Postdoctoral Researcher in Formal Methods and Dependable Autonomous Systems
University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology
I am a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Formal Methods Unit at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology.
My research lies at the intersection of software engineering and formal methods for dependable autonomous and AI-enabled systems, with applications to safety-critical domains. I develop methods that combine design-time formal verification, model-based testing, and runtime assurance to improve the reliability and robustness of complex autonomous safety-critical systems.
In my doctoral work (PhD thesis), I introduced a methodology for engineering safety in automated safety-critical systems through the explicit specification, design-time verification, and runtime validation of environment assumptions, integrated seamlessly into the software development lifecycle.
Hazard-Aware Runtime Adaptation for Safe Control in Autonomous Systems (2025–present)
Development of methods for adaptive safety control in autonomous systems that integrate hazard analysis, runtime monitoring, and formal assumption–guarantee reasoning to enable safe operation under changing environmental conditions.
SynTM – Synthesis of Teamwork Multi-Agent Systems (2024–present)
Research on decentralized coordination mechanisms and the automated generation of ROS 2 programs from formal agent models, with a focus on dependable and scalable multi-robot systems.
Methods for the ODD Specification (2022–2024) Design of a YAML-based ODD specification language and automated consistency checking using SMT solvers, bridging requirements analysis, formal modeling, and verification for industrial automated driving systems.
LogiSmile: Last-Mile Logistics for Autonomous Goods Delivery (2022–2024) Design and development of an integrated autonomous delivery system for urban environments, combining automated hub vehicles acting as mobile depots with autonomous delivery robots for last-mile logistics.
Mobil-e-Hub (2020–2023) Development of last-mile logistics concepts that combine autonomous drones with electric vehicles serving as mobile hubs, enabling flexible delivery scenarios integrated with passenger mobility systems.
VanAssist (2019–2021) Development of onboard and offboard runtime monitoring systems for automated delivery vehicles operating on company premises and in urban environments, supporting dependable autonomous operation.
Automated Test Case Generation 1.0 & 2.0 (2018–2021) Automated generation of executable test cases from formalized system requirements using model checking, including extensions integrated with the ANSYS SCADE development environment.
Formal Verification of Automotive System Functions (2018–2020)
Verification of safety-critical automotive functions, including speed estimation and exhaust gas after-treatment, against legal and NCAP requirements through model checking, tolerance analysis of abstract algorithmic models, and systematic test-case derivation.
A complete publication list is available via Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and ORCID.
A. Aniculaesei, I. Aslam, M. Zhang, A. Buragohain, A. Vorwald, A. Rausch.
Improving Safety of Autonomous Vehicles: A Verifiable Method for Graceful Degradation of Decision and Control Responsibilities.
SAE International Journal of Connected and Automated Vehicles, 8(2), 2025.
DOI: 10.4271/12-08-02-0021
A. Aniculaesei, Y. Elhajji.
Runtime Monitoring Approach to Safeguard Behavior of Autonomous Vehicles at Traffic Lights.
Electronics, 14, Article 2366, 2025.
DOI: 10.3390/electronics14122366
A. Aniculaesei.
Engineering of Safety in Automated Safety-Critical Systems through Design-time Verification and Runtime Validation of Environment Assumptions.
PhD thesis, Technische Universität Clausthal, 2024 (published 2025).
DOI: 10.21268/20250509-0
M. Urban, A. Aniculaesei, A. Rausch.
AI-Driven Runtime Monitoring of Energy Consumption in Autonomous Delivery Drones.
In Intelligent Systems Conference (IntelliSys 2023), LNNS 825, Springer, 2024.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-47718-8_19
I. Aslam, A. Aniculaesei, A. Buragohain, D. Bamal, A. Rausch.
Runtime Safety Assurance of Autonomous Vehicles Used for Last-Mile Delivery in Urban Environments.
In Next Chapter in Mobility, Springer Gabler, 2024.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-42647-7_27
I. Aslam, A. Buragohain, D. Bamal, A. Aniculaesei, M. Zhang, A. Rausch.
A Method for the Runtime Validation of AI-Based Environment Perception in Automated Driving Systems.
In 16th International Conference on Adaptive and Self-Adaptive Systems and Applications (ADAPTIVE 2024), pp. 17–25, IARIA, Venice, Italy, 2024.
A. Aniculaesei, C. Schindler, C. Knieke, A. Rausch.
A Method for ODD Specification and Verification with Application for Industrial Automated Driving Systems.
In 2023 International Conference on Computational Science and Computational Intelligence (CSCI’23), Las Vegas, USA, 2023.
DOI: 10.1109/CSCI62032.2023.00251
A. Aniculaesei, I. Aslam, D. Bamal, F. Helsch, A. Vorwald, M. Zhang, A. Rausch.
Connected Dependability Cage Approach for Safe Automated Driving.
In International Stuttgart Symposium, 2023.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-42048-2_1
C. Lemardelé, A. Baldó, A. Aniculaesei, A. Rausch, et al.
The LogiSmile Project: Piloting Autonomous Vehicles for Last-Mile Logistics in European Cities.
In Conference on Transport Engineering (CIT 2023), Transportation Research Procedia, 71(6), 2023.
DOI: 10.1016/j.trpro.2023.11.073
J. Toennemann, A. Aniculaesei, A. Rausch.
Asserting Functional Equivalence Between C Code and SCADE Models in Code-to-Model Transformations.
In 5th Brazilian Symposium on Systematic and Automated Software Testing (SAST), Natal, Brazil, 2020.
DOI: 10.1145/3425174.3425213
A. Aniculaesei, M. Zhang, A. Rausch.
Data-Driven Approach for Accurate Estimation and Validation of Ego-Vehicle Speed.
In 15th International Conference on Systems, Lisbon, Portugal, 2020. ISBN: 978-1-61208-771-9
A. Aniculaesei, A. Vorwald, A. Rausch.
Using the SCADE Toolchain to Generate Requirements-Based Test Cases for an Adaptive Cruise Control System.
In ACM/IEEE 22nd International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems Companion (MODELS-C 2019), Munich, Germany, 2019.
DOI: 10.1109/MODELS-C.2019.00079
A. Aniculaesei, J. Grieser, A. Rausch, K. Rehfeldt, T. Warnecke.
Graceful Degradation of Decision and Control Responsibility for Autonomous Systems Based on Dependability Cages.
In International Symposium on Future Active Safety Technology toward Zero Accidents (FAST-Zero 2019), Blacksburg, Virginia, USA, 2019.
A. Aniculaesei, A. Vorwald, A. Rausch.
Automated Generation of Requirements-Based Test Cases for an Automotive Function Using the SCADE Toolchain.
In 11th International Conference on Adaptive and Self-Adaptive Systems and Applications (ADAPTIVE 2019), Venice, Italy, 2019. ISBN: 978-1-61208-706-1
A. Aniculaesei, J. Grieser, A. Rausch, K. Rehfeldt, T. Warnecke.
Towards a Holistic Software Systems Engineering Approach for Dependable Autonomous Systems.
In IEEE/ACM 40th International Conference on Software Engineering: Companion Proceedings (ICSE-C 2018), Gothenburg, Sweden, 2018.
DOI: 10.1145/3194085.3194091
A. Aniculaesei, F. Howar, P. Denecke, A. Rausch.
Automated Generation of Requirements-Based Test Cases for an Adaptive Cruise Control System.
In IEEE Workshop on Validation, Analysis and Evolution of Software Tests, Campobasso, Italy, 2018.
DOI: 10.1109/VST.2018.8327150
Introduction to Programming in Python (Winter 2025/2026)
Teaching assistant in an introductory programming course. Supervised laboratory sessions focused on algorithmic reasoning, systematic debugging, and writing clean, maintainable code.
Course size: ~100 students.
Object-Oriented Programming Projects (Winter 2025/2026)
Teaching assistant in a large project-based course on object-oriented software development. Supervised student teams through the design, iterative development, and implementation of substantial software systems, emphasizing design patterns, modular architecture, version-controlled collaboration, and agile development practices (SCRUM-style workflows).
Course size: 137 students.
Research Methods for Data Science (Winter 2025/2026)
Teaching assistant in a course on scientific writing and research methodology. Supervised student groups developing master’s thesis proposals, including literature review, problem formulation, concept design, and project planning. Delivered a dedicated lecture on effective strategies for scientific literature search.
Course size: 121 students.
Fundamentals of Program Development (Winter 2025/2026)
Teaching assistant in an introductory programming course using Python. Supervised laboratory sessions and two larger software projects (word-frequency analysis and an artillery game simulation), with emphasis on algorithmic thinking, debugging, and structured testing.
Course size:
– DAT555 (Industrial Economics): 137 students
– TDA548 (Software Engineering): 116 students
Object-Oriented Applications (Winter 2024–2025)
Teaching assistant in a project-based course on object-oriented software development. Supervised student teams designing and implementing distributed chat systems, emphasizing modular architecture, design patterns, and iterative development.
Course size: 50 students.
Connected and Autonomous Automotive Engineering (Winter 2023/2024)
Co-developed and taught lectures and exercises on system dependability, runtime monitoring, and assurance of AI-based autonomous driving systems, with emphasis on the training, validation, and testing of AI-based driving systems.
Course size: 16 students.
Informatikwerkstatt (Winter 2023/2024)
Delivered lectures introducing first-year students to programming fundamentals and teamwork-based software projects through in-class hands-on exercises.
Course size: 40 students.
Architecture and Verification – Proseminar / Hauptseminar (Winter 2020/2021)
Supervised a seminar on software architecture, model checking, and verification techniques for cyber-physical systems.
Seminar size: 10 students.
Informatik I (Winter 2019/2020)
Teaching assistant in an introductory computer science course. Designed and supervised exercises and delivered lectures in the professor’s absence, covering algorithms and data structures, Boolean algebra, computer architecture, imperative programming in C, and functional programming in F#.
Course size: 65 students.
Proseminar / Hauptseminar: KI-Systeme und deren Absicherung (Summer 2019)
Supervised a seminar on AI systems and their assurance, guiding students in technical reading, research analysis, scientific writing, and peer review.
Seminar size: 15 students.
Software Systems Engineering (2017–2019)
Developed and delivered lectures and exercises on formal verification with model checking, software architecture analysis, and dependable software design for safety-critical systems.
Course size: 60 students.
Seminar: Dependability and Trust – Methoden und Techniken zur Softwareverlässlichkeit (Summer 2014)
Supervised a seminar on methods and techniques for software reliability, focusing on literature review, critical discussion, and structured research presentation.
Seminar size: 20 students.
Softwaretechnik II (Summer 2012)
Led exercises on object-oriented software design and implementation in Java, emphasizing modularity, code quality, and testable design.
Course size: 55 students.
Johanna Edh, Aurora Veldhuis
AI-Powered Behavioral Analysis of Vehicle Communication to Strengthen API Security.
Master’s Thesis, Gothenburg University, June 2025.
Anthony Okala
Development of an End-to-End Learning Approach for the Autonomous Control of Drones.
Master’s Thesis, TU Clausthal, March 2024.
(German: Entwicklung eines End-to-End Learning Ansatzes für die autonome Steuerung von Drohnen)
Yousri Elhajji
Development of a Concept for Runtime Monitoring of the Behavior of an Autonomous Vehicle at Traffic Lights.
Bachelor’s Thesis, April 2024.
(German: Entwicklung eines Konzeptes zur Laufzeitabsicherung des Verhaltens eines autonomen Fahrzeugs an der Verkehrsampel)
Yousri Elhajji
Design of a Theoretical Concept to Ensure Timely Stopping at Red Traffic Lights.
Bachelor’s Project, 2023.
(German: Entwurf eines theoretischen Konzeptes zur Absicherung des rechtzeitigen Stoppens an roten Verkehrsampeln)
Anthony Okala
Literature Study on the System Development Process and Safeguarding of Safety-Critical Systems.
Master’s Project, TU Clausthal, 2021.
(German: Literaturstudie zum Systementwicklungsprozess und zur Absicherung sicherheitskritischer Systeme)
Vera Stein
Predicting the Turning Behavior of Other Road Users Using Statistical Methods.
Bachelor’s Thesis, TU Clausthal, 2021.
(German: Vorhersage des Abbiegeverhaltens anderer Verkehrsteilnehmer mit statistischen Verfahren)
Jan Toennemann
Evaluation of a Tool Chain for Model-Based Development with Automated Requirements-Based Test Case Generation.
Master’s Thesis, TU Clausthal, 2020.
(German: Evaluation einer Toolkette zur modellbasierten Entwicklung mit automatisierter Testfallgenerierung basierend auf Anforderungen)
Andreas Vorwald
Formal Verification of Reactive Systems Using the Example of a Vehicle Function.
Master’s Thesis, TU Clausthal, 2020.
(German: Formale Verifikation reaktiver Systeme am Beispiel einer Fahrzeugfunktion)
Andreas Vorwald
Requirements-Based Test Case Generation for an ACC System Using the SCADE Toolchain.
Master’s Project, TU Clausthal, 2019.
(German: Anforderungsbasierte Testfallgenerierung für ein ACC-System mit Hilfe der SCADE-Toolkette)
Jan Toennemann
Modeling and Formal Verification of Reactive Systems Using the Example of a Vehicle Function.
Research Track Project, TU Clausthal, 2019.
(German: Modellierung und formale Verifikation reaktiver Systeme am Beispiel einer Fahrzeugfunktion)
Peer Denecke
Generation of Requirements-Based Test Cases for an Adaptive Cruise Control System.
Research Track Project, TU Clausthal, 2017.
Daniel Arnsberger
Ensuring the Functionality of a Service Robot Using an iServeU Scenario.
Research Track Project, TU Clausthal, 2016.
(German: Sicherstellung der Funktionalität eines Serviceroboters am Beispiel eines iServeU-Szenarios)
Last updated: January 2026