Background

Many safety critical industries such as automotive, aerospace, maritime, and energy are increasingly relying on software for control and monitoring of electrical and mechanical equipment. Incorrect operation of software in these domains can lead to injury, loss of life, and substantial damage to property or the environment. As a result, software applications in these domains are subject to stringent standards and quality criteria to ensure that they render their intended function safely.

Simula is currently engaged in a large project in partnership with the industry to develop scalable solutions for construction and analysis of safety critical software, based on the Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) paradigm. Particular emphasis is placed on software in the maritime and energy sectors. Various masters-level topics are available within this project investigating different aspects of safety software development, including requirements capture, traceability, design, architectural configuration, and validation and verification.

What you will do:

1. Analyzing the relevant literature on software safety and Model-Driven Engineering (MDE). 

2. Applying MDE techniques and tools to case-studies from the industry. 

3. Assisting developers in building models of safety critical systems.

4. Developing algorithms for automation of safety analysis tasks.

5. Implementing these algorithms in user-friendly tools, e.g. as plugins for UML modelling frameworks.

What you will learn:

The project will provide you with knowledge and skills that are in high demand by today's industry. In particular, you will gain an in-depth understanding of

- UML and SysML modelling languages and tools

- Principles of modelling safety critical systems 

- Safety analysis techniques for embedded software applications