Fuqun Huang, PhD

She/Her/Hers, Assistant Professor

About

Dr. Fuqun Huang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Western Washington University. Before joining Western in 2023, she served as a Research Assistant Professor (Principal Investigator and PhD advisor) at the University of Coimbra in Portugal.

Dr. Huang’s research focuses on software reliability, safety, and security, with a particular emphasis on the human error mechanisms that contribute to faults and vulnerabilities in software systems. Since first proposing the area internationally in 2011, Dr. Huang has pioneered breakthroughs in this interdisciplinary area. Her contributions include exploring the cognitive mechanisms behind software defects, developing defect prevention strategies based on human error theories, creating methods for early defect forecasting, and innovating software diversity design and defect detection approaches based on human errors.

Dr. Huang has published over 40 papers in leading journals and conferences, and her work has led to educational innovations in the field of Computer Science. One notable outcome is the creation of the “Human Errors in Software Engineering” course, which is recognized as the first of its kind and featured in the IEEE Frontiers in Education. 

Educational & Professional Experience

Courses

  • CISS 346 - Secure Software Development (Fall 23, Fall 24)
  • CSCI 241 - Data Structure (Winter 24, Spring 25)
  • CSCI 497B/597B-Human Errors in Software Engineering, New course in this area (Spring 24, Winter 25; Fall 25) (Awarded in IEEE Frontier in Education by IEEE Society of Education)
  • CSCI 490-Senior Research: Human Errors in Software Engineering (Fall 23-present)
  • CSCI 496-Undergraduate Research (Fall 23-present)
  • CSCI 692 – Graduate Research Experience (Fall 23-present)

Previous Professional Experience

  • Research Assistant Professor (2021-2023), Centre for Informatics and Systems of University of Coimbra, Portugal
  • Founder & President on Director Board (2016-present), Institute of Interdisciplinary Scientists, 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, Seattle, USA.
  • Horary Visiting Scholar, Centre for Software Reliability, City University of London, UK. 

Education 

Postdoc             The Ohio State University

PhD & BSE        Beihang University

Services

  • Founder & General Chair, IEEE International Workshop on Human Factors for Software Dependability, co-located with ISSRE 2024, ISSRE 2025
  • Program Committee, Research Track, The 36th IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE 2025)
  • Publicity Chair, The 53rd Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN 2023).
  • Program Committee, the Annual conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE 2022-2024)
  • Program Committee, IEEE International Conference on Software Quality, Reliability and Security (QRS 2021- 2025)
  • Program Committee, Doctoral Symposium of the 33rd IEEE International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE 2022)
  • Program Committee, IEEE International Workshop on Software Certification (2015-2022)
  • Chair (2024-present), Assessment and Accreditation Committee, responsible for ABET accreditation of the CS, Cybersecurity, and Data Science programs. Department of Computer Science, Western Washington University. 
     

 

Recent Publications:

Selected Publications

Dr. Huang’s research group has published extensively in renowned journals and conferences across multiple disciplines. Below are a few examples (* indicates PI):

Journal articles 

  1. Huang F*, and Madeira H. "Advancing Modern Code Review Effectiveness through Human Error Mechanisms." Journal of Systems and Software (2024): 112060. (Impact Factor 3.7; CORE A; SCImago Ranking Q1; Top 3 in the field of “Computer Science-Software Systems” by Google Scholar Metrics).

  2. Chen K., Huang F*, Liu Z, Yu H, Meng  L, Mo S, & Song Y (2024). ACcoding: A graph-based dataset for online judge programming. Scientific Data, 11(1), 548. (Impact Factor :10.8; SCImago Ranking Q1; Top journal published by Nature.com)

  3. Huang F*, Strigini L. HEDF: A Method for Early Forecasting Software Defects Based on Human Error Mechanisms. IEEE Access. 2023;11: 3626-52. (Impact factor: 3.9, Q1, CORE A; ranked 15 among the top 100 journals across all disciplines by Google Scholar metrics)

  4. X. Diao, C. Mutha, F. Huang, C.Smidts. “An Ontology-based Fault Generation and Fault Propagation Analysis Approach for Safety-Critical Computer Systems at the Design Stage”, AI EDAM, 2021(Impact factor: 2.34, Q2)

  5. F. Huang and C. Smidts. “Causal Mechanism Graph: a New Notation System to Capture Cause-effect Knowledge in Software Dependability.” Reliability Engineering & System Safety 158 (2017): 196-212. (Impact factor: 5.04; Q1; Ranked top 1 in the Quality and Reliability field by Google Scholar Metrics) 

  6. F. Huang * and B. Liu. “Software Defect Prevention based on Human Error Theories.” Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 30, no.3 (2017):1054-1070 (Impact factor: 2.215; Q1; Ranked top 2 in the Aviation & Aerospace Engineering field by Google Scholar Metrics)

  7. F. Huang *, B. Liu, S. Wang, and Q. Li. "The impact of software process consistency on residual defects." Journal of Software: Evolution and Process 27, no. 9 (2015): 625-646.  (Impact factor: 1.8; Q2 in Computer Science-Software)

  8. F. Huang*, B. Liu, Y. Song, and S. Keyal. "The links between human error diversity and software diversity: Implications for fault diversity seeking." Science of Computer Programming 89 (2014): 350-373. (Impact factor:1.4; Q2 in Computer Science-Software; CORE A) 

Selected conference papers in recent 2 years

  1. F. Huang*, Y. Wang, Y. Wang, “Two Requirements Scenarios That Trigger Human Errors in Software Development: A Case Study in the Aviation Industry”, accepted by Industry Track of ISSRE 2025 (CORE A).

  2. F. Huang. "How Post-completion Error Leads to Software Faults and Vulnerabilities: Industrial Case Studies." In 44th International Conference on Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security (Safecomp 2025), pp. 67-81. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2025. (Acceptance rate 20%; CORE B)

  3. Hytopoulos, Theo, Marvin Chan, Keegan Roth, Rylan Wasson, and Fuqun Huang *. "An Approach to Cognitive Root Cause Analysis of Software Vulnerabilities." In 25th International Conference on Product-Focused Software Process Improvement (PROFES 2024), pp. 11-26. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2024. Acceptance rate 30%; CORE B)

  4. F Huang. " Full: A New Graduate Course Structure for Addressing Human Errors in Software Development " In press by 2024 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), pp. 1-9. IEEE, 2024. (Full research paper; CORE C).

  5. Zhao B, Song Y, Xu W, Huang F*. A Cognitive Framework for Modeling Coincident Software Faults: An Experimental Study. In International Conference on Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security 2023 Sep 11 (pp. 41-54). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. (Acceptance rate 20%; CORE B)

  6. Huang F, Huang B, Wang Y, Wang Y. A Taxonomy of Software Defect Forms for Certification Tests in Aviation Industry. In International Conference on Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security 2023 Sep 11 (pp. 55-63). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. (Acceptance rate 20%; CORE B)

  7. Huang F. "Promoting Students' Cognitive Ability to Identify Human Error-Prone Scenarios in Programs." In 2023 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), pp. 1-9. IEEE, 2023. (Full research paper; CORE C)
     

Alumni

Owen Wright (2025, Roblox)
Kiley Schutte (2025, Fast Enterprises)
Madisen Cordell (2025, Amazon)
Tan Nguyen (2025, Western Washington University)
Marvin Chan (2024, University of Oregon)
Theo Hytopoulos (2024, Western Washington University) 
Keagan Roth (2024)
Rylan Wasson (2024, Sigma Design)
Alyssa White (2024)
Vivian White (2024, University of British Columbia)
Jason Wild (2024, PISCES International)