UC student wins international software competition

University of Cincinnati graduate student Arushi "Rue" Gupta recently won the TraceLab Challenge at the International Workshop on Software and Systems Traceability in Montreal.

Software and systems traceability is the ability to follow the life of a requirement from its beginning through its use, including any changes. In today’s world of network security breaches that affect healthcare and elections, traceability is becoming more important every day.

Gupta earned her bachelor’s degree in computer engineering last year and graduates this summer with a master’s degree in computer science as part of the UC College of Engineering and Applied Science's ACCEND program. She starts her professional career in August as a software developer at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.

In the TraceLab Challenge, Gupta beat fellow contestants from around the world by writing code to solve a challenge, such as finding an artifact, running the experiment and adjusting and repeating as necessary until she was satisfied that the challenge was solved. Three acclaimed traceability experts from the United Kingdom, Canada and India judged all submissions and named the UC student the winner.

Gupta’s win and remarkable academic and research achievements demonstrate UC’s commitments to both academic excellence and innovation as part of its strategic direction called Next Lives Here.

Gupta came to UC from nearby Sycamore Community Schools, where she excelled in all academic areas, and chose the College of Engineering and Applied Science for its cooperative education program, the largest of its kind in the country. In addition to her research experience, Gupta completed co-ops at GE Transportation and L3 Technologies.

Beyond academics and co-op employment, Gupta gained valuable experience in research as part of the college’s undergraduate research program. Through the program, she connected with professor Nan Niu and his Software Engineering Research Lab where she received direct exposure to cutting-edge research in the field of software and systems traceability.

Gupta spoke of the strides she made in during her time at UC.

"I went from entering the lab as a freshman who didn't know what traceability meant to winning the TraceLab challenge four years later," she said. "I'm so grateful to join Dr. Niu's lab who has taught me so much."

Niu spoke highly of Gupta’s work and future.

"It's such a pleasure to work with Rue and be part of her many superb accomplishments, including winning the TraceLab challenge. She's a star that will always shine and make transformative impacts," he said.

Gupta's story and work continue at Google, where she will combine her experience and passion for sustainability on the company’s Nest product, which connects and synchronizes home thermostats and security with the occupants’ activity. Simply put, she wants to prevent someone’s air conditioning from running at full blast when no one is home to enjoy it.

Tracebility is essential for such a product. A thermostat setting might be tied to user preferences, third-party data such as the GPS in a smartphone, and weekly behavior patterns. Knowing where each piece of that data came from, where it is going, and how it is protected, is a requirement for security. 

Gupta’s proven expertise, experience and passion for sustainability will soon be at work to make sure that requirement is met.

Learn more about UC’s department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the department’s website.