Muddassar Azam Sindhu

Associate Professor (Tenured)

PhD (CS) Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden.
Licentiate in Engineering (CS) Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden.
MSc (CS) Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan.

📧 masindhu-at-qau-edu-pk
☎ +92-51-9064-2066
📯 Room # 205, Dept. of Computer Science,
     Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan

                


Research Publications | Funded Projects | PhD Students | MPhil/MS Students

Research Interests

Primarily involved in developing new theories, algorithms and tools for software testing specifically for automatic test case generation both from formal and informal requirements. Recently I have also been involved in supervising students on statically analyzing software for vulnerabilities along with collaborating with peers on using network science for finding relationships between education, career selection and identifying rising researcher(s) in research networks and communities. Broadly, I work in the following areas:

• Software Testing
• Model mining / Grammatical Inference
• Algorithms
• Formal Methods
• Static Analysis for Vulnerability Analysis in Software
• Software Quality Assurance
• Requirements Engineering and Management

Teaching

• BS / MSc
• Analysis and Design for Software Systems
• Software Construction
• Theory of Automata
• Compiler Construction
• Software Testing Techniques
• Introduction to Computing Theory
• Computer Systems
• Software Testing Techniques
• Introduction to Software Engineering
• Software Engineering Practicum
• Database Design
• MS /MPhil / PhD
• Requirements Engineering
• Software Quality Assurance and Testing
• Research Seminar
• Program Comprehension and Reverse Engineering
• Programming for Data Science
• Specification of Software and Systems
• Grammatical Inference for Software Engineering

