Software Engineering Research Lab to Airplanes, Orion and Beyond
Suresh C. Kothari · 2016
This paper is a short story of my adventures of the past 20 years trying to integrate academic research with software engineering problems in industry. I share the challenges I encountered on the way, my failures and successes, evolution of my research, and its adoption in industry. Though I faced many hardships, I feel great satisfaction in knowing that my research is applied today in the design of avionics systems, automobiles, and even in NASA's Orion program. My latest adventure and honor is an opportunity to participate in two visionary Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) programs aimed at developing an innovative technology to fight the war against sophisticated malware that poses grave security threats to individuals and nations. Without working with industry, it would not have been possible for me to formulate rigorous but practical research problems. These problems have shaped my research. I narrate my story to provide insights into bridging the gap between academic research and the problems industry practitioners face. My hope is the reader can benefit from the story and be able to achieve in 10 years what has taken me 20 years. I also hope that my story encourages industry practitioners to work with universities.