Shane Peelar

Computer Scientist (Ph.D.)

Curriculum Vitae

PhD in Computer Science (defended December 2020, graduating June 2021). Interested in heterogeneous compute, virtual reality, compilers, reverse engineering, natural language semantics, and related topics. Very comfortable with low level programming, and experienced with SIMD/vectorization for optimization. Strong background in GPU compute using OpenCL and CUDA. Very comfortable with Linear Algebra and Computer Graphics. Extensive C++ knowledge and experience (C++98 through C++20). Familiar with development workflows on Windows and various Linux environments using Visual Studio, GCC and Clang compilers. Some experience with Software Reverse Engineering (using Ghidra and ollydbg), but very interested in learning more. Keen ability to maintain and accelerate critical legacy code that has little or no associated documentation. Maintainer of the GentooLTO project on GitHub.

I have also been a Khronos Group OpenCL contributor as part of being in the University of Windsor OpenCL Working Group. In particular, I am listed as a contributor on the OpenCL 2.2 specification.

Published Dissertation Link: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/8531/
Doctoral Thesis Demonstration (WebAssembly): http://speechweb2.cs.uwindsor.ca/
GitHub: https://github.com/InBetweenNames

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Computer Science, University of Windsor
  (January 2017 - June 2021)

  • Natural Language Semantics. Defended December 2020, work is published, graduated June 2021.

• Master of Science (M.Sc.), Computer Science, University of Windsor
  (September 2014 - May 2017)

  • Natural Language Semantics. Successfully defended December 2016, graduated May 2017.

• Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), Honours Computer Science with Software Engineering Specialization (Coop), Minor in Mathematics, University of Windsor
  (September 2009 - June 2014)

  • Graduated with Honours and Distinction, served as a research assistant for Dr. Richard Frost developing natural language processing tools for the SpeechWeb project. Computer Science Society member.

Experience

CAMufacturing Solutions Inc. (Windsor, Ontario, Canada)

• Chief Computer Scientist (January 2021 - April 2021)

  • Research and development of Additive Manufacturing simulation models (“Part Models”) and software, including heat modelling
  • Planning and overseeing various research projects within the company
  • Publishing results in relevant journals and conferences
  • C++ development using the latest C++ standard (C++20)
  • Meeting with customers to address their needs directly
  • Project planning, including estimating and establishing timelines, and overseeing product development
  • Using low-level programming techniques (SIMD/vectorization) to achieve greater throughput during simulations
  • Software performance analysis and optimization (Intel vTune, etc)
  • Accelerating bulk workloads using OpenCL (heterogeneous programming)
  • Maintenance of software, including developing and undertaking plans to integrate and unify existing code
  • Development of debugging tools to assist other developers
  • Development and implementation of Code Review practices in the organization
  • Teaching and training
  • Software architecture design and evolution

• Senior Software Developer (February 2020 - January 2021)

  • Research and development of Additive Manufacturing simulation models and software (“Part Models”)
  • C++ development using the latest C++ standard (C++20)
  • Using low-level programming techniques (SIMD/vectorization) to achieve greater throughput during simulations
  • Software performance analysis and optimization
  • Accelerating bulk workloads using OpenCL (heterogeneous programming)
  • Maintenance of software, including developing and undertaking plans to integrate and unify existing code
  • Development of debugging tools to assist other developers
  • Code review
  • Software architecture design and evolution

• Research and Development Internship (November 2017 - April 2019)

  • An OCE TalentEdge Academic Internship with CAMufacturing Solutions Inc. and the University of Windsor.
  • Research and Development of efficient Additive Manufacturing simulation modules for toolpath optimization, visualization, and post-processing
  • The work was a resounding success and was featured at both CAD Conference 2018 and in the CAD & Applications Journal in 2019.

University of Windsor (Windsor, Ontario, Canada)

• Sessional Instructor (September 2019 - December 2019)

  • Instructor for the Agile Software Development in the Fall 2019 semester

• Workshops (July 2019)

  • Ran a 3-day workshop titled Introduction to Open Source Development geared towards Masters of Applied Computing students

• Graduate Assistant/Lab Instructor (May 2015 - August 2019)

  Able to step in to teach for any course the University of Windsor offers in Computer Science. Primarily I acted in the role of Lab Instructor. I have been the GA and Lab Instructor of these courses:

  • 60-100 Key Concepts in Computer Science (4 terms)
  • 60-141 Introduction to Algorithms and Programming II
  • 60-322 Object-Oriented Software Analysis and Design
  • 60-265 Computer Architecture I: Digital Design
  • 60-266 Computer Architecture II: Microprocessor Programming
  • 60-352 (COMP-3520) Introduction to Computer Graphics (2 terms)
  • 60-367 Computer Networks
  • 60-667 Networking and Data Security
  • 60-254 Data Structures and Algorithms

• Research Assistant / Graduate Research Assistant (September 2009 - December 2020)

  Developing the SpeechWeb project and the research pertaining to natural language processing (NLP) for the project under Dr. Richard Frost. The research has a strong focus on functional programming and is currently based on Haskell. Became a Graduate Research Assistant when I started my Masters degree in September 2014 (same duties).

