The development of high-budget AAA video games is a complex and demanding process, requiring substantial effort and meticulous organization. These projects typically require coordinating multidisciplinary teams, including developers, artists, and sound engineers, who produce various code and data artifacts. Moreover, these games must be compatible and scalable across various platforms, such as gaming consoles, PCs, and mobile devices. This multiplatform requirement introduces unique engineering challenges, demanding innovative research and development solutions. In this talk, I will explore the main challenges faced by game development teams in areas like testing, continuous integration, performance analysis, and bug triage. I will also present initiatives from our research group that address these challenges, showcasing novel approaches to enhance performance, improve build system efficiency, and integrate automated testing.

Sarra Habchi is a research and development scientist at Ubisoft. She received her PhD in computer science from Inria with a thesis on the identification and tracking of mobile-specific code smells. Her research interests lie primarily in the area of software quality and reliability, with an emphasis on software testing, continuous integration systems, and automation tools. Sarra is currently leading the software engineering research group at Ubisoft La Forge, which focuses on quality engineering challenges in the video game industry.

Michele Lanza is a full professor at the Faculty of Informatics of USI, Lugano. In 2017 he founded the Software Institute, of which he has been director since then. In 2004 he founded the REVEAL Research Group. Prof. Lanza’s research interests are in software engineering, his research passion is software visualization. Prof. Lanza co-authored over 200 journal and conference publications and the book Object-Oriented Metrics in Practice.

This lecture will discuss modern requirements engineering (RE) which is often not called so. It will first quickly review the field and its evolution with two persistent, often misleading myths. The first is that RE is only about talking to users and clients. And the second is that RE is there to replace coding: as with a correct and complete spec code would become obsolete. In reality, RE is in most cases about balancing informal communication with formal specification or regulation and balancing the problem space with the solution space.

This lecture discusses research results and experiences from practice about modern RE. This includes RE practices in agile teams, open source communities, and app vendors as well as modern requirements such as sustainability or accessibility requirements. Particular attention will be given to recent advances in using AI and NLP for RE as well as RE for AI.

Walid Maalej is an award-winning software & requirements researcher, passionate educator, and handicraft enthusiast. As Professor of Informatics at the University of Hamburg, he teaches software development to up to 700 students in a single course, using fun activities, pair-programming. real challenges from industry and cutting-edge technology.

Prof. Maalej’s research interests include AI engineering, user involvement and feedback mining, sustainability in software, as well as knowledge creation and sharing in software projects. His work on these topics has been cited thousands of times and received a.o. Distinguished Paper Award, Best Paper Award, and three Most Influential Paper Awards, as well as awards by Google and Microsoft. In 2014 Prof. Maalej was named “The Early Stage Scientist of the Year” by academics and the German Association of University Professors (DHV) across all disciplines. He currently serves as Steering Committee Chair of the Requirements Engineering conference series.

Prof. Maalej has worked as developer and consultant with and for multiple companies and organizations including Siemens, Tata Consultancy Services, Rohde und Schwarz, and Telekom. He received his doctoral degree in informatics from TU Munich with distinction and is also a proud alumni of the Center for Digital Technology and Management.

Software engineering research seeks to improve the processes, methods, tools and approaches to build high-quality robust software systems. This session will promote discussion about how to identify a problem to solve, how to study and ‘solve’ the problem, how to communicate results and how to make a difference in the way software systems are built in the future.

Gail C. Murphy is a Professor of Computer Science and Vice-President Research and Innovation at The University of British Columbia. Her research group focuses on improving the productivity of software developers. She is a Fellow of the ACM and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. She is also a co-founder of Tasktop Technologies Inc.

Large Language Models (LLMs) are revolutionizing software development. In this new world, where repositories are increasingly filled with AI-generated data, what is the role of empirical software engineering research? This talk makes the case that empirical research is crucial for navigating this AI-driven landscape and offering data-driven insights for the future of the field.

Christoph Treude is an Associate Professor at Singapore Management University (SMU). He serves on the editorial boards of journals including TSE, EMSE, and JSS, and will be PC Co-Chair for FSE 2026. His research goal - getting information to developers when and where they need it - is gaining new significance in the AI era. Before joining SMU, Christoph worked in Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Germany.

Just as a strudel requires the perfect balance of flaky pastry and sweet filling, creating a sustainable open-source ecosystem requires whisking together a harmonious blend of ingredients. In this talk, I will take you on a culinary journey through my group STRUDEL’s research using social science theories and data science methods to discover the ingredients for a thriving and sustainable open-source ecosystem. I’ll knead the dough of big data, sprinkle the cinnamon of collaboration, and fold in the apples of innovation. So, put on your aprons, preheat your curiosity, and get ready to savor a mouthwatering talk that will leave you hungry for more knowledge about sustainable open-source ecosystems. Bon appétit!

Bogdan Vasilescu is an Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, where he leads STRUDEL, the Socio-Technical Research Using Data Excavation Lab. With a spatula in one hand, a keyboard in the other, and a pantry full of data mining and social network analysis techniques, Bogdan whips up delectable recipes for improving the sustainability of open-source software. His work focuses on the socio-technical aspects of online collaboration in open source to inform evidence-based interventions supporting developers and communities. He has a PhD in computer science from Eindhoven University of Technology, where he learned how to make delicious strudels with empirical research methods. While at CMU, he has received several awards for his research, including the Ric Holt Early Career Achievement Award and multiple ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Awards.

Empirical research is instrumental in solving complex industrial challenges and providing input for data-driven decision-making. Yet, many academic pursuits end up proposing models, frameworks and theories that are rarely applied in real world, or advancing academic knowledge that falls to drive tangible improvements in practice. Haven’t you read papers addressing research questions that help researchers merely exercise their data analysis skills? This talk will emphasise the critical importance of ensuring that research is both relevant and capable of informing and transforming industrial practice. The session will cover key themes such as approaches to bridging the gap between industry and academia, the challenges of engaging industry partners and recruiting study participants, and the mechanisms through which academic outcomes can be effectively communicated and implemented in industrial contexts. The discussion will be based on real case examples and illustrations from ongoing empirical research on remote and hybrid work arrangements in Swedish and Norwegian software companies.

Darja Šmite is a professor of Software Engineering at Blekinge Institute of Technology and a part-time research scientist at SINTEF in Norway. She leads research efforts focusing on remote and hybrid working. Her research interests include distributed development and outsourcing, productivity measurement, organizational culture, teamwork, self-organisation, innovative behaviours and well-being. Šmite conducts research in close collaboration with companies, including Ericsson, Spotify, Telenor Group, Storebrand and SONY among others. Before her academic career, Šmite has worked in the software industry in Latvia.