Raffaela Mirandola

Increased focus at the university on the fourth industrial revolution

The fourth industrial revolution has started, combining physical and virtual worlds into so-called cyber-physical systems. Linnaeus University is widening its expertise in key research areas through, among other ventures, appointing Raffaela Mirandola guest professor in software technology.

"Industry 4.0 is characterised by physical and virtual worlds converging in the form of cyber-physical systems. Cyber-physical systems monitor physical systems, communicate and cooperate with each other and with human beings in real time, and make intelligent decisions. They offer boundless opportunities in almost all areas of industry and society by becoming the cornerstone of all future socio-technical systems", says Raffaela Mirandola, newly appointed guest professor in software technology at Linnaeus University.

From health care to unmanned vehicles

Indeed, cyber-physical systems have a wide range of application areas in everyday life: health care, electric smart grid and renewable energy, automotive and road system with unmanned vehicles, just to mention a few. It is the software that operates and controls the overall system that makes these systems intelligent. Thus, software is becoming a critical core competence for developing and operating smart, secure, and high-quality complex systems.

"In order to meet new industrial and societal requirements, we now need to make a strategic venture in the field of Industry 4.0, strengthening both our research and our education in software engineering. This is complementary to the research groups currently working at the Department of Computer Science and Media Technology and aims at refining and widening our expertise in key research areas", says Mauro Caporuscio, senior lecturer in computer science.

Financed by the Knowledge Foundation

Raffaela Mirandola is associate professor at Politecnico di Milano in Italy and will be guest professor in software technology at Linnaeus University for a year, starting this September. Raffaela's research interests are in the areas of performance and reliability modelling and analysis of software/hardware systems. She has published more than 100 journal and conference articles on these topics and is a member of the Editorial Board of Journal of System and Software, Elsevier, and of the IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering. The professorship is financed by the Knowledge Foundation and has been made possible by the companies Visma SPCS, Zenta and Softwerk supporting the application.

"Coming to Linnaeus University feels exciting due to its close contacts with industry. I can already see many potential projects in collaborations with companies and the university researchers. I have also learned that Linnaeus University has helped in starting a network for women in IT. Earlier this year I was one of the organizers of the first gender equality workshop in software engineering, so I'm looking forward to see how we can work together in these aspects too", says Raffaela Mirandola.