Contact Information

Phone: Please email me to schedule a call.
Email: mmaasscscmuedu -- there is an '@' and two '.' missing, guess where they go
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmaass

In March of 2016, I finished my PhD in Software Engineering at the Institute for Software Research in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. I was co-advised by Bill Scherlis and Jonathan Aldrich. My research interests fall within the scope of security, semantics-based methods, evidence-based software assurance, multi-faceted software defense strategies, and techniques for preventing software vulnerabilities.

My thesis research focused on sandboxing. Sandboxes are encapsulation mechanisms that are used to impose security policies on software components. They are particularly useful in cases where components must be used but can't be trusted or verified. Sandbox these components to limit their behavior and verify the relatively simple sandbox instead. Others have spent the last few decades inventing new sandboxing mechanisms; my thesis focused on making those mechanisms more secure and easier to use.

Courses:

Fall 2013

  • 19-687 Principles and Practices of R&D Management
  • 15-313/08-613 Foundations of Software Engineering (TA)

Spring 2013

  • 15-819 Program Analysis
  • 15-214 Principles of Software Construction: Objects, Design, and Concurrency (TA)

Fall 2012

  • 15-740 Computer Architecture

Spring 2012

  • 15-745 Optimizing Compilers for Modern Architectures
  • 17-807 Research Writing for Software Engineers

Fall 2011

  • 17-751 Models of Software Systems
  • 08-734 Usable Privacy and Security