Manu Sridharan

Manu Sridharan is a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, Riverside, where he leads research in programming languages and software engineering. He is a member of the RIPLE research group and actively recruits PhD students for cutting-edge research in software reliability, security, and performance. Prior to his academic career, Sridharan worked at prominent industry research labs including IBM Research, Samsung Research America, and Uber, where he developed practical tools like NullAway to eliminate Java null pointer errors.

His research focuses on developing tools and techniques to make large-scale software more reliable, performant, secure, and maintainable. Sridharan's work spans static analysis, program verification, type systems, memory safety, and resource management. He has made significant contributions to JavaScript analysis, call graph construction, nullability checking, and resource leak detection. His research bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications, resulting in tools that have been deployed in industry settings.

Sridharan's publication record shows a consistent trajectory of high-impact research in top venues like PLDI, OOPSLA, ECOOP, and FSE. His recent work (2021-2025) demonstrates continued innovation in static analysis techniques, particularly in nullability inference, taint analysis, resource management, and call graph construction. His research shows a clear progression from foundational program analysis techniques to increasingly practical and deployable tools that address real-world software engineering challenges.

• Outstanding Artifact Award for Effective Race Detection for Event-Driven Programs (OOPSLA 2013)
• Best Paper Award for Predicting your own effort (AAMAS 2012)
• Best Paper Award for Debugging overconstrained declarative models using unsatisfiable cores (ASE 2003)

Sridharan has mentored numerous students through their academic journeys, including current PhD candidates and Master's students working on cutting-edge research problems. His former PhD student Narges Shadab graduated in 2023. He has served in leadership roles for major conferences, including as Program Committee Chair for ECOOP 2021 and Area Chair for ECOOP 2022. His research has been supported by various grants that enable his team to pursue ambitious projects in program analysis and software engineering.

As a member of the RIPLE research group at UC Riverside, Sridharan collaborates with other faculty and students on interdisciplinary projects that span programming languages, systems, and security. His team's work often involves building practical tools that can be deployed in real-world settings, as evidenced by his industry experience and tools like NullAway that were developed during his time at Uber.