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Staff Profile

Dr Ken Pierce

Lecturer

  • Telephone: +441912087883
  • Address: School of Computing,
    Urban Sciences Building,
    Â鶹´«Ã½,
    1 Science Square,
    Â鶹´«Ã½ Helix,
    Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne,
    NE4 5TG
Background

Ken is a Lecturer in the School of Computing at Â鶹´«Ã½. His main interests lie in developing methods and tools for collaborative, model-based design and engineering of cyber-physical systems (CPSs). In particular, he is interested in helping engineers from multiple disciplines collaborate effectively through co-modelling and co-simulation to achieve better performing, more resilient designs across a range of domains. Recent new collaborations include investigating Digital Twins for Resilient Geoinfrastructure with the School of Engineering, and Studying Drones in Mountain Rescue with Virtual Field Trials with domain experts from Â鶹´«Ã½ Business School and registered charity . 

Ken is associated with the AMBER group (Advanced Model-based Engineering) the CPLab (Cyber-Physical Systems lab) and has been Convener of the of the VDM (Vienna Development Method) formal method since 2014. He is Degree Programme Director (DPD) for the Smart Systems Engineering MSc. programme. Ken is currently involved in the project, an Innovation Action funded by the European Commission's H2020 programme, which brings model-based design to European SMEs through an online platform and cascading funding. 

Ken has previously participated in a variety of successful projects, particularly the H2020 project INTO-CPS and CPSE Labs between 205 and 2017, and FP7 projects DESTECS and COMPASS between 2010 and 2014. Ken received his BSc (Hons) in Computer Science (Software Engineering) from Â鶹´«Ã½ in 2005 and studied for his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Cliff Jones. His thesis, titled "Enhancing the Usability of Rely-Guarantee Conditions for Atomicity Refinement", was published in December 2009. 

Area of expertise: Model-based engineering and cyber-physical systems

Google Scholar:

Research

My research interests are in the areas of cyber-phsyical systems (CPSs), these are systems of interacting computing and physical elements, with requirements for distributed control, human interaction and error detection and recovery. More broadly I research model based design, collaborative modelling and co-simulation, design space exploration (DSE) and trade-space analysis, and fault tolerance. I also maintain an interest in formal methods, including the VDM formalism.

Current Projects

  • (CoI, 2020-2022, H2020 )

Former Projects

Teaching

Ken engages in research-informed teaching on a variety of topics, particulary collaborative modelling, Cyber-Physical Systems and smart systems. He supervises PhD students as well as dissertation students at postgraduate and undergraduate level. He is Degree Programme Director (DPD) for the Smart Systems Engineering MSc. programme. 

PhD Supervision:

  • TBC - Studying Drones in Mountain Rescue with Virtual Field Trials (2021 –)
  • Sam Hall - Digital Twins for Resilient Geo-Infrastructure (2019 – present)
Postgraduate Teaching
Undergraduate Teaching
  • CSC2034 Introducing Contemporary Topics in Computing
  • CSC3331 Real-Time and Cyber-Physical Systems 

Project supervision:

  • CSC3095 Project and Dissertation in Computing Science
  • CSC8499 Project and Dissertation for MSc in Advanced Computer Science
  • CSC8099 Project and Dissertation for MSc Computer Science
  • CSC8799 Project and Dissertation in Smart Systems
Publications

  • Articles

    • Bhattacharyya A, Forshaw M, Golightly D, Merricks S, Palacin R, Pierce K, Da Silva PP. . Journal of Rail Transport Planning & Management 2025, 33, 100505.
    • Golightly D, Bhattacharyya A, Pierce K, Tian Z, Lin Z, Liu R, Lyu X, Jiang K, Liu X. . Electronics 2025, 14(7), 1467.
    • Golightly D, Pierce K, Palacin R, Gamble C. . Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit 2022, 236(6), 715-732.
    • Neghina M, Zamfirescu C-B, Pierce K. . Software and Systems Modeling 2020, 19, 581-600.
    • Golightly D, Gamble C, Palacin R, Pierce K. . Ergonomics 2020, 63(8), 1027-1043.
    • Whyte J, Fitzgerald J, Mayfield M, Coca D, Pierce K, Shah N. . INCOSE International Symposium 2019, 29(1), 542-542.
    • Golightly D, Gamble C, Palacin R, Pierce K. . Urban Rail Transit 2019, 5, 254-266.
    • Neghina M, Zamfirescu C-B, Larsen PG, Lausdahl K, Pierce K. . Studies in Informatics and Control 2018, 27(4), 33-42.
    • Bhattacharyya A, Mokhov A, Pierce K. . Formal Aspects of Computing 2017, 29(2), 251-307.
    • Fitzgerald JS, Larsen PG, Pierce KG, Verhoef MHG. . Mathematical Structures in Computer Science 2013, 23(4), 726-750.
    • Jones CB, Pierce KG. . Formal Aspects of Computing 2011, 23(3), 289-306.

