CritLab at Queen's

The Queen’s University Laboratory for Safety-Critical Software Engineering (CritLab) specializes in methods and tools for building software when bugs are unacceptable because there is too much at stake. Software for these systems must be built differently, using rigorous processes and mathematics to ensure correct operation. CritLab is led by Dr. Sean Kauffman, a leader in Runtime Verification and expert in Software Engineering and Functional Safety. Dr. Kauffman founded the lab in 2023, bringing his passion for formal methods and his commitment to teaching to Queen’s.

If you want to use your Computer Science/Engineering education to help people and benefit society, CritLab is a fantastic place to be. Safety-Critical Software is needed in industries like automotive, nuclear power, medical devices, aerospace, and more. CritLab works with researchers and organizations all over the world to develop the techniques they need to keep their products safe. Recent collaborators include NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Aalborg University, CedarHeat, TU Dortmund, Distributive, TNO’s Embedded Systems Institute (ESI), and AIKO.

Land Acknowledgement

CritLab at Queen’s is situated on traditional Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Territory. To acknowledge this traditional territory is to recognize its longer history, one predating the establishment of the earliest European colonies. It is also to acknowledge this territory’s significance for the Indigenous peoples who lived, and continue to live, upon it - people whose practices and spiritualities were tied to the land and continue to develop in relationship to the territory and its other inhabitants today. The Kingston Indigenous community continues to reflect the area’s Anishinaabek and Haudenosaunee roots. There is also a significant Métis community and there are First Peoples from other Nations across Turtle Island present here today.