Dr. Lu Xiao, Dr. Steven Hoffenson Awarded CAREER Grants from National Science Foundation (NSF)
SSE Assistant Professors Xiao and Hoffenson will launch their five-year research projects in the summer and fall of 2021, respectively.
Dr. Lu Xiao has been awarded the Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) grant of $486,183 for a project on an AI-Empowered Architecture-Centric Framework for Systematic Software Performance Optimization that will address three key gaps in the current research and practice of software performance engineering. These include the lack of large-scale databases and comprehensive understanding of common performance issues in real-world projects; inadequate understanding of how complicated architectural connections contribute to performance issues and how fixing harmful connections leads to rewarding optimization; and low systematic understanding of the different levels of optimization tactics for addressing real-life performance issues with different concerning scopes.
Dr. Steven Hoffenson has also been awarded a CAREER grant and will receive $553,523 for a project on Multidisciplinary and Life Cycle Holistic Sustainable Design. The five-year project will support the development of a holistic approach to sustainable product design that accounts for all life cycle phases, stakeholders and sustainability outcomes using tools and techniques from the systems engineering and engineering design research communities. Hoffenson's research will operate on the premise that by designing products with multiple perspectives and a longer time horizon in mind, companies can be more profitable, consumers can get better products, and environmental and social wellbeing will improve.
“On behalf of the School of Systems & Enterprises, I’d like to congratulate Dr. Xiao and Dr. Hoffenson on receiving the prestigious NSF CAREER award for their excellent work on AI-driven strategies for software systems performance and sustainable systems engineering, respectively,” said Dean Yehia Massoud. "These grants will enable them to lead compelling research investigations into two areas that, in their wide array of applications, will be highly impactful for society."