The Functional Programming Group at the University of Kansas apply and extend functional programming technologies to the diverse areas of building computer systems, high-performance computing, information assurance, virtual reality and telemetry. We use functional programming to bring clarity to descriptions of what we want to compute, and computer language technologies to provide efficiency and assurance. Typically, we collaborate with other research groups, deploying our technology and bringing our research and development expertise to work on our collaborators’ open issues, as well as their assurance and performance needs.
Research Thrusts
- Reification and Homoiconicity: We are developing tools for parallelism that use novel compiler technology for high-performance computing
- Embedded Systems: We are working on an Arduino compiler, and a Next Generation Kansas Lava.
- Virtual Reality: We are exploring using VR for teaching, debugging, and (with KU athletics) sport simulators.
Group Composition
The Functional Programming Group at the University of Kansas is led by Andrew Gill. The group operates inside the Computer Systems Design Laboratory (CSDL), at ITTC, in Nichols Hall on west campus.
Recent Activities
FPG Alumni
| Year | Â |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Justin Dawson (PhD), Mark Grebe (PhD) |
| 2017 | Liia Butler (BS), Brandon Caudell (BS) |
| 2016 | Jackson Montgomery (BS), Aditya Kumar Ravikanti (MS), Mohammed Ziauddin (MS) |
| 2015 | Andrew Farmer (PhD), Rama Krishnamoorthy (MS), Ryan Scott (BS), Moiz Virani (MS) |
| 2014 | Jan Bracker (MS Exchange), Adam Howell (BS) |
| 2013 | Robert Blair (BS), Patrick G Flor (BS), Neil Sculthorpe (PostDoc) |
| 2012 | Patrick Miller (BS) |
| 2011 | Tristan Bull (MS), Kevin Matlage (MS), Garrin Kimmell (PostDoc), Brandon Smith (BS) |
Visitors and Visits
These are people who have visited the lab. If you want to visit KU, email Professor Gill.
| Who | When | From |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Yorgey | July 2015 | Hendrix College |
| John Peterson | Mar 2015 | Western State Colorado University |
| Laurence E. Day | Oct 2013 | University of Nottingham |
| Anders Persson | Oct 2011 | Chalmers |
| Simon Thompson | June 2011 | University of Kent |
| Jun Inoue | Oct/Nov 2010 | Rice University |
We also occasionally leave the lab.
| Who | When | Length | Visiting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professor Gill | Fall 2017- | Ongoing | [Google] X, The Moonshot Factory |
| Andrew Farmer | Fall 2014 | 3 months | Facebook (London) |
| Professor Gill | Fall 2013 | 2 weeks | Distinguished Visitor Fellowship (Scotland) |
| Andrew Farmer | Spring 2013 | 6 months | Portland State University (Oregon) |
Joining the Group
If you are already at KU
New members are always welcome, however, at the graduate level you will need some experience in Haskell, for example, via EECS 776. Email Professor Gill for a discussion, explaining why functional programming is something you are interested in exploring.
If you are not already at KU
If you are not at KU, and are not planning on applying to KU, then please outline how you know Haskell, or another functional language. The lab does not offer scholarships to outside students, though we have people join from other graduate programs from time to time. Template requests for sponsorship without FP specifics will be deleted without acknowledgement.
Common Misunderstandings
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We are not a software engineering group. We use functional languages to solve problems, which may have a software engineering component.
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There are no funded research openings right now.
Collaborations and Other Activities
CDSL at ITTC also hosts the System Level Design Group (SLDG), lead by Perry Alexander, who also uses functional programming for system engineering, and with whom we collaborate closely.
SLDG and FPG jointly run the LAMBDA reading group for anyone that is interested, discussing topics related to programming and specification languages, semantic models, and programming paradigms.
We have an IRC group, #ku-csdl, on irc.freenode.net.
We also use a subreddit, /r/csdl/,
and use github https://github.com/ku-fpg/.