Jenna Wise, a software engineering Ph.D. student in the Institute for Software Research, has been named a 2021 Google Ph.D. Fellow in programming technology and software engineering.

The program was created in 2009 to recognize outstanding graduate students doing exceptional and innovative research in areas relevant to computer science and related fields. The fellows represent some of the most promising young academics from across the globe.

Wise, a fourth-year Ph.D. student, is interested in the design of usable programming languages and practical software verification. Her current research aims to develop a novel approach to gradual verification — a method of software analysis that gives software developers explicit control over the trade-offs between static and dynamic program verification along a spectrum by tuning the precision of specifications.

“Jenna is a fantastic student who understands both the mathematical and human sides of software engineering in a way that we rarely see, even at CMU” said Jonathan Aldrich, Wise’s Ph.D. co-advisor alongside ISR's Joshua Sunshine. “The Google Fellowship enables students like Jenna to take creative risks on research that could fundamentally change the way we construct software. I think it's very symbolic that Google is supporting this effort, given the ways they are pushing the boundaries of software engineering with their global-scale services.”

The fellowship supports students as they pursue doctoral degrees and connects them with Google Research Mentors. Wise was humbled by the honor and similarly eager to get to work.

“It is really exciting to be working with my Google Mentor to explore how my work can enhance different development workflows at Google” Wise said. “This honor means so much to me, as it shows that industry professionals are just as excited about my work and vision for the future of software verification as I am.”