Current positions

🟢PhD: 2
▸I have an open PhD position in sustainable and green software engineering with a start date in 2025 September. Read the call here.
▸I have an open PhD position with a flexible scope with a start date in 2025 September. A topic of mutual interest is to be identified.

🔴Master’s: 0
▸I have no open Master’s positions at the moment.

🟡Undergraduate: only with a scholarship
▸Applications for undergraduate positions are open with NSERC USRA, McMaster EREA, and similar competitive scholarships and awards.

Positions and topics (General call for every level)

Please inform yourself about the grade requirements, soft prerequisites, and potential topics below.
You will also find instructions about the application process at the end of this page. (Please note that I do not respond to emails that do not follow the application process.)

Jump to…
▸ Info for grad students
▸ Info for undergrad students
▸ Topics (flexible)
▸ Application process

Requirements for graduate applicants

Applicants in each graduate program (PhD, MSc, MASc, MEng)

▸Strong background in at least one of these areas: software engineering, AI / machine learning, model-driven engineering, simulation. Experience in the following application areas is considered an asset: digital twins, sustainable AI, energy-efficient computing, green AI/SE.
▸Rock-solid programming skills.
▸Proactive and motivated personality. I teach my students how to become highly autonomous researchers and/or engineers. You need to be a partner in this.

Additional criteria for research-focused graduate programs (PhD, MSc, MASc)

▸At least 90% cGPA in your current or most recently closed study programme, and/or a strong research proposal aligned with the research focus of my lab.
A cGPA of 90% is the lower end of A+ (12/12 for Mac students), and about 4.5/5 for most countries. (More info about the grading system here.) A high GPA will help you secure your own grants and scholarships, further boosting your CV. It also tells me your work ethic matches the expectations of our particularly research-intensive lab. I will consider applications in the 85-90% cGPA range only if the agreed topic is exceptionally strong.

Recommended courses and soft prerequisites

As part of your grad studies, you have to successfully complete four (PhD, MSc, MASc) or six (MEng) courses. There are two courses that are particularly important for pursuing research in our lab:
▸CAS 782 – Engineering Digital Twins
▸CAS 703 – Software Design

Grad students should complete one or both of these courses as early in their studies as possible. Ideally, you take these courses as a Master’s student (if you’re a Mac graduate), or in the first year of your PhD (if you come from another university).

Ideally, as a prospective grad student, you have earned a high grade (at least A) in the following or similar courses if you’ve taken them:
▸SFWRENG 2AA4 – Software Design I (alternatively, COMPSCI 2ME3 – Introduction to Software Development)
▸SFWRENG 2OP3 – Object-Oriented Programming
▸SFWRENG 3K04 – Software Development
▸COMPSCI 4AR3 – Software Architecture

Undergrad applicants

I have a limited number of undergraduate research positions for reliable, research-focused students, including part-time research assistant positions and full-time Summer research positions. In general, precedence is given to students with scholarships and awards. Some of the scholarships and awards my students have received include the NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA), McMaster’s Engineering Research Experience Awards (EREA), and the Mitacs Globalink Research Internship (GRI) to support their work with me.

NSERC USRA

Specifically about NSERC USRA: this is a very competitive award. Based on the recent years, your GPA must be above 11.7 to get a chance at receiving it.
The Department of Computing and Software will advertise our topics every time the call opens.
But feel free to contact me directly (any time) you have a sufficiently high GPA and you’re interested in applying for an USRA with me.

Directed readings

If you are interested in working in my lab on a short project, consider taking the following undergrad course with me:
▸COMPSCI 4Z03 – Directed Readings
This is a great setup to test the waters of research while also working towards your undergrad degree.

Topics

Below is a selection of my research topics. Everything is very much flexible and the eventual topic should be mutually agreed on. Feel free to send me an email and suggest your topic of interest.

AI and machine learning

▸Main focus: reinforcement learning, foundation models (such as LLMs)
▸Surrogate models (e.g., DNNs encoding simulators)
▸Blended human-machine reasoning

Sustainable and green computing

▸Green computing, energy-efficiency
▸Lifecycle modeling and sustainability debt accounting
▸Energy-efficiency of AI, digital twins, etc

Automated systems engineering

▸Development and synthesis of Digital Twins (through machine learning, variability, etc)
▸AI-driven software engineering
▸Modeling and simulation, multi-paradigm modeling, hybrid co-simulation, causal and acausal simulations, etc.

Model-driven and model-based engineering

▸Collaborative modeling, especially real-time modeling
▸Multi-level modeling, multi-abstraction
▸Modeling languages, frameworks, and tools
▸Digital twins
▸Multi-disciplinary design
▸Design-space exploration (DSE)

How to apply?

▸I am a McMaster student.
Reach out to me directly in an email to discuss a topic.
In parallel, apply here: https://applygrad.mcmaster.ca/portal/start_your_app. Applications typically open in November and close in March (international applicants) and June (Canadian applicants and PRs).
Indicate my name in your application.

▸I am not a McMaster student. (Grad positions only)
Apply here: https://applygrad.mcmaster.ca/portal/start_your_app. Applications typically open in November and close in March (international applicants) and June (Canadian applicants and PRs).
Indicate my name in your application.
Address one of my topics in your motivation letter.
If you choose to reach out to me in an email, please outline your preferred research topic or interests.