Susan Stepney
Susan Stepney | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1958 (age 65–66) |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Logica Marconi Research Centre University of York |
| Thesis | Relativistic thermal plasmas (1983) |
| Doctoral advisor | Martin Rees |
Susan Stepney (born 1958) is a British computer scientist and professor at the University of York. Her research considers non-standard computing and bio-inspired algorithms. She was previously at Logica and Marconi Research Centre, where she developed new programming languages and computational models.
Early life and education[edit]
Stepney became interested in science and science fiction at a young age.[1] Stepney completed her undergraduate and graduate degree at the University of Cambridge, where she studied theoretical physics and Part III of the Mathematical Tripos.[2] Her doctoral research involved using analytical mathematics and Fortran to understand relativistic astrophysics plasmas.[3][4] She was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge.[5] She left academia to join industry, moving to join the Marconi Research Centre, Here she worked with Transputers and Occam on a Parallel Simulation Facility. She designed and implemented a tool for Graphical Representation of Activity, Interconnection and Loading. She used the Z specification language to develop a framework for an access control system that allowed users from multiple administrators to communicate whilst the administrators retained network-wide control.[6] She animated the access control system in Prolog.[6]
Research and career[edit]
Stepney moved to Logica in 1989, where she spent thirteen years working on mathematical modelling of computing systems and specialising in the Z notation. She worked on a high integrity compiler for high integrity applications, which became known as DeCCo.[7] Stepney's DeCCo compiler was deployed on processors at Qinetiq and Atomic Weapons Establishment. She developed a formal language tool for Logica using Smalltalk.[4]
In 2002 she joined the University of York, where she worked on unconventional computing.[8] She has worked on physical computation and the programming requirements for unconventional requirements.[4] She has developed computer simulations of complex systems, including pioneering evolutionary algorithms for biological and chemical processes.[2][4]
Select publications[edit]
- Dominic Horsman; Susan Stepney; Rob C Wagner; Viv Kendon (1 September 2014). "When does a physical system compute?". Proceedings of the Royal Society A. 470 (2169): 20140182. arXiv:1309.7979. doi:10.1098/RSPA.2014.0182. ISSN 1364-5021. PMC 4123767. PMID 25197245. Zbl 1353.68077. Wikidata Q51041788.
- Stepney, S.; Guilbert, P. W. (1983-10-01). "Numerical fits to important rates in high temperature astrophysical plasmas". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 204 (4): 1269–1277. doi:10.1093/mnras/204.4.1269. ISSN 0035-8711.
- Clark, John A.; Jacob, Jeremy L.; Stepney, Susan (2005-09-01). "The design of S-boxes by simulated annealing". New Generation Computing. 23 (3): 219–231. doi:10.1007/BF03037656. ISSN 1882-7055.
References[edit]
- ^ Stepney, Susan (2015-01-21). "The real science of science fiction". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
- ^ a b York, University of. "Susan Stepney". University of York. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
- ^ "Relativistic thermal plasmas | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
- ^ a b c d "Meet the Editors: Susan Stepney | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
- ^ "Prof Susan Stepney - Computer Science, University of York". www.cs.york.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
- ^ a b Stepney, Susan; Lord, Stephen P. (September 1987). "Formal specification of an access control system". Software: Practice and Experience. 17 (9): 575–593. doi:10.1002/spe.4380170903. ISSN 0038-0644.
- ^ "Stepney, Nabney: The DeCCo Project Papers". www-users.york.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
- ^ Adamatzky, Andrew; Kendon, Vivien, eds. (2020). "From Astrophysics to Unconventional Computation". Emergence, Complexity and Computation. 35. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-15792-0. ISBN 978-3-030-15791-3. ISSN 2194-7287.
