Ruben Martins

Ruben Martins is an Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science and serves as the program director of the Master of Science in Computer Science (MSCS). His research focuses on the intersection of constraint programming, program synthesis, analysis, and verification, with recent work aiming to make formal methods tools more accessible through automated reasoning. Ruben earned his Ph.D. with honors from the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal (2013), followed by postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford (2014-2015) and UT Austin (2015-2017).

Research Interests: Ruben's work bridges constraint programming and program synthesis, with applications in software verification, optimization, and automated reasoning. He has developed award-winning tools like Open-WBO, a modular MaxSAT solver that has won gold medals in international competitions. His publications span top-tier venues such as POPL, PLDI, FSE, SAT, and CP, often addressing real-world challenges from program analysis to network security.

Scientific Awards include:

• Distinguished Paper Award at PLDI 2018
• Distinguished Paper Award at FSE 2021
• Distinguished Paper Award at SAT 2022
• Gold medals for Open-WBO in MaxSAT competitions

Teaching & Advising: Ruben mentors Ph.D., Master’s, and undergraduate students in research projects related to program synthesis, formal methods, and constraint solving. He teaches courses such as Bug Catching: Automated Program Verification and Advanced Topics in Logic: Automated Reasoning and Satisfiability, emphasizing hands-on experience with tools like Why3. His advising spans topics from AI-driven program repair to network protocol verification, fostering collaboration across disciplines.