The Grubb Lab
The Grubb lab is the software engineering lab in the Department of Computer Science at Smith College. Our work focuses on goal modeling, and how stakeholders can effectively use models in collaboration. Goal models are a collection of nodes and links that represent the intentions of stakeholders and tradeoffs within the system under consideration. They can be used to make decisions in early-phase requirements engineering as well as in other contexts. The following image is an example of a goal model created in our tool BloomingLeaf, a browser-based tool developed by the lab. See below to join us. 
Lab Members
Dr. Alicia M. Grubb (Principal Investigator 2019-Present)
Alicia is from Canada and loves maple syrup and gooses (and duckies). When they are not in the lab, they can be found riding bikes or paddling a kayak on Smith College’s Paradise Pond.
Yesugen Baatartogtokh ’23 (Volunteer Spring 2021, SURF 2021, NSF Funded 2021-2022, SURF 2022, Senior Honors Thesis 2022-23, Postbaccalaureate Research Affiliate 2023-2024)
Yesugen completed majors in Computer Science and Data Science and is currently applying to PhD programs. She is originally from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Outside of academics, she enjoys being outdoors, cuddling with her cat, reading, and creative writing.
Cyrine Ben Ayed ‘24 (Volunteer Spring 2022, NSF Funded Fall 2022)
Cyrine is an Engineering Science major and a Computer Science minor from Tunis, Tunisia. Outside of the lab, she can be found practicing with the Squash team, dancing, or drawing.
Xinran Bi ‘25J (SURF 2022, Special Studies 2022-23, SURF 2023)
Xinran is a Computer Science and Mathematical Statistics double major from Shanghai, China. Outside of academics, she enjoys singing in different languages, binge-watching anime, and cooking.
Molly Daniel ‘26 (STRIDE 2022-2024, SURF 2023)
Molly is a computer science major from Evanston, Illinois. She joined the lab in September 2022. Outside of academics, she enjoys playing hockey and video games.
Megan Varnum ‘24 (STRIDE 2019-2021, SURF 2020, Volunteer Fall 2022, Special Studies Spring 2023)
Megan is from Eastern Washington and joined the lab as a STRIDE student in September 2019. She is pursuing a double major in Computer Science and Mathematical Statistics. Outside of academics, Megan competes on the varsity Smith College track and cross country team.
Annie Karitonze ‘25J (Volunteer Fall 2022, Special Studies Spring 2023, SURF 2023)
Annie is a double major in Computer Science and Mathematical Statistics from Burundi. She enjoys dancing, reading and hanging out with friends when she is not in class.
Karenna Kung 25 (SURF 2023)
Karenna is from Salem, Connecticut and is a Computer Science and Statistics & Data Science major. Outside of academics, they enjoy playing soccer, hiking, and Shrek the Musical.
Caroline Zouloumian 25 (SURF 2023)
Caroline is a Computer Science major from Nay, France. Outside of the lab she enjoys taking pictures, going for walks, playing music and traveling.
Lab Alumni and Recent Members
Yilin Lucy Wang ‘20 (SURF 2019, Senior Honors Thesis 2019-20)
Isabella Brody-Calixto ‘21 (Special Studies Fall 2020 & Spring 2021)
Ali Eshghi ‘21 (Special Studies Fall 2020 & Spring 2021)
Lauren Forando ‘21 (Work Study 2019)
Isabel Montesanto ‘21 (Senior Honors Thesis 2020-21)
Ester Zhao ‘21 (Special Studies Fall 2020 & Spring 2021)
Ella Chang ‘22 (Special Studies Fall 2020)
Sophie Crane ‘22 (Special Studies Fall 2020)
Omema Ibrahim ‘22 (SURF 2019)
Catherine Kung ‘22 (SURF 2021, NSF Funded 2021-2022)
Kate (Max) Spencer ‘22 (Volunteer 2020, SURF 2020, Special Studies Spring 2021)
Naomi Cebula ‘23J (SURF 2019, Special Studies Fall 2019)
Kathleen Hablutzel ‘23J (STRIDE 2020-2021, NSF Funded 2021-2022, NSF Funded Fall 2022)
Lily Diao ‘23 (SURF 2019, Special Studies Fall 2019)
Irene Foster ‘23 (SURF 2021, NSF Funded 2021-2022, SURF 2022, NSF Funded 2022-2023)
Yanning Tan ‘23 (Special Studies Fall 2020, Volunteer Spring 2021, Special Studies Fall 2021, NSF Funded Spring 2022)
Sasha Yeutseyeva ‘23 (Senior Honors Thesis 2022-23)
Manar Alnazer ‘24 (SURF 2021)
Bobi Arce Mack ‘24 (Volunteer Fall 2022, NSF Funded Spring 2023)
Thu Tran ‘24 (Volunteer Spring 2022, NSF Funded 2022-2023)
Joey Elsbernd ‘25 (SURF 2022, STRIDE 2022-2023)
Sonora Halili ‘25 (Volunteer Spring 2022, SURF 2022, Work Study 2022-2023)
Anisha Jain ‘25 (STRIDE 2021-2023, SURF 2022)
Venus Nguyen ‘25 (AEMES 2021-2023, SURF 2022)
Emma Ruckle 25 (SURF 2023)
Emily Kung ‘26 (STRIDE 2022-2023, SURF 2023)
Angela Chu (SURF 2021)
How to Join
We are seeking new lab members interested in both software development and requirements research. There are different ways to conduct research in the Grubb Lab (e.g., volunteer, special studies, SURF, STRIDE, AEMES, or a senior honors thesis project). Those interested in development or software engineering research should have completed or be currently enrolled in CSC212/210. Ideally, students interested in pursuing a Senior Honors Thesis should contact Alicia in their junior year. Interested? Contact Alicia. Not sure what to say? Review the “Recommendations for Emailing Professors” on the Research at Smith page. Want to know what it’s like? Reach out to one of our current or past members.
SURF 2024
Each summer the Grubb lab accepts 5-8 students interested in software development and/or empirical research (i.e., software engineering).
We are developing a framework to integrate requirements techniques with development activities (e.g., coding, testing). By linking requirements with the documentation of development activities, we hope to make it easier for programmers to engage with the requirements for their project. We are investigating how to model artifacts in a GitLab repository. Our initial proof-of-concept was designed by past SURF students in the lab. In summer 2024, we will continue to investigate using natural language processing and artificial intelligence techniques to create traceability links between requirement and development artifacts. We will extend GitLab with these links and create new user interfaces to explore these techniques.
We are finalizing our goal modeling tool, called BloomingLeaf. In prior development projects, we refactored our code base to enable new model management features, restructured the code base to take advantage of underlying libraries, added model merging and automatic layout, and added presence conditions. This summer we will improve and finalize our user-centered methodology and its implementation in BloomingLeaf.
For both projects, the Grubb lab welcomes the insights of enthusiastic students interested in research, who have excellent communication skills (written/verbal English), strong programming skills, and an ability to work independently and collaboratively. Our online codebase will help you create a portfolio for future applications to employers and graduate schools.
