I am a Senior Research Fellow (permanent position) in the ULTRA (Logic, Types, and Rewriting) group in the Computer Science Department in the School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.
(The members of the Computer Science department formerly
belonged to the now defunct Computing and Electrical Engineering
Department. The domain cee.hw.ac.uk is now
obsolete; please don't use it anymore.)
I have prepared a number of student project proposals. These proposals can be the basis for student projects from 3 to 9 months in length (e.g., M.Sc. or 4th year CS B.Sc. projects), with appropriate adjustments. If you would like to do something similar to but not the same as one of the projects I have listed, please contact me and we can discuss it.
Some of the student projects that I have supervised have made their results public and they are listed here. All of the software produced by these projects is free (non-enslaved) software, sometimes called "open source" software.
diff program) and patching (like the
line-oriented patch program) XML documents.
If you are interested in studying for a Ph.D., then look through my web pages to see if your interests and mine match. If you are interested and think you are a good match, please contact me.
The main issue with any new Ph.D. student is finding the funding to pay for the fees and maintenance (i.e., money for you to live on). This is not such a big problem, but getting the money can take time, and some sources of funding can only be applied for once a year, so it is a good idea to contact me well before the date on which you want to start.
My research interests are in the applications of advanced type systems and rewriting techniques primarily motivated by issues in the design and implementation of convenient, efficient, scalable, secure, and reliable programming language systems.
I have been involved in the following research efforts.
I have made available the following resources related to my research.
I have been involved in the development of research software, including the following.
I have been involved (other than as an ordinary participant) in the following international scientific meetings.
| E-mail: | Local Part: | jbw |
|---|---|---|
| Domain: | macs.hw.ac.uk | |
| (OpenPGP public key) | ||
| Telephone | (Office): | +44 131 451 3869 |
| (I often work at home, so if I do not answer my office telephone, colleagues (not including students taking modules I am teaching) may try calling me at home.) | ||
| (Home): | +44 131 449 4611 | |
| (Dept. Office): | +44 131 451 3328 | |
| (Mobile): | +44 7986 182 338 | |
| UK Local Time: | 2006-04-15 03:15:45+01:00 (Saturday) | |
| (You may need to reload this page for the above time to be accurate.) | ||
| UK Local Time Zone | (Current): | +01:00 (Offset relative to UTC. This time zone is locally called BST.) |
| (Winter): | +00:00 (Offset relative to UTC. This time zone is locally called BDT.) | |
| (As is the case throughout most of Europe, the summer/winter time-zone change occurs on the last Sunday in March/October at 01:00+00:00.) | ||
| Fax | (Dept. Office): | +44 131 451 3732 |
| (Please notify me by e-mail if you send a fax to the above number so I can know to pick up the fax.) | ||
| (Home): | +44 131 449 4611 | |
| (Please contact me before sending a fax to my home number so I can connect the fax machine to the telephone line.) | ||
| Post: |
School of
Mathematical and Computer Sciences
Heriot-Watt University Riccarton EDINBURGH EH14 4AS Scotland GREAT BRITAIN |
|
| Office: |
EM 161 (Room 1.61, Earl Mountbatten Building)
(As of 2005-10-09, this building is number 2 on this map linked from this web page with directions.) |
|
I have a web page with a few small utility programs I have written, mainly for the benefit of my collaborators.
Most of the Heriot-Watt Riccarton Campus is quite picturesque. There are many exotic trees, and a wide range of wildlife. One of our staff members, Adrian Hurt, has taken a number of pictures of the wildlife on the campus. I like his pictures of a goose, a number of young cygnets, and a family of swans.
One kind of wildlife is particularly common. The Riccarton campus is overrun by rabbits. In the winter, the Riccarton rabbits seem to have an unusual mode of hibernation. Periodically, the swarms of rabbits seem to suddenly disappear. There is some speculation that at these times the rabbits are beset by armed opponents. Photographic evidence obtained by Adrian shows that the rabbits may be preparing their response.
There are also demonic buses in the vicinity. Furthermore, Adrian has obtained photographs indicating that our school's new Colin Maclaurin building may be concealing some hidden purpose.
“Joe Wells” is also: