Professor Vladimiro Sassone

Professor Vladimiro Sassone joined the School in January 2006, and is a member of the Dependable Systems and Software Engineering research group.

He is committed to building solid foundations for global ubiquitous computing. But, this is not just a dream for Vladimiro, previously Head of the Department of Informatics at the University of Sussex: he claims that many of the components are already in place.

‘We already have sensors to attach to clothes,’ he said. ‘And we are not far away from electronic tags that can be put on people and textiles.’

Vladimiro first became interested in computing when he worked in a software house as a boy. His role was to unpack computers but it was not long before he began programming.

He went on to study computing and after completing his MSc and PhD in Computer Science at the University of Pisa, he worked for a range of industrial and academic organisations, including Hewlett-Packard, and the universities of Aarhus (Denmark), Catania (Italy) and Queen Mary, University of London, where he developed operational and denotational models for mobile, distributed systems.

During his career, he developed an interest in the foundations of computation, with a particular interest in global ubiquitous computing and in how theoretical results can impact on practice and the industry at large.

He believes that the infrastructure will soon exist for global computing, but is not just about weaving sensors into fabrics, or positioning RFID tags and ad hoc networking everywhere; it requires an in-depth understanding and a substantial furthering of the foundations of computer science and he believes it is his role to ensure that these foundations are in place.

He commented: ‘We are moving towards seamless computing or what is increasingly known as global ubiquitous computing, which means that we will have information available everywhere which can be processed cheaply and at high speed by a multitude of diverse computing devices. My interest is not in just making the technology happen, but in making sure that we have the right foundational tools and that we understand the systems we deploy.’

Vladimiro joined ECS because he believed that it would provide more opportunities for him to apply his foundation perspectives to applied research. He believes that as his understanding of the underpinning theories increases, he will be able to find synergies with applied research and mount joint attacks to the ubiquitous computing ‘grand’ challenge.