Md Nakhla Rafi

About Me

I am a PhD student in computer science at Concordia University. I am involved in research at the Software Performance, Analysis, and Reliability (SPEAR) lab, advised by Dr. Tse-Hsun (Peter) Chen, where we focus on improving the quality of large-scale software systems. I also enjoy photography in my free time.

Research Interest

My research interests lie in the field of Software Engineering, specifically in fault localization techniques. Fault localization is the process of identifying and locating the root causes of software failures, which is essential for debugging and improving software quality. My current project involves developing and evaluating novel methods for fault localization based on machine learning and program analysis. Additionally, I am working with Large Language Models (LLMs) to enhance software debugging performance and reliability. This involves leveraging the advanced natural language processing capabilities of LLMs to better understand and analyze software errors, aiming to significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of the debugging process in complex software systems.

Education

News

January 2025. đź“„ Our research paper, Revisiting Defects4J for Fault Localization in Diverse Development Scenarios, has been accepted at MSR 2025.
July 2024. 🏆 I was selected as the first-place winner in the ACM Student Research Competition at FSE 2024 for our work on enhancing code representation for graph-neural network-based fault localization.
July 2024. đź“„ Our research paper, Towards Better Graph Neural Network-based Fault Localization Through Enhanced Code Representation, has been accepted at FSE 2024.
April 2024. đź“„ Our short paper, Exploring Data Cleanness in Defects4J and Its Influence on Fault Localization Efficiency, has been accepted at ICSE 2024.

Publications

Towards Better Graph Neural Network-based Fault Localization Through Enhanced Code Representation
Md Nakhla Rafi, Dong Jae Kim, An Ran Chen, Tse-Hsun (Peter) Chen, Shaowei Wang
The ACM International Conference on the Foundations of Software Engineering (FSE 2024)
View Paper
Exploring Data Cleanness in Defects4J and Its Influence on Fault Localization Efficiency
Md Nakhla Rafi, An Ran Chen, Tse-Hsun Chen, Shaohua Wang
International Conference on Software Engineering: Companion Proceedings (ICSE 2024)
View Paper

Work Experience

Graduate Research Assistant
Software Performance, Analysis, and Reliability (SPEAR) Lab, Concordia University
Montréal, Québec — Sept 2022 - Present
  • Conducting research on developing innovative techniques and methodologies for identifying and diagnosing software faults.
Data Anomaly Engineer
ERA Environmental Management Solutions
Montréal, Québec — May 2024 - Present
  • Implement anomaly detection for customer product usage with customizable UI integration.
  • Develop anomaly validation strategies for B2B software handling variable end-user data.
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Concordia University
Montreal, Quebec — Jan 2024 - April 2024
  • Tutorial instructor and Marker for COMP‑248 Object Oriented Programming I.
Lecturer
BRAC University
Dhaka, Bangladesh — June 2020 - August 2022
  • Taught Data Communication and Introduction to Programming Languages theory courses.
  • Took labs of Programming Languages 1 (Java), Object Oriented Programming (Java), and System Analysis and Design.