Research Publications

Journal

1. Towards understanding the role of content-based and contextualized features in detecting abuse on Twitter, [Kamal Hussain, Zafar Saeed, Rabeeh A. Abbasi, Muddassar A. Sindhu, Akmal S. Khattak, Sachi Arafat, Ali Daud, Mubashar Mushtaq], Heylion International Journal, 2024. online[IF 3.4]
2. Extraction of use case diagram elements using natural language processing and network science, [Maryam Imtiaz Malik, Muddassar A. Sindhu, Rabeeh A. Abbasi], PLOS ONE International Journal, 2023. online [IF 2.9]
3. IDLIQ: An Incremental Deterministic Finite Automaton Learning Algorithm Through Inverse Queries for Regular Grammar Inference, [Farah Haneef, Muddassar A. Sindhu], Journal on Big Data, 2023 online [IF 4.6]
4. A Reinforcement Learning Based Grammatical Inference Algorithm Using Block-Based Delta Inverse Strategy, [Farah Haneef, Muddassar A. Sindhu], IEEE Access 11, 12525-12535, 2023 online [IF 3.9]
5. DLIQ: A deterministic finite automaton learning algorithm through inverse queries, [Farah Haneef, Muddassar A. Sindhu], Information Technology and Control 51 (4), 611-624, 2022 online [IF 1.1]
6. Historical perspective of code clone refactorings in evolving software, [Javeria Kanwal, Onaiza Maqbool, Hamid A. Basit, Muddassar A. Sindhu, Katsuro Inoue], Plos one 17 (12), e0277216, 2022 online [IF 3.752]
7. Achieving State Space Reduction in Generated Ajax Web Application State Machine, [Nadeem F. Malik, Aamer Nadeem, Muddassar A. Sindhu], Intelligent Automation & Soft Computing 33 (1), 2022. online [IF 2.0]
8. Vovel metrics—novel coupling metrics for improved software fault prediction, [Rizwan Muhammad, Aamer Nadeem, Muddassar A. Sindhu] PeerJ Computer Science 7, e590, 2021, online [IF 3.8]
9. Multi-level aspect based sentiment classification of Twitter data: using hybrid approach in deep learning, [Sadaf H. Janjua, Ghazanfar F. Siddiqui, Muddassar A. Sindhu, Umer Rashid] PeerJ Computer Science 7, e433, 2021online[IF 3.8]
10. DKL: An Efficient Algorithm for Learning Deterministic Kripke Structures, [Rabia Mahar, Muddassar A. Sindhu], Acta Informatica, 2021. online [IF 0.9, Q2]
11. Resolving Cross-site Scripting Attacks using Genetic Algorithm and Reinforcement Learning, [Iram Tariq, Muddassar A. Sindhu, Rabeeh A. Abbasi, Akmal S. Khattak, Onaiza Maqbool Ghazanfar F. Siddiqui], Expert Systems with Applications, 2020. online [IF 5.45, Q1]
12. Metamorphic Testing of an Artificially Intelligent Chess Game, [Aisha Liaqat, Muddassar A. Sindhu, Ghazanfar F. Siddiqui], IEEE Access, 2020. online [IF 3.75, Q1]
13. Automating test oracles from restricted natural language agile requirements, [Maryam Imtiaz Malik, Muddassar A. Sindhu, Akmal S. Khattak, Rabeeh A. Abbasi, Khalid Saleem], International Journal on Expert Systems. Wiley Publishers. 2020. (online) [IF 1.546, Q2]
14. A Review of Career Selection Models, [Farah Haneef, Rabeeh A. Abbasi, Muhammad Noman Noor, Ali Daud, Muddassar A. Sindhu], Researchpedia Journal of Computing 1 (1), 30-38, 2020. (online)
15. Closing the Loop in Feedback Driven Learning Environments Using Trust Decision Making and Utility Theory, [Kanwal Mahmood, Muhammad Usman, Muddassar A. Sindhu, Alireza Jolfaei, Gautam Srivastava], Appeared in IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computational Intelligence, https://doi.org/10.1109/TETCI.2020.2991452, 2020. (online) [IF 4.85]
16. Formalizing the Use Case Model: A Model-based Approach, [Qamar uz Zaman, Aamer Nadeem, Muddassar A. Sindhu], Appeared in the PLOS ONE International Journal, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231534, 2020. (online) (IF 2.870, Q1)
17. Using Network Science to Understand the link between Subjects and Professions, [Farah Haneef, Rabeeh A. Abbasi, Muddassar A. Sindhu, Akmal Saeed Khattak, Muhammad Noman Noor, Naif Radi Aljohani, Ali Daud, Sachi Arafat], Appeared in the Journal on Computers in Human Behavior. 2020. (online) (IF 4.306, Q1)
18. Analysis of Classifier's Performance Measures Used in Software Fault Prediction Studies, [Muhammad Rizwan, Aamer Nadeem, Muddassar A. Sindhu] Appeared in IEEE Access Journal, Volume 7, Issue 1 pp 82764-82775, 2019. (online) (IF 4.09, Q1)
19. Evolutionary Perspective of Structural Clones in Software, [Jaweria Kanwal, Onaiza Maqbool, Hamid Abdul Basit, Muddassar A. Sindhu] Appeared in IEEE Access journal, Volume 7, Issue 1, pp 58720-58739, 2019. (online) (IF 4.09, Q1).
20. Towards Automated Testing of Multi-agent Systems using Prometheus Design Models, [Shafiqur Rehman, Aamer Nadeem, Muddassar A. Sindhu] Appeared in International Arab Journal of Information Technology, Vol 16, No1, pp 54-65, January 2019. (online) (IF 0.724, Q2)
21. Testing Abstract Behavioral Specifications, [P. Wong, R. Bubel, F. De Boer, M. Gomez-Zamalloa, S. De Gouw, R. Haehnle, Karl Mienke, Muddassar A. Sindhu] Appeared in the journal on, Software Tools for Technology Transfer, Volume 17, Issue 1, pp 107-119, February 2015. (online) (IF 1.612, Q2)

Books

1. Algorithms and Tools for Learning-based Testing of Reactive Systems, Doctoral Thesis, School of Computer Science and Communication, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, 2013, ISBN 978-91-7501-674-0. : (online)
2. Incremental Learning and Testing of Reactive Systems, Licentiate Thesis, School of Computer Science and Communication, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, 2011, ISBN 978-91-7501-062-5.

