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Dr Jacob Howe

Senior Lecturer

School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering Department of Computer Science

Contact details

Address

Dr Jacob Howe A304D, College Building
City, University of London
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom

About

Overview

My research interests span machine learning, mathematical logic, declarative programming, software reliability, artificial intelligence, constraint solving and computational geometry. My work has two strands, one in developing the theoretical foundations of these areas, the other in applying them, particularly in static program analysis using abstract interpretation. Formally reasoning about code using abstract interpretation makes it an important tool for the software engineer interested in verification and security.

Qualifications

  1. PhD Computer Science, University of St Andrews, United Kingdom, 1998
  2. MSc Philososphy & History of Science, University of London (LSE), United Kingdom, 1995
  3. BSc (Hons) Mathematics, University of Warwick, United Kingdom, 1994

Employment

  1. Senior Lecturer, City, University of London, Aug 2007 – present
  2. Lecturer, City, University of London, Oct 2001 – Jul 2007

Teaching

Educational Leadership

Course Director for BSc (Hons) Computer Science and MSci (Hons) Computer Science
Course Director for BSc Computer Science

Research

Research Interests

My research interests are centred on static program analysis, the development of the techniques used and building tools to apply this. In particular I am interested in applying geometrical and logical techniques to program analysis. I also have interests in logic programming, constraint solving and mathematical logic. Recent projects I have been involved in include the EPSRC project VIP: Verification with Integer Polyhedra.

Publications

Publications by category

Chapters (2)

  1. Mereani, F.A. and Howe, J.M. (2021). Rule Extraction from Neural Networks and Other Classifiers Applied to XSS Detection. Studies in Computational Intelligence (pp. 359–386). Springer International Publishing.
  2. Howe, J.M. and King, A. Polyhedral Analysis using Parametric Objectives. Nineteenth Static Analysis Symposium (pp. 41–57). Springer.

Conference papers and proceedings (14)

  1. Mereani, F.A. and Howe, J.M. (2018). Preventing Cross-Site Scripting Attacks by Combining Classifiers. 10th International Joint Conference on Computational Intelligence 18-20 September.
  2. De Souza Mota, E., Howe, J.M. and D’Avila Garcez, A.S. (2017). Inductive learning in shared neural multi-spaces.
  3. Tenório, M.R., De Souza Mota, E., Howe, J.M. and D’Avila Garcez, A.S. (2017). Learning about actions and events in shared NeMuS.
  4. Melik Schramm, A.C., De Souza Mota, E., Howe, J.M. and D’Avila Garcez, A.S. (2017). Category-based inductive learning in shared NeMuS.
  5. Robbins, E., Howe, J.M. and King, A. (2013). Theory propagation and rational-trees.
  6. Howe, J.M. and King, A. (2010). A pearl on SAT solving in Prolog. 10th International Symposium on Functional and Logic Programming 19-21 April, Sendai, Japan.
  7. Charles, P.J., Howe, J.M. and King, A. (2009). Integer polyhedra for program analysis. 5th International Conference, AAIM 2009 15-17 June, San Francisco, USA.
  8. Howe, J.M. and King, A. (2009). Logahedra: A new weakly relational domain.
  9. Simon, A., King, A. and Howe, J.M. (2003). Two variables per linear inequality as an abstract domain.
  10. Howe, J.M. and King, A. (2001). Positive Boolean Functions as Multiheaded Clauses. International Conference on Logic Programming 26 Nov 2001 – 1 Dec 2001, Cyprus.
  11. Howe, J.M. and King, A. (2000). Specialising Finite Domain Programs with Polyhedra. Logic Programming Synthesis and Transformation 1999 22 Sep 1999 – 24 Sep 1999, Venezia.
  12. Howe, J.M. and King, A. (1999). Specialising Finite Domain Programs Using Polyhedra.
  13. Howe, J.M. (1997). Two Loop Detection Mechanisms: a Comparison. International Conference on Analytic Tableaux and Related Methods (TABLEAUX'97) 13-16 May, Pont-a-Mousson.
  14. Howe, J.M. and King, A. Implementing Groundness Analysis with Definite Boolean Functions. 9th European Symposium on Programming Languages and Systems.

