Speaker
Mark Lawford
Mark Lawford
Dr. Mark Lawford is a Professor and former Chair of the Department of Computing and Software at McMaster University (he joined the department in August 1998). He holds a B.Sc.(Eng.) from Queen’s University, an M.A.Sc. and a Ph.D. from University of Toronto (the latter completed under the supervision of Professor W.M. Wonham in the Systems Control group in February 1997).
His professional credentials include being a licensed Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) in Ontario and a Senior Member of the IEEE.
Dr. Lawford’s research lies at the intersection of software engineering and the control of discrete‐event systems (DES). In particular, his interests include software certification, formal methods for real-time systems (especially synthesis, verification, and model reduction), the practical application of formal methods within the software engineering process, computer‐aided inspection, and supervisory control of modular, nondeterministic, probabilistic and hybrid systems.
Prior to his academic appointment, he contributed to the nuclear-power sector: from March 1997 to July 1998 he served as a contractor at Ontario Hydro, working on the formal verification of the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station Shutdown System Trip Computer Software—a role for which he was co-recipient of the Ontario Hydro New Technology Award.
Throughout his career Dr. Lawford has led and collaborated on numerous applied research projects with industrial partners such as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), General Motors (GM), and others—especially in the domain of automotive software certification and model-based development.
In the classroom, he has taught courses spanning embedded systems design, formal methods, dynamic models and control of physical systems—bringing both deep theoretical insights and practical tools to his students.
Dr. Lawford is a committed educator and researcher, bridging rigorous formal foundations with real-world engineering demands, and fostering the development of safe, reliable software systems in high-assurance domains.