex-McGill, currently at Linköping University, Sweden).
I’m active outside of academia as well, mainly in innovation consulting. I served in multiple management and technical roles, most recently as the Head of Innovation for a multinational quality engineering corporation.
Top news (click for more)
- New publication at ICSA’26: A Reference Architecture of Reinforcement Learning Frameworks
Our paper A Reference Architecture of Reinforcement Learning Environments, co-authored with Xiaoran (Sharon) Liu (PhD student in our lab) has been accepted for the 23rd IEEE International Conference on Software … - Guest lecture by Dr Enxhi Ferko in our digital twin course
It is my pleasure to welcome Dr. Enxhi Ferko (Digital Twin Specialist at Jotne Connect) as a guest lecturer in my Engineering Digital Twins course at McMaster University (CAS 782) … - Bellairs’26 on Continuous Software Engineering
Just wrapped up a fantastic and intensive week of research at the 2026 Workshop on Continuous Software Engineering (CSE), part of the highly successful workshop series at McGill University’s Bellairs … - SoSyM Best Reviewer Award 2025
I am honored to receive a Best Reviewer Award from the International Journal on Software and Systems Modeling (SoSyM) for my 2025 efforts. The award comes after two similar awards … - ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award at MODELS’25
Together with Kyanna Dagenais, we are honored to receive the ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award at the ACM/IEEE 28th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems (MODELS) for … - Distinguished Reviewer Award at MODELS’25
I am truly honored to receive a Distinguished Reviewer Award from the ACM/IEEE 28th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems (MODELS). Being invited to the Program Committee … - Our PhD student Xiaoran (Sharon) Liu takes on new role in WISE
Our PhD student, Xiaoran (Sharon) Liu has been appointed as Conference Communications and Logistics Director for WISE, the McMaster Women in Science and Engineering initiative. WISE is a network of … - Best Paper 2024 Runner-up in the Journal of Computer Languages
Our journal article “Screening Articles for Systematic Reviews with ChatGPT” co-authored with Eugene Syriani and Gauransh Kumar has been in the three nominees for the 2024 Best Paper Award in the …
Other news (click for more)
- Our lab’s showing at MODELS’25 – in numbersThis year’s MODELS conference in numbers is: one accepted foundations paper in the main track, two accepted papers for co-located and satellite events, two awards, and two workshops we led …
- Dr. Moira Zellner confirmed as keynote speaker at CoPaMo’25Dr. Moira Zellner (Northeastern) has been confirmed as the keynote speaker of this year’s CoPaMo. Realizing the potential of community-led, science-driven participatory modeling: A case in green infrastructure planning Speaker: Dr. Moira Zellner (Northeastern University, …
- Accepted publication from McSCert at EDTConfOur paper Engineering Automotive Digital Twins on Standardized Architectures: A Case Study, co-authored with colleagues at McMaster Centre for Software Certification (McSCert) has been accepted for this year’s International Conference on Engineering …
- Adwita Kashyap completes her Summer research internship at the Faculty’s Summer Research ShowcaseWrapping up her successful Summer coop project, Adwita Kashyap presented her work today at the Faculty’s Summer Research Showcase. Finishing only her first year in the engineering program, Adwita developed …