Nafiseh Kahani

Nafiseh Kahani is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering at Carleton University's Faculty of Engineering and Design. She leads the RavenSoft Research Lab and supervises undergraduate and MEng research projects in software engineering. Her service roles include Software Engineering Program Coordinator (2023–present), ECOR1055B Coordinator (2023–present), and Chair of the Women in Engineering (WIE) Affinity Group (2018–present).

Research Interests:

• Model-Driven Development: Focus on automated synthesis and verification of software models.
• Machine Learning in Software Engineering: Application of ML techniques to testing, code analysis, and refactoring.
• Software Testing & Quality Assurance: Test case prioritization, continuous integration, and runtime monitoring.
• Software Security: Detection and mitigation of vulnerabilities through static and dynamic analysis.
• Code Smell Detection and Refactoring: Tools and methodologies for improving software maintainability.

Her research integrates empirical methods with practical tool development, as evidenced by projects such as CodeSmell, CodeViz, CodeCleanse, IntelliReq, and automated instrumentation and monitoring systems.

Scientific Awards:

• Queen’s School of Computing PhD Research Achievement Award (2019)
• IEEE PhD Research Excellence Award

Advising and Grants: Dr. Kahani actively mentors undergraduate students through research assistantships, I-CUREUS internships, and NSERC USRA awards. She supervises Capstone (SYSC 4907) and MEng projects, encouraging student participation in cutting-edge software engineering research. Though specific grants are not listed, her involvement in NSERC USRA indicates active participation in federally funded undergraduate research programs.

Labs and Teams: She leads the RavenSoft Research Lab, which focuses on innovative software engineering tools and methodologies. The lab supports a collaborative environment for students to engage in projects involving program analysis, visualization, test automation, and AI-driven software development.