Lizhi Liao

Lizhi Liao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN). He received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo under Dr. Weiyi Shang. His research focuses on software performance engineering, DevOps practices, and AI system quality, particularly addressing performance regression detection and optimization in fast-paced development environments.

Education: Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo (supervisor: Dr. Weiyi Shang). Previous roles include Research Intern at ERA Environmental Management Solutions (2019–2024) and Software Developer Intern at Nakisa (2019).

Research interests include software performance engineering, web GUI testing, and AI-driven performance analysis. His work emphasizes bridging architectural models with performance data to improve testing efficiency. Recent awards include the ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award (2025) and multiple doctoral awards from the University of Waterloo.

Teaching includes AI-related courses at MUN and guest lectures on software architecture and testing at the University of Waterloo. He has served as a program committee member for conferences like ICSE, FSE, and ESEC, and co-chaired workshops such as LTB 2025. He is actively involved in the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) Research Group, focusing on DevOps performance standards.

Liao collaborates with industry partners to apply performance analytics in real-world systems, such as database-centric applications and serverless architectures. His presentations span global venues including ICSE, FSE, and the Consortium for Software Engineering Research.