Conference

1. Debugging Effectiveness of LBT: An Empirical Study, [Waqar Ahmed Khan, Muddassar A. Sindhu] International Conference on IT and Industrial Technologies (ICIT), 136-141, 2022
2. Structural Coverage of LTL Requirements for Learning-based Testing, [Hafiz A. Quddus], Muddassar A. Sindhu] International Conference on IT and Industrial Technologies (ICIT), 1-6, 2022
3. Enhancement in Buffer Overflow (BOF) Detection Capability of Cppcheck Static Analysis Tool, [Younis Iqbal, Muddassar A. Sindhu, Muhammad H. Arif, Muhammad A. Javed], International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security (ICCWS), 112-117, 2021
4. Efficient Identification of Race Condition Vulnerability in C code by Abstract Interpretation and Value Analysis, [Mehran Yousaf, Muddassar A. Sindhu, Muhammad H. Arif, Shafiq Ur Rehman], International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security (ICCWS), 70-75, 2021
5. Test Oracle using Semantic Analysis from Natural Language Requirements, [Maryam Imtiaz Malik, Muddassar A. Sindhu, Rabeeh A. Abbasi], In Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 2: ICEIS, ISBN 978-989-758-423-7, pages 345-352. DOI: 10.5220/0009471903450352. 2020. (online)
6. Theoretical Evaluation of Software Coupling Metrics, [Muhammad Rizwan, Aamer Nadeem, Muddassar A. Sindhu], In Proc, 17th International Conference on Applied Science and Technology (IBCAST), Islamabad. 2020.
7. Empirical Evaluation of Coupling Metrics in Software Fault Prediction, [Muhammad Rizwan, Aamer Nadeem, Muddassar A. Sindhu], In Proc, 17th International Conference on Applied Science and Technology (IBCAST), Islamabad. 2020.
8. Test Case prioritization Based on Path Complexity, [Tehseen Afzal, Aamer Nadeem, Qamar uz Zaman, Muddassar A. Sindhu], Appeared In Proc, 17th International Conference on Frontiers of Information Technology (FIT), Islamabad, 2019.
9. Improving Requirements Coverage in Test Case Prioritization for Regression Testing, [Rimsha Batool, Aamer Nadeem, Muddassar A. Sindhu, Qamar uz Zaman], Appeared In Proc, 22nd IEEE International Multitopic Conference (INMIC), Islamabad, 2019.
10. A Metamorphic Relation based Approach for Testing a Chess Game, [Aisha Liaqat, Muddassar A. Sindhu] pp 81-86 In Proc 14th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies (ICET), Islamabad, Pakistan. 2018.
11. Finding Research Areas of Academicians using Clique Percolation, [Faisal Imran, Rabeeh Ayaz, Abbasi, Muddassar Sindhu, Akmal Khattak, Ali Daud and Tehmina Amjad) pp 211-216 In Proc 14th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies (ICET), Islamabad, Pakistan. 2018.
12. Automating Change Detection in Use Case Diagrams and Descriptions [Shahid Javaid, Muddassar A. Sindhu] pp 119-124 In Proc 22nd World Multi Conference on Systems, Cybernetics and Informatics, Orlando, Florida, USA, 2018.
13. Formalizing a Use Case to a Kripke Structure, [Qamar uz Zaman, Muddassar A. Sindhu, Aamer Nadeem] In Proc, IASTED International Symposium on Software Engineering Applications (SEA 2015), Los Angeles, USA, 2015. DOI: 10.2316/P.2015.829-017. (online)
14. Case studies in Learning-based Testing, [Lei Feng, Simon Lundmark, Karl Meinke, Fei Niu, Muddassar A. Sindhu, Peter Y. H. Wong] pp 164-179 in Proc, 25th IFIP ICTSS, LNCS 8254, Springer Verlag 2013.
15. LBTest: A Learning-based Testing Tool for Reactive Systems. [Karl Mienke, Muddassar A.Sindhu] pp 447-454, In Proc. IEEE ICST 2013 Tools Track.
16. Learning-Based Software Testing: a Tutorial [Karl Mienke, Fei Niu, Muddassar A. Sindhu] In Proc. Int. ISoLA workshop on Machine Learning, CCIS, Springer Verlag, 2011.
17. Correctness and Performance of IID Learning Algorithm for Finite Automata.[Karl Mienke, Muddassar A. Sindhu] in 3rd ACML 2011, Taiwan.
18. Incremental Learning-Based Testing for Reactive Systems.[Karl Mienke, Muddassar A. Sindhu] pp 134-151 in Proc, TAP 2011, LNCS 6706, Springer Verlag, 2011.

