Brief CV

Education

• BA in Mathematics, University of York 1985.
• MSc in Mathematics, Lehigh University 1987.
• PhD in Computer Science, University of Edinburgh 1994.

Employment

• Teaching Assistant, Department of Mathematics, Lehigh University. (1985-1986)
• Junior Consultant, Logica Financial Systems. (1987-1988)
• Research Associate, Kingston Business School. (1988-1989)
• Research Assistant (IMSE project), Department of Computer Science, University of Edinburgh. (1989-1991)
• EPSRC Research Fellow, Department of Computer Science, University of Edinburgh. (1994-1995)
• Lecturer, Department of Computer Science/Division of Informatics, University of Edinburgh. (1995-2001)
• Reader, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh. (2001--2006)
• EPSRC Advanced Research FellowSchool of Informatics, University of Edinburgh. (2005--2010)
• Professor, Chair of Quantitative Modelling, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh. 2006--
• Research Theme Leader: Modelling and Abstraction Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA) 2008--2011
• Director of Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh. 2011--2014

Research Interests

• Stochastic Process Algebras, particularly PEPA, PEPA nets, Bio-PEPA and HYPE; This involves both developing new theory, investigating ways to exploit the theory to model large systems, and undertaking case studies to demonstrate the theory in practice.
• Some of these languages have been inspired by studying problems in systems biology, particularly biochemical modelling of signal transduction pathways.
• This has also inspired work on fluid approximations of large discrete models. My EPSRC ARF studied this problem in a project entitled Process Algebra for Collective Dynamics.
• The work on PEPA is informed by formal studies of the relationship between Stochastic Process Algebras and other performance modelling formalisms such as Stochastic Petri Nets and Stochastic Automata Networks;
• Generally I have an interest in performance modelling and solution of Markov processes, especially compositional solution techniques, e.g. product form solutions, and time scale decomposition, and in formally expressing and checking properties of performance models.

• The CODA project --- Process Algebra for Collective Dynamics. Process algebras are very good for describing the behaviour and interactions of discrete entities. But in many systems we have large population of such entities and state space explosion problems hinder the analysis of such systems using the usual discrete state space semantics. In this project we investigated techniques to keep the precise descriptions of individuals but analyse their properties as populations. Funded by EPSRC and BBSRC, 2005--2010.

• The SIGNAL project --- Stochastic process algebra for biochemical signalling pathways analysis. In this joint project with the University of Glasgow we explored ways in which the process algebra apparatus (equivalence relations, partial orders etc) can be exploited during analysis of biochemical signalling pathways. Funded by EPSRC and BBSRC, 2007--2010.

• The CSBE project --- Centre for Systems Biology at Edinburgh. CSBE's research goal was to develop broadly-applicable methods and large-scale infrastructure for modelling the temporal aspects of biological phenomena, informed by three pilot biological projects. A key emphasis was to link diverse data and models tightly, through multiple iterations, ranging from static ab initio models to highly-constrained, kinetic models that cross multiple scales. Our role within CSBE was the development of a novel stochastic process algebra, Bio-PEPA, and investigation of its use against biological exemplar projects. Funded by BBSRC and EPSRC, 2006--2011.

• The SENSORIA project ---Software Engineering for Service-Oriented Overlay Computers.Service-oriented computing is emerging as a new paradigm based on autonomous, platform-independent computational entities (called services) that can be described, published and categorised, and dynamically discovered and assembled for developing massively distributed, interoperable, evolvable systems and applications. Our role in this project was the exploration and development of techniques to assess quality of service in large distributed systems based on stochastic process algebras. Funded by EU FET-IST Global Computing, 2005--2009.

• The Mobile VCE Core 4 project --- Removing Barriers to the Commercialisation of Ubiquitous Application and Services. This large consortium project seeks to make the anywhere, any time, any device promise of wireless technology a reality. Our role within the project is the use of PEPA models to evaluate protocols which handle both mobility and quality of service, and to inform the design of a content adaptation architecture. Funded by DTI and EPSRC, 2005--2009.

• The QUANTICOL project ---A Quantitative Approach to Management and Design of Collective and Adaptive Behaviours. The project has five academic partners: University of Edinburgh, CNR-ISTI, IMT Lucca, Southampton University and INRIA Grenoble. The main objective is the development of an innovative formal design framework that provides a specification language for Collective Adaptive Systems (CAS) and a large variety of tool-supported, scalable analysis and verification techniques. These techniques will be based on the original combination of recent breakthroughs in the field of Formal Methods, in particular stochastic process algebras and associated verification techniques, and Applied Mathematics, in particular mean field/continuous approximation and control theory. Such a design framework will provide scalable extensive support for the verification of developed models, and also enable and facilitate experimentation and discovery of new design patterns for emergent behaviour and control over spatially distributed CAS. Funded by EU FET-Proactive Programme FoCAS under FP7, 2013--2017.