Ras Bodik, an expert in programming languages and computer architecture, will join the UW CSE faculty this coming fall. Ras is currently Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Ras is widely known for groundbreaking work in programming languages, and for applying programming language ideas to a broad range of fields, such as biology, human-computer interaction, and computer architecture. His current research involves making it easier for both programmers and non-programmers to write computer programs using program synthesis, a technique for computer-aided construction of software. Ras developed the idea of algorithmic synthesis using sketches (partial programs) and constraint solving. At the application level, he has used this idea to develop novel compilers for low-power computing, parallel layout engines for Web browsers, and tools for generating explanatory hypotheses from biological experiments.

Ras’s arrival creates a truly world-class programming languages group in UW CSE that crosses into systems, databases, security, architecture, and other areas. Ras joins recent hires Emina Torlak, Alvin Cheung, Xi Wang, and Zach Tatlock, and senior faculty members Dan Grossman and Mike Ernst.

Welcome to UW CSE, Ras!