Activities

  • Experience in software and system engineering research and teaching

  • Experience in research & technology transfer

  • Experience with several safety standards: ISO 26262, SOTIF, DO-178C, DO-333

Ongoing projects

KI-Absicherung

About: The project aims to establish a stringent and verifiable chain of argumentation for the validation and release of AI functional modules in the context of highly automated driving. For this purpose, the project will create a process chain with open standardized interfaces for the generation of high-quality and reproducible synthetic training and test data sets. Furthermore, AI algorithms for pedestrian recognition will be programmed and mainly trained and tested with these generated synthetic data. Thus, exemplary methods and measures can be developed, which are suitable to substantiate the chain of argumentation for the principle of safety with measurable performance and safety measures for AI functional modules.

My Contribution:

  • Execution of ISO 26262 and SOTIF activities

      • Hazards identification

      • System-level safety requirements elicitation

      • ML safety requirements elicitation

      • System architecture development

      • Construction of system-level safety argumentation

Publications

A Safety Case Pattern for Systems with Machine Learning Components. Wozniak E., Cârlan C., Acar-Celik E., Putzer H.J. in Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security. SAFECOMP 2020 Workshops. SAFECOMP 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 12235. Springer, Cham.

Used Technologies: Meta Programming System (MPS)

Completed projects

CrESt - Collaborative Embedded Systems

About: The goal of the project was to create a comprehensive framework for the development and assurance of collaborative embedded systems, i.e., systems frequently changing their configuration and operational context.

My Contribution: Development for an approach for modeling safety cases for systems undergoing frequent changes in the system configuration and its operating context. See more on this video ....

Publications

FASTEN.Safe: A Model-Driven Engineering Tool to Experiment with Checkable Assurance Cases. Cârlan C., Ratiu D. in Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security. SAFECOMP 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 12234. Springer, Cham.

Living Safety Arguments for Open Systems. Carmen Cârlan, in IEEE International Symposium on

Software Reliability Engineering Workshops (ISSREW), Toulouse, France, 2017 pp. 120-123

Enhancing State-of-the-art Safety Case Patterns to Support Change Impact Analysis. C. Cârlan and B. Gallina in the 30th European Safety and Reliability Conference ESREL, 2020.

ExplicitCase: Tool-Support for Creating and Maintaining Assurance Arguments Integrated with System Models. Carmen Cârlan, Vivek Nigam, Sebastian Voss, Alexandros Tsalidis in IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering Workshops (ISSREW), Berlin, Germany, 2019, pp. 330-337.

Used Technologies: Meta Programming System (MPS), Eclipse Modelling Framework (EMF), Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP), Java

SALSA

About: The goal of this project was to develop a novel tool-supported method of “living” safety & security cases enabling efficient compliance management in settings characterized by heterogeneity, cross-organizational structures, certification with respect to multiple standards and short release cycles.

My Contribution:

  • Conducted an expert survey on the current practice for safety and security co-analysis in automotive companies.

  • Enhanced an already existing tool that integrates assurance case models with system models created in AutoFOCUS3 (AF3) - an open-source model-based development tool for embedded software systems with features of state-of-the-art assurance case editors, e.g., support for creation and usage of typed patterns, change impact analysis for assurance cases, assessment of the confidence in the created assurance arguments, export of the argumentation diagrams generated in AF3. Based on the integration with AF3 system models, I implemented an analysis computing the impact of a change within AF3 system models on the assurance case model, thus enabling the integrated development of system and assurance case models.

  • Worked on enabling the usage of different types of verification results as complementary evidence in safety cases.

  • Developed patterns for including safety analyses results in the system safety case.

Publications

Arguing on Software-Level Verification Techniques Appropriateness. Carmen Cârlan, Barbara Gallina, Severin Kacianka, Ruth Breu in Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security. SAFECOMP 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 10488. Springer, Cham.

ExplicitCase: Tool-Support for Creating and Maintaining Assurance Arguments Integrated with System Models. Carmen Cârlan, Vivek Nigam, Sebastian Voss, Alexandros Tsalidis in IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering Workshops (ISSREW), Berlin, Germany, 2019, pp. 330-337.

Arguing from Hazard Analysis in Safety Cases: A Modular Argument Pattern. Mario Gleirscher and Carmen Cârlan in Proceedings of the 18th IEEE International Symposium on High Assurance Systems Engineering (HASE 2017), January 2017, Singapore.

Roadblocks on the Highway to Secure Cars: An Exploratory Survey on the Current Safety and Security Practice of the Automotive Industry. Michael M. Huber, Michael Brunner, Clemens Sauerwein, Carmen Cârlan, Ruth Breu in Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security. SAFECOMP 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 11093. Springer, Cham, pp. 157-17.

Used Technologies: Eclipse Modelling Framework (EMF), Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP), Java

DREAMS

About: The objective of DREAMS was to develop a cross-domain architecture and design tools for networked complex systems where application subsystems of different criticality, executing on networked multi-core chips, are supported. DREAMS delivered architectural concepts, meta-models, virtualization technologies, model-driven development methods, tools, adaptation strategies and validation, verification and certification methods for the seamless integration of mixed-criticality to establish security, safety, real-time performance as well as data, energy and system integrity.

