Michael Foster

Dr. Michael Foster is a Researcher and Research Software Engineer at the School of Computer Science, University of Sheffield. He specializes in software testing methodologies, causal inference, and formal methods for system modeling. His work focuses on developing tools for automated model inference, particularly Extended Finite State Machines (EFSMs), and applying causal reasoning to improve software testing.

Education: PhD in Computer Science (2017-2020) from the University of Sheffield, supervised by Prof. John Derrick and Dr. Achim Brucker. His doctoral research addressed EFSM inference from black-box software execution traces, integrating genetic programming and formal verification techniques.

Research Projects:

• Principal contributor to the CITCoM project, applying causal inference to computational model testing.
• Developed the causal testing framework and EFSM inference tool, which formalizes model merging and data dependency analysis.
• Explored metamorphic testing, automated verification of trace properties, and active learning techniques for EFSMs.

Key Contributions: Published extensively on causal testing, EFSM inference, and algorithmic testing strategies. His work bridges formal methods with practical software engineering challenges, emphasizing automated tools and rigorous validation frameworks.