Journal articles (21)

  1. ROBBINS, E.D., KING, A. and HOWE, J.M. (2021). Backjumping is Exception Handling. Theory and Practice of Logic Programming, 21(2), pp. 125–144. doi:10.1017/s1471068420000435.
  2. Alhamdan, W.S.N. and Howe, J.M. (2021). Classification of Date Fruits in a Controlled Environment Using Convolutional Neural Networks. pp. 154–163. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-69717-4_16.
  3. Mota, E., Howe, J.M., Schramm, A. and d'Avila Garcez, A. (2019). Efficient Predicate Invention using Shared NeMuS. 14th International Workshop on Neural-Symbolic Learning and Reasoning.
  4. Howe, J.M., King, A. and Simon, A. (2019). Incremental closure for systems of two variables per inequality. Theoretical Computer Science, 768, pp. 1–42. doi:10.1016/j.tcs.2018.12.001.
  5. Mereani, F. and Howe, J. (2019). Exact and Approximate Rule Extraction from Neural Networks with Boolean Features. Proceedings of the 11th International Joint Conference on Computational Intelligence. doi:10.5220/0008362904240433.
  6. Mereani, F.A. and Howe, J.M. (2018). Detecting Cross-Site Scripting Attacks Using Machine Learning. pp. 200–210. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-74690-6_20.
  7. Howe, J.M., Robbins, E. and King, A. (2017). Theory learning with symmetry breaking. Proceedings of the 19th International Symposium on Principles and Practice of Declarative Programming. doi:10.1145/3131851.3131861.
  8. Robbins, E., Howe, J.M. and King, A. (2015). Theory propagation and reification. Science of Computer Programming, 111(1), pp. 3–22. doi:10.1016/j.scico.2014.05.013.
  9. Howe, J.M. and King, A. (2012). A pearl on SAT and SMT solving in Prolog. Theoretical Computer Science.
  10. Howe, J.M. and King, A. (2011). A Pearl on SAT Solving in Prolog (extended abstract). Logic Programming Newsletter, (3).
  11. Howe, J.M., King, A. and Lawrence-Jones, C. (2010). Quadtrees as an abstract domain. Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science, 267(1), pp. 89–100. doi:10.1016/j.entcs.2010.09.008.
  12. Howe, J.M., King, A. and Lu, L.J. (2004). Analysing logic programs by reasoning backwards. PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT IN COMPUTATIONAL LOGIC, 3049, pp. 152–188.
  13. Howe, J.M. and King, A. (2003). Three optimisations for sharing. THEORY AND PRACTICE OF LOGIC PROGRAMMING, 3, pp. 243–257. doi:10.1017/S1471068402001497.
  14. Howe, J.M. and King, A. (2003). Efficient groundness analysis in Prolog. THEORY AND PRACTICE OF LOGIC PROGRAMMING, 3, pp. 95–124. doi:10.1017/S1471068402001485.
  15. Howe, J.M. and King, A. (2003). Efficient Groundness Analysis in Prolog. TPLP, 3, pp. 95–124.
  16. Howe, J.M. and King, A. (2003). Three Optimisations for Sharing. TPLP, 3, pp. 243–257.
  17. Genaim, S., Howe, J.M. and Codish, M. (2001). Theory and Practice of Logic Programming. Theory and Practice of Logic Programming, 1(5), pp. 611–615.
  18. Howe, J.M. (2001). Proof Search in Lax Logic. Mathematical Structures in Computer Science, 11(4), pp. 573–588.
  19. Genaim, S., Howe, J.M. and Codish, M. (2001). Worst-case groundness analysis using definite boolean functions. TPLP, 1, pp. 611–615.
  20. Genaim, S., Codish, M. and Howe, J.M. (2001). Worst-case groundness analysis using definite Boolean functions. Theory and Practice of Logic Programming, 1(5), pp. 611–615. doi:10.1017/S1471068401001077.
  21. Howe, J.M. and King, A. (2000). Abstracting Numeric Constraints with Boolean Functions. Information Processing Letters, 75(1-2), pp. 17–23. doi:10.1016/S0020-0190(00)00081-8.

Reports (3)

  1. Howe, J.M., King, A. and Lawrence-Jones, C. (2010). Quadtrees as an Abstract Domain..
  2. Howe, J.M. and King, A. (2009). Closure Algorithms for Domains with Two Variables Per Inequality..
  3. Howe, J.M. and King, A. Widening BDDS. University of Kent.

Thesis/dissertation

  1. Howe, J.M. Proof Search Issues in Some Non-Classical Logics. (PhD Thesis)

Professional activities

Editorial activity

  1. Forthcoming and Recent Events
    - LOPSTR 2013, (Madrid, Spain), Programme Committee member
    - WLPE'2013, (Istanbul, Turkey), Programme Committee member
    - PADL'2013: Practical Aspects of Declarative Languages, (Rome, Italy), Programme Committee Member
    - PPDP'2012, (Leuven, Belgium), Programme Committee member
    - WLPE'2012, (Budapest, Hungary), Programme Committee member    .