Projects

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina Wilmington since 2017. My research focuses on human factors in software engineering and cyber security with occasional forays into data analytics and machine learning.

Select a project below for more information!

  • Human factors
  • Empirical software engineering
  • Software analytics

  • Factors Impacting Cyber Security Analyst Performance in the Use of Intrusion Detection Systems

    Understanding how IDS accuracy impacts human's ability to correctly identify incidents

    Master’s student Will Roden’s thesis project investigates the boundary in human-machine cyberdefense systems, and how human performance in correctly classifying incidents is impacted by the false alarm rate of IDS systems. Publications forthcoming.

    • The Cry Wolf platform is now available as open source software for conducting controlled experiments on Human-IDS interactions.
    • View the Cry Wolf dataset, consisting of 73 simulated IDS alerts on the “impossible travel” scenario. An evaluation of the dataset was presented at ACMSE 2020.

  • Coastal Eco Explorer

    An educational mobile application for visitors to Carolina Beach State Park

    A mobile application co-developed with Computer Science student Kinsley Sigmund in partnership with Dr. Amy Taylor and Dr. Dennis Kubasko of the Watson College of Education. The app delivers an interactive explorer map and educational materials about ecosystems, flora, and fauna at Carolina Beach State Park.

  • Human Factors in Software Development and Security

    Improving how humans solve problems in these spaces by developing people-focused tools and processes.

    Read more about the MimEc and AWARE projects to help software developers navigate IDEs, and the InViz project to support visual navigation and search of webserver log events in real time.

  • Computer Science Education

    Encouraging diversity and retention in computer science through teaching approaches that appeal to many personality types and learning styles.

    See my teaching portfolio and publications on computer science education.

Below is a sampling of my projects prior to joining UNCW.

  • Pocket Security - Smartphone Cybercrime in the Wild

    Researching mobile device usage habits at the intersection of the physical and cyber world to prevent crime

    Award #161084 from the National Science Foundation Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace program. Learn more about this project at https://www.pocket-security.org.

  • Data Protection Policy Effectiveness

    Providing company decision-makers with understandable, empirical evidence that indicates where and how their data protection policies are not being followed.

    A grant from the Cisco University Research Fund.

  • NASA Anomaly Analysis

    Applying machine learning to spaceflight mission problem reports to find trends and extract lessons learned.

    We analyzed thousands of NASA anomaly reports using machine learning, and built a web application to help NASA engineers query the data. Read about it or view the presentation from Mining Software Repositories 2016.

  • Secure Embedded Systems Engineering

    Researching threats and writing security requirements in the automotive industry.

  • Software Process Improvement and Assurance through Analytics

    Improving software process predictability and control through measurement, quantification, and analytics.