Biography

Personal Statement

I am an enthusiastic and passionate young academic, whose research interests mainly lie with the foundations of computer science and their practical application. My view of my research and teaching is perhaps best captured in the following oft quoted statement from Christopher Strachey, founder of the Programming Research Group at Oxford University:

It has long been my personal view that the separation of practical and theoretical work is artificial and injurious. Much of the practical work done in computing, both in software and in hardware design, is unsound and clumsy because the people who do it have not any clear understanding of the fundamental design principles of their work. Most of the abstract mathematical and theoretical work is sterile because it has no point of contact with real computing. One of the central aims of the Programming Research Group as a teaching and research group has been to set up an atmosphere in which this separation cannot happen. Christopher Strachey [Malcolm & Goguen 1996]

Specifically, my current work focuses on software evolution; the theory and practice of formal object-oriented design for the purpose of design verification. In the future I'll be building on this research into areas such as theories of classes and objects, the semantics of programming languages, software metrics and reverse engineering. I'm also keen to participate in the exciting field of the philosophy of computer science.

Besides my research, I also enjoy teaching having had four years of experience as a graduate teaching assistant (GTA). To me teaching is not simply for the dissemination of material and knowledge, but also to inspire and engage students on their level. To this end each year I continually adapted my course material and teaching style to meet the needs of the current students.

Qualifications

Currently, I am finishing my PhD from the University of Essex with an aim to submit by August 2010. I also hold an MSc (Distinction) and BSc hons (First) from the same institution. For more information or for a copy of my CV, feel free to contact me.

Teaching Experience

I have worked for four years as a graduate teaching assistant (GTA) in the School of Computer Science and Electronic Systems Engineering (CSEE) at the University of Essex, teaching first year undergraduate courses on both databases and web programming.

During my time as a GTA I have learned the importance of well developed teaching materials that both meet the course learning outcomes, and are accessible to the students. I learned to prepare such materials, and to deliver them effectively using appropriate methods that both challenge and encourage students, adapting my approach to suit their level of ability and learning needs.

Summary of Responsibilities

Summary of Courses

2009-2010
CE113, "Information Systems", full year, Prof. R. Turner & Mr. K. Primrose
The first half of this course covers the foundations of set theory, logic, relational algebra, with database design (Chen's ERD notation) and implementation (MySQL). The second have covered web design to XHTML 1.0 strict and CSS2.1 standards, client-side scripting (JavaScript) and Server-side scripting (JSP and JSTL).
2008-2009
CE113, "Information Systems", full year, Prof. R. Turner & Mr. K. Primrose
See above for details
2007-2008
CC154, "Database Systems", autumn term, Prof. R. Turner
This course covered the foundations of set theory, logic, relational algebra, with database design (Chen's ERD notation) and implementation (MySQL)
2006-2007
CC154, "Database Systems", autumn term, Prof. R. Turner
See above for details.

Professional Activities

I'm a student member of the IEEE, to be upgraded to full membership once I move into full-time employment. I also have the following additional professional activities:

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