INESC-ID researchers awarded ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper
A joint team of researchers including INESC-ID researchers Vasco Manquinho and Pedro Orvalho will receive an ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award for their work on a new analysis engine for the popular Alloy modeling language.
The paper “AlloyMax: Bringing Maximum Satisfaction to Relational Specifications” has been chosen to receive an ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award at upcoming ACM Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering (ESEC/FSE 2021).
The team of authors is composed by Changjian Zhang (CMU), Ryan Wagner (CMU), Pedro Orvalho (INESC-ID/IST, Universidade de Lisboa), David Garlan (CMU), Vasco Manquinho (INESC-ID/IST, Universidade de Lisboa), Ruben Martins (CMU), and Eunsuk Kang (CMU).
Distinguished papers are given to at most 10% of the papers accepted at an ACM SIGSOFT-sponsored conference. The winners were chosen by the program co-chairs from those papers that had either a nomination for distinguished paper award, or at least two accept scores and no negative scores. In total eight papers were recognized this year.
“The Alloy language is widely used in software engineering for verification, automatic generation of test cases, or security analysis. Considering that the software is currently pervasive on any device we use, some defects can result in serious failures in the operation and safety of the devices”, mentioned Vasco Manquinho.
The work, in collaboration with the CMU team, extends the Alloy modeling language to enable the generation of optimal solutions according to a given optimization criterion. For example, it enables to obtain solutions that maximize the performance or security of systems. The INESC-ID research team has a long-term collaboration with Prof. Rúben Martins (CMU) in the development of new optimization algorithms using computational logic.
“This distinction is important because it allows greater visibility to our work in the field of computational logic. Reality is demonstrating the importance of this area in numerous engineering contexts”, adds the INESC-ID researcher.
Upcoming Events
OLISSIPO Workshop: “How to design a graphical abstract” with Dr. Rita Félix (CNC-UC)
On April 19, the OLISSIPO project will host an 8-hour workshop titled “How to design a graphical abstract” with Dr. Rita Félix, a science communicator, illustrator and designer from CNC Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (Coimbra, Portugal). Registration is free and seating is limited.
Registration Deadline: April 5 | Register here (free but mandatory)
Date & Time: April 19, 09h00-18h00 ( 8-hours)
Where: INESC-ID, R. Alves Redol 9, 1000-029 Lisboa | Room 9 (Auditorium), Ground Floor
Summary: “How to design a graphical abstract” Workshop aims to explain what a graphical abstract is, and give you design tools and tips on how to create a better, clear and engaging graphical abstract. This workshop is tailored to give you tools and improve your graphical abstract, without having to learn how to use a new software program (like Adobe Illustrator). Bring your graphical abstract, share it with the class, work on it and take home a new version.
Short Bio: Rita Félix is a science communicator, illustrator and designer, with life sciences research experience. Currently working as the Institutional Communication Manager and Designer at CNC-UC. She completed her PhD in Neuroscience in 2020, in the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme. After that, she enrolled in a Digital Illustration Specialization Course to further develop her visualization and design skills. Worked as a Scientific Graphic Designer at Science Crunchers, a science communication company, where she developed multiple graphical abstracts, article figures, infographics, diagrams, illustrations, visual identity, logos and webdesign for companies, scientific institutions and Horizon 2020 consortia. More information at https://ritallfelix.wixsite.com/portfolio .
INESC-ID talk: “Rise of the AI-Empowered End User Software Engineer” by Ed Ayers and Andy Gordon (Cogna)
On April 19, INESC-ID will host a talk by Ed Ayers and Andy Gordon from the startup Cogna. The talk is titled “Rise of the AI-Empowered End User Software Engineer” and is organised by INESC-ID researcher Nuno Lopes.
Date & Time: April 19, 15h00 -16h00
Where: INESC-ID, Rua Alves Redol, 9, 1000-029 Lisboa | Room 9 (Auditorium), Ground Floor
Summary:
“What if natural language really is the new programming language? Inspired by the transformation of professional software engineering by generative AI, let’s take the next step: empowering end users. We can boost their productivity with hyper-customized software generated from natural language. This challenge needs research right across software engineering: requirements, architecture, coding, testing, verification, repair, and maintenance. We will survey current progress and open research questions in this exciting new area of programming language research.”
(Photo: Cogna website)