  • Maintenance of the SpeechWeb server (sysadmin) and associated triplestores
  • Haskell development, web development (Javascript, HTML) for the frontend

Arada Systems (Windsor, Ontario, Canada)

• Software Developer Internship (June 2014 - August 2014)

  Worked on vehicle to vehicle communication (V2V) and safety systems, including techniques for visualizing and understanding data from existing equipment in the field. My work was mainly math focused (linear algebra), though I also implemented part of a V2V communications specification and developed debugging tools.

Alcatel-Lucent (now Nokia) (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)

• Software Test Engineering Co-op (January 2012 - August 2012):

  Developed internal software for the company and maintained test suites for regression testing for a very powerful router. Worked extensively with Tcl/Tk.

Publications

1. Scalable, Efficient and Precise Natural Language Processing in the Semantic Web
   (Doctoral Thesis)

2. Accommodating Negation in an Efficient Event-based Natural Language Query Interface to the Semantic Web (WEBIST 2020)

3. A New Approach for Processing Natural-Language Queries to Semantic Web Triplestores
   (WEBIST 2020 Springer Book)

4. A Compositional Semantics for a Wide-coverage Natural-Language Query Interface to a Semantic Web Triplestore (IEEE ICSC 2020)

5. A New Data Structure for Processing Natural Language Database Queries
   (WEBIST 2019, nominated for Best Student Paper Award)

6. An Extensible Natural-Language Query Interface to an Event-Based Semantic Web Triplestore (NLIWOD 2018)

7. Real-Time Visualization of Bead Based Additive Manufacturing Toolpaths
   (CAD'18, full paper in CAD & Applications Journal)

8. The Windsor Build and Testing Framework (IWOCL 2017)

9. Accommodating prepositional phrases in a highly modular natural language query interface to semantic web triplestores using a novel event-based denotational semantics for English and a set of functional parser combinators (Master’s Thesis)

10. A system for the automated author attribution of text and instant messages (ASONAM ‘13)

Projects

GentooLTO

(September 2017 – Present)
A configuration for Gentoo Linux to enable full aggressive optimizations for source code across the whole distribution, including experimental ones such as Graphite. Also functions as a great way to find bugs in open source code :)

An intelligent system for Additive Manufacturing

(November 2017 – May 2019)
Builds upon the STLGen work completed previously to enable rapid previewing and hybrid machining operations on CAD models for Additively Manufactured components. This project was partly funded by an OCE Academic TalentEdge Internship.

STLGen

(July 2016 – March 2017)
A tool to efficiently produce 3D models for 3D printed components via simulation, including producing an optionally watertight model for further postprocessing applications. Funded by an NSERC Engage grant.

WHIN

(Apr 2016 – Aug 2016)
A social network for innovators in the health sector

WYNI

(Sep 2014 – Jan 2015)
This project is in part funded by an OCE Academic TalentEdge Internship.

Honours & Awards:

OCE TalentEdge Academic Internship

December 2017, University of Windsor
Awarded an OCE TalentEdge Academic Internship grant for work with Additive Manufacturing Simulation and modelling projects at CAMufacturing Solutions Inc.

Entrance Scholarship

Jan 2017, University of Windsor
Awarded Entrance Scholarship for high GPA during my Masters degree for my PhD studies

NSERC Engage

Jun 2016, University of Windsor
I was awarded the NSERC Engage scholarship to work on the VoxelSim project as part of an additive manufacturing research effort.

Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship

April 2015, University of Windsor
A high-value competitive province-wide scholarship in Ontario, Canada, held for three terms.

Entrance Scholarship

Sep 2014, University of Windsor
Entrance Scholarship awarded for high GPA in my Undergraduate degree for my Masters degree

Director’s Honour Roll

Apr 2014, University of Windsor
Awarded Director’s Honour Roll for Outstanding Academic Excellence

Outstanding Scholars Award

Sep 2009 - Apr 2014, University of Windsor
Awarded Outstanding Scholar Award for maintaining a GPA above 83.0 (or 11.0 in the original GPA system). Honour Roll on Dean’s List. Maintained until graduation.

Entrance Scholarship

Sep 2009, University of Windsor
Awarded Entrance Scholarship for entering with an A- average from high school. This scholarship was maintained until it expired.