Funded Projects

1. Measuring Productivity in Digital Workplaces
   • Chief Expert: Prof. Seong Ju Kang (South Korea)
   • National Expert from Pakistan: Dr. Muddassar Azam Sindhu
   • Funding Amount: 4000 USD
   • Funding Agency: Asian Productivity Organization (APO)
   • Duration: 6 Months
   • Start Date: July 01, 2024
   • End Date: December 31, 2024
2. Optimizing Model Inference and Coverage in Learning-based Testing (OMICoLT)
   • PI: Dr. Muddassar Azam Sindhu
   • Co-PI: Dr. Onaiza Maqbool
   • Graduate Student 1: Farah Haneef (PhD student)
   • Graduate Student 2: Hafiz Abdul Quddus (MPhil Student for 1st Year of Project)
   • Graduate Student 3: Waqar Ahmed Khan (MPhil Student for 2nd Year of Project)
   • Funding Amount: PKR 2.1 Million
   • Funding Agency: HEC
   • Duration: 3 Years
   • Start Date: July 1, 2020
   • End Date: June 30, 2023
3. Cricket Bowling Training App for Kids Elbow Extension Analysis
   • PI: Dr. Muddassar Azam Sindhu
   • Undergrad Student: Waseem Khan
   • Funding Amount: PKR .08 Million
   • Funding Agency: IGNITE
   • Duration: 1 year
   • Start Date: August, 2020
   • End Date: July, 2021
4. Smart Garden Health Monitor App
   • PI: Dr. Muddassar Azam Sindhu
   • Undergrad Student: Taimoor Aslam
   • Funding Amount: PKR .08 Million
   • Funding Agency: IGNITE
   • Duration: 1 year
   • Start Date: August, 2020
   • End Date: July, 2021
5. Smart Electricity Manager
   • PI: Dr. Muddassar Azam Sindhu
   • Undergrad Student: Zeeshan Arif
   • Funding Amount: PKR .08 Million
   • Funding Agency: IGNITE
   • Duration: 1 year
   • Start Date: August, 2020
   • End Date: July, 2021
6. Vehicle Number Plate Identification System
   • PI: Dr. Muddassar Azam Sindhu
   • Undergrad Student: Fizza Asmat
   • Funding Amount: PKR .06 Million
   • Funding Agency: IGNITE
   • Duration: 1 year
   • Start Date: August, 2019
   • End Date: July, 2020
7. Robot Platoon
   • PI: Dr. Muddassar Azam Sindhu
   • Undergrad Student: Sadia Kalsoom
   • Funding Amount: PKR .05 Million
   • Funding Agency: IGNITE
   • Duration: 1 year
   • Start Date: August, 2019
   • End Date: July, 2020
8. Code Vulnerability Scanner for C Language-II
   • PI: Dr. Muddassar Azam Sindhu
   • Co-PIs: Dr. Onaiza Maqbool
   • Graduate Student: Mehran Yousaf
   • Funding Amount: PKR 0.10 Million
   • Funding Agency: Industry
   • Duration: 1 Year
   • Start Date: January 15, 2018
   • End Date: January 14, 2019
9. Code Vulnerability Scanner for Java Language-II
   • PI: Dr. Muddassar Azam Sindhu
   • Co-PIs: Dr. Onaiza Maqbool
   • Graduate Student: Iram Tarqi
   • Funding Amount: PKR 0.10 Million
   • Funding Agency: Industry
   • Duration: 1 Year
   • Start Date: January 15, 2018
   • End Date: January 14, 2019
10. Data Leak Prevention-II
    • PI: Dr. Muddassar Azam Sindhu
    • Co-PIs: Dr. Onaiza Maqbool
    • Research Associate: Aqib Rehman
    • Funding Amount: PKR 0.15 Million
    • Funding Agency: Industry
    • Duration: 1 Year
    • Start Date: January 15, 2018
    • End Date: January 14, 2019
11. Intelligent Tester using LBT
    • PI: Dr. Muddassar Azam Sindhu
    • Co-PIs: Dr. Onaiza Maqbool
    • Graduate Student: Iram Jaffar
    • Funding Amount: PKR 0.10 Million
    • Funding Agency: Industry
    • Duration: 1 Year
    • Start Date: January 15, 2018
    • End Date: January 14, 2019
12. Code Vulnerability Scanner for C Language
    • PI: Dr. Muddassar Azam Sindhu
    • Co-PIs: Dr. Onaiza Maqbool, Dr. Muhammad Usman
    • Graduate Student: Younis Iqbal
    • Funding Amount: PKR 0.15 Million
    • Funding Agency: Industry
    • Duration: 6 months
    • Start Date: October 17, 2017
    • End Date: April 16, 2018
13. Code Vulnerability Scanner for Java Language
    • PI: Dr. Muddassar Azam Sindhu
    • Co-PIs: Dr. Onaiza Maqbool, Dr. Muhammad Usman
    • Graduate Student: Shirjeel Ahmed
    • Funding Amount: PKR 0.15 Million
    • Funding Agency: Industry
    • Duration: 6 months
    • Start Date: October 17, 2017
    • End Date: April 16, 2018
14. Data Leak Prevention
    • PI: Dr. Muddassar Azam Sindhu
    • Co-PIs: Dr. Onaiza Maqbool, Dr. Muhammad Usman
    • Undergrad Student: Danish Alam
    • Funding Amount: PKR 0.15 Million
    • Funding Agency: Industry
    • Duration: 6 months
    • Start Date: October 17, 2017
    • End Date: April 16, 2018
15. Improving Automata Learning for Learning-based Testing
    • PI: Dr. Muddassar Azam Sindhu
    • Graduate Student: Rabia Mazhar, Anjum Ara
    • Funding Amount: PKR 0.14 Million
    • Funding Agency: QAU-University Research Fund
    • Duration: 1 year
    • Start Date: September 1, 2016
    • End Date: August 31, 2017