My Contribution:

  • In order to close the gap between safety and technical expertise, I implemented ExplicitCase, an open-source tool for semi-automatic modeling, maintenance, and verification of safety cases integrated with system models. The advantage of this tool is two-fold. First, it enables its users to capture safety relevant information from model-based artifacts into safety cases. Second, it makes the safety cases rationale available to engineers in order to help them reason about design choices, while minding safety concerns.

  • Worked on enabling the usage of formal verification results as evidence in safety cases, by proposing confidence arguments for different types of formal verification engines. In particular, we proposed an assurance case pattern which addresses the disciplined use of successful but possibly incomplete verification results obtained through C-level bounded model checking as evidence in certification.

Publications

On Using Results of Code-level Bounded Model Checking in Assurance. Carmen Cârlan, Daniel Ratiu, Bernhard Schätz in Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security. SAFECOMP 2016. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 9923. Springer, Cham.

ExplicitCase: Integrated Model-Based Development of System and Safety Cases. Carmen Cârlan, Simon Barner, Alexander Diewald, Alexandros Tsalidis, Sebastian Voss. SAFECOMP Workshops 2017: 52-63

Used Technologies: Eclipse Modelling Framework (EMF), Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP), Java

D-MILS

About: MILS provides compositional system construction and assurance, leveraging individually developed and assured components to predict and assure the properties of composite systems. By providing a modular high-assurance platform and a framework for the certification of systems built on that platform, MILS reduces the cost and time for development, certification, and maintenance of dependable systems. Distributed MILS relies on extensions to a MILS separation kernel and the addition of a MILS network subsystem using a hardware-based, time-triggered Ethernet “backplane”.

My Contribution:

  • Investigated how model-based system design models can be tightly integrated with modular safety case models to automatically guide the construction of the system architecture w.r.t. the claims given in the safety case. Based on claims given by (instantiated) safety case patterns, we used model-to-model transformations to guide the construction of a safe system architecture. With implementation in AutoFOCUS3.

Publications

Safety Case Driven Model-Based Systems Construction. Sebastian Voss, Carmen Cârlan, Bernhard Schätz, Tim Kelly in Proceedings of the 2nd International IFIP Workshop on Emerging Ideas and Trends in Engineering of Cyber-Physical Systems (EITEC 2015), CPS Week, April 2015, Seattle, USA.

Used Technologies: Eclipse Modelling Framework (EMF), Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP), Epsilon Transformation Language (ETL), Java

Teaching

WS2020 Teaching at FH Aachen - Delivered a lecture on "Introduction in Safety Engineering" in the context of the "Model-based Systems Engineering" course

SS2020 Teaching at TUM - From Sensors to driving functions - develop your own car Practical Cours

SS2016 Teaching at TUM - Advanced Practical Course on Techniques for System Safety Analysis

Advising & Mentoring

So far, I have advised 1 M.Sc. thesis in the safety-critical systems area.

2019

Assurance against "incorrect order of calls" fault for collaborative embedded systems

Attended Technical Trainings/Workshops/Courses

2018 Attended Management of Software Projects - Professional Scrum Master workshop, at Technische Universität München

2018 Attended Design Thinking for Computer Scientists workshop, at Technische Universität München

2018 Attended How to structure a workshop or seminar in Computer Science? seminar, at Technische Universität München

2018 Attended Good Scientific Practice for Computer Scientists workshop, at Technische Universität München

2018 Attended Researching, citing, publishing - focus on Computer Science seminar, at Technische Universität München

2018 Attended Visibility and Research Impact seminar, at Technische Universität München

2016 Attended Dependable Software Systems Engineering International Summer School

Attended lectures: Formal Requirements Models for System Safety and Security, Assurance Cases for Dependable Software Systems, K - a semantic framework for programming languages and formal analysis tools, Defect-Based Testing, Model checking and runtime verification, Logical Foundations of Cyber-Physical Systems, An Integrated Service-Oriented Modeling Approach of Functionality and Architecture of Multifunctional Systems, Reactive Synthesis

2016 Airbus training on DO-178C Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification

2012 Google CodeF Munich

2012 Workshop TANDEM - a workshop about technology and design put together, at Budapest University of Economics and Technology

Organisational skills and competences

2015-present Volunteer for the Romanian Orthodox Church in Germany: cbrom.de | atorg.de

    • Organizing events for orthodox youth

    • Holding seminars with teenagers on topics related to technology, ethics and soft-skills

    • Web admin

    • Social media manager

2018 Attended Time Management seminar, at Technische Universität München

2014 Attended Intercultural Aspects of Working in Global Teams workshop, at Technische Universität München

2014 Attended Lead yourself and others workshop, at Technische Universität München

2011-2012 Board member of EESTEC LC Munich (Electrical Engineering Students’ European Association) – Contact Person position