Alastair F. Donaldson

Alastair F. Donaldson is a Professor and Director of Research in the Department of Computing at Imperial College London, where he leads the FastPL research group. His work bridges formal methods, software testing, and programming languages, with a focus on enhancing the reliability of high-performance and parallel software systems. He has held key roles including Director of Research (since 2023) and previously served as Lecturer (2011–2014), Senior Lecturer (2014–2017), and Reader (2017–2020) before being promoted to Professor in 2020.

His research interests include formal verification, compiler testing, GPU programming, concurrency, and fuzzing. He has made significant contributions to the verification of GPU kernels, metamorphic testing of graphics drivers, and the development of tools like GPUVerify and GraphicsFuzz. His work combines theoretical rigor with practical impact, demonstrated by the acquisition of his startup GraphicsFuzz by Google in 2018 and his subsequent roles as Senior Software Engineer and Visiting Researcher at Google.

His recent publications reflect a sustained focus on compiler and system reliability, with trends in fuzzing, formal specification, and automated testing of complex systems such as WebGPU, CXL cache coherence, and large language models for code generation. His work increasingly integrates empirical validation with formal techniques to uncover subtle bugs in real-world systems.

Scientific awards and recognitions include:

• 2017 BCS Roger Needham Award
• EPSRC Early Career Fellowship
• Fellow of the British Computer Society
• Best Paper awards at EuroSys 2024, MET 2021, IISWC 2019, IWOCL 2019, and ICST 2016
• Best Industry Paper at ICST 2024
• ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper at ISSTA 2023
• ACM SIGPLAN Most Influential OOPSLA Paper Award (2012 paper), awarded in 2022
• Best Student Paper at PPoPP 2014

He has advised numerous PhD students and leads a vibrant research group. He has secured significant research funding and collaborates extensively with industry and academia. His service includes leadership roles such as General Chair of PLDI 2020, PC Chair of ECOOP 2019, and Steering Committee Chair of PLDI (2022–2025). He also serves on the advisory board of PACM-PL and on program committees for top venues including POPL, OOPSLA, PLDI, ICSE, and ISSTA.

He leads the FastPL research group, which focuses on the design and implementation of programming tools and techniques for reliable software. The group conducts cutting-edge research in compiler testing, formal methods, and high-performance systems, fostering collaboration across academia and industry.