PhD Students

Completed

1. Farah Haneef (Efficient Automaton Learning Algorithms for Software Engineering Applications)

In Progress

1. Maryam Imtiaz Malik (Working on Semantic Analysis of Natural Language Requirements for Test Oracle Automation)
2. Mehran Yousaf (Working on Fuzz Testing)
3. Anjum Ara Shah (Working on Learning Algorithms for Context Free Grammars)
4. Tehmina Mehboob (Web Services Testing)

MPhil Students

In Progress

1. Fizza Asmat (Working on Enhancing Real-time Fire Detection with Efficient Anomaly Detection and Autonomous Self-healing)
2. Mustajab Khurshid (Working on Tensor-Driven Gated Graph Neural Networks for Effective Vulnerability Detection Using Slice Method)
3. Photal Khan (Working on Testing of Android / Mobile Applications)

Completed

1. Syeda Anjum Ara Shah (Using the SAL Model Checker for Learning-based Testing)
2. Rabia Mazhar (Design, Implementation and Evaluation of a new Kripke Structure Learning Algorithm)
3. Shahid Javaid (Automating Change Detection in Use Case Diagrams and Descriptions)
4. Maryam Imtiaz Malik (Automating Testing from Natural Language Requirements)
5. Kiran Shafique (Type II Errors in Mutation Testing)
6. Nazia Arshad (Metamorphic Testing for Requirements Ontologies)
7. Younis Iqbal (Buffer Overflow Vulnerability Detection Enhancement in CppCheck)
8. Shirjeel Ahmad (SQL Injection Vulnerability Detection in Java Code through Model Checking)
9. Aisha Liaqat (Metamorphic Testing of Human and AI-based Chess Game)
10. Iram Tariq (XSS vulnerability Detection in Java Code through Genetic Algorithm and Reinforcement Learning)
11. Irum Jaffar (Working on LBT using the Spin Model Checker)
12. Mehran Yousuf (Working on Race Condition Vulnerability Detection in C code)
13. Waqar Ahmed Khan(Debugging Effectiveness of Learning-based Testing of Reactive Systems)
14. Hafiz Abdul Quddus(Coverage Metrics for Learning-based Testing of Reactive Systems)
15. Maaria Bibi (Formal Verification and Testing of Decentralized Applications)