  • Book Chapters

    • Fitzgerald J, Larsen PG, Pierce K, Freitas L, Battle N. . In: Cavalcanti, A; Baxter, J, ed. The Practice of Formal Methods: Essays in Honour of Cliff Jones, Part 1. Cham: Springer, 2024, pp.109-130.
    • Fitzgerald J, Gamble C, Mansfield M, Ouy J, Palacin R, Pierce K, Larsen PG. . In: Transportation Cyber-Physical Systems. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2018, pp.51-79.
    • Fitzgerald J, Pierce K, Larsen PG. . In: Bagnato, A; Indrusiak, LS; Quadri, IR; Rossi, M, ed. Handbook of Research on Embedded Systems Design. Hershey, PA, USA: IGI Global, 2014, pp.1-28.

  • Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

    • Pierce K, Bhattacharyya A, Golightly D, Pinto da Silva P, Merricks S, Palacin R, Guo Z. . In: Annual Modeling and Simulation Conference (ANNSIM’24). 2024, Washington, DC, USA: Society for Modeling & Simulation International (SCS).
    • Pierce KG, Zaeemdar S. . In: ICGJ '24: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons and Game Creation Events. 2024, Copenhagen, Denmark: ACM.
    • Hotzel Escardo T, Pierce K, Golightly D, Palacin R. . In: Software Engineering and Formal Methods: SEFM 2020 Collocated Workshops. 2020, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Springer.
    • Larsen PG, Macedo HD, Gomes CG, Esterle L, Thule C, Fitzgerald J, Pierce K. . In: Frontiers in Software Engineering Education. FISEE 2019. 2020, Château de Villebrumier, France: Springer.
    • Pierce K, Gamble C, Golightly D, Palacin R. . In: FM 2019: Formal Methods. FM 2019 International Workshops. 2019, Porto, Portugal: Springer.
    • Larsen PG, Fitzgerald J, Woodcock J, Gamble C, Payne R, Pierce K. . In: Software Engineering and Formal Methods. SEFM 2017. 2018, Trento, Italy: Springer, Cham.
    • Mansfield M, Morisset C, Gamble C, Mace JC, Pierce K, Fitzgerald J. . In: 16th Overture Workshop. 2018, Oxford University, UK.
    • Mace JC, Morisset C, Pierce K, Gamble C, Maple C, Fitzgerald J. . In: Living in the Internet of Things: Cybersecurity of the IoT. 2018, London, UK: Institution of Engineering and Technology.
    • Fitzgerald JS, Gamble C, Larsen PG, Pierce K, Woodcock JCP. . In: 2015 IEEE/ACM 37TH IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering. 2015, Florence, Italy: IEEE.
    • Pierce K, Ingram C, Bos B, Ribeiro A. . In: IEEE 8th International Conference on Global Software Engineering (ICGSE). 2013, Bari, Italy: IEEE.
    • Pierce KG, Fitzgerald JS, Gamble C. . In: ERCIM/EWICS/Cyber-physical Systems Workshop at SafeComp. 2011, Naples, Italy.
    • Fitzgerald J, Larsen P, Pierce K, Verhoef M, Wolff S. . In: Integrated Formal Methods: 8th International Conference (IFM 2010). 2010, Nancy, France: Springer.
    • Jones CB, Pierce KG. . In: Abstract State Machines, B and Z: First International Conference (ABZ 2008). 2008, London, UK: Springer-Verlag.
    • Jones CB, Pierce KG. . In: Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Engineering of Complex Computer Systems, ICECCS. 2007, Auckland: IEEE.

  • Reports

    • Gamble C, Couto LD. . Â鶹´«Ã½, 2019. School of Computing Technical Report Series 1530.
    • Pierce K, Verhoef M. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne, UK: School of Computing Science, University of Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne, 2018. School of Computing Technical Report Series 1524.
    • Bhattacharyya A, Mokhov A, Pierce K. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne, 2015. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1462.
    • Plat N, Ballegaard Nielsen C, Riddle S. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne, 2012. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1345.
    • Fitzgerald J, Pierce K, Gamble C. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne: Â鶹´«Ã½, 2012. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1331.
    • Andrews Z, Bryans J, Fitzgerald J, Hughes J, Payne R, Pierce K, Riddle S. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne, 2011. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1308.
    • Fitzgerald JS, Larsen PG, Pierce KG, Verhoef MHG. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne, 2011. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1264.
    • Jones CB, Pierce KG. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne, 2010. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1185.
    • Jones CB, Pierce KG. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne, 2010. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1186.
    • Pierce K, Plat N, Wolff S. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, Â鶹´«Ã½, 2010. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1224.
    • Fitzgerald J, Gorm Larsen P, Pierce KG, Verhoef M, Wolff S. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne, 2010. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1213.
    • Jones CB, Pierce KG. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne, 2009. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1166.
    • Pierce KG. . Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne, 2009.