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Rachna Raj​

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I'm a PhD student in Software Engineering. Before returning to school, I spent around five years as a software developer at Infosys and IBM India Software Labs. I'm driven to create solutions that automate boring, repetitive tasks for software developers so they can focus on the fun stuff—building awesome software for everyone! Right now, I'm focusing on dependency management and working on developing a tool to support library developers.

Why Research ?​

I'm passionate about research because it lets me explore and solve problems that will benefit the next generation. As Albert Einstein once said, "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." I aim to stay in academia and contribute to Software Engineering by bridging the gap between research and real-world applications.

Education​

Publications​

  • The role of library versions in Developer-ChatGPT conversations MSR 2024

Professional Experience​

  • Member of CREATE SE4AI(https://se4ai.org/) group at Concordia University specially crafted to produce highly qualified
    software engineers to tackle development problems of AI applications.
  • Supervising NSERC awardee intern student in our REALISE Lab. ( May 2024 - Aug 2024 )
  • Teaching Assistant at Concordia University, supporting the Generative AI for Software Engineering Research course taught by Prof. Diego Costa. (Jan 2024 - May 2024 )
  • Software Developer at IBM ISL ( 2022 - 2023 )
  • Senior Systems Engineer at Infosys Research Labs, India (2019 - 2022)
  • Graduate Engineer at Vedanta Resources ( June 2019 - July 2019)
  • Software Developer Intern at ISRO, India
  • Software Developer Intern at DRDO, India

Certifications​

Awards​

  • Best Student Presentation Award at MSR 2024, Lisbon Portugal.
  • Infosys Rise Awards for recognizable contributions and effort in the development of a healthcare solution. Infosys Insta Awards for exploring potential solutions for a problem with an accepted PoC.
  • Gold Medalist, BTech, scoring highest in the batch.
  • Recognised by the governor of Arunachal Pradesh for contributing to women's education and hygiene in the local community.

Research Interests​

I am passionate about working on the topic of Software Maintenance, particularly in supporting open-source library developers and maintainers, exploring and enhancing Software Bills of Materials, and handling breaking changes. My career goal is to conduct cutting-edge research in software engineering and artificial intelligence, supporting the AI applications development lifecycle (SE4AI). I aim to explore innovative methods to harness AI (applied AI) in software engineering (AI4SE) to create technically advanced applications. As I progress in my academic journey, I also aspire to engage in EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) within Software Engineering research, contributing to a safer and more inclusive future. Though these goals are ambitious, they inspire me to aim high!

Leisure Activities​

I don't just have a few interesting hobbies; I have a whole collection! First off, I'm a plant lover—I'm basically their full-time therapist. When I'm not talking to my plants, I'm whipping up delicious Indian delicacies in the kitchen. Cooking is my jam! When it comes to reading, I'm all about romance and philosophy. Somehow, books in these categories always find their way into my hands. Traveling to natural places is my idea of a good time. Movies are another passion of mine, and I can watch almost anything except horror and those intense sci-fi flicks with bizarre stuff—I just can't handle them. I mean, I once watched a few episodes of "Locke & Key" and couldn't sleep all night! But wait, there's more! I also love sleeping and staying at home surrounded by my plants and books. It's my little slice of paradise.

Contact​

You can reach me at: