Athira Varma Jayakumar, a senior software engineer at DISTek Integration, has been named a judge for the Global Recognition Awards. Her expertise in autonomous vehicle technology, nuclear power safety systems, and impactful research in fault injection and system optimization earned her this recognition.

New York, NY, United States, January 29, 2025 -- Athira Varma Jayakumar, a senior software engineer at DISTek Integration, has been appointed as a judge for the Global Recognition Awards. Her extensive work in autonomous vehicle technology, the automotive industry, safety-critical software development, and testing for nuclear power applications made her an outstanding candidate for the judging panel. The selection committee noted her significant contributions to the automotive and off-highway industries, her critical work with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on nuclear power safety systems, and her valuable collaborations with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) as the main reason for their decision.

Photo Courtesy of Athira Varma Jayakumar

Jayakumar possesses 13 years of embedded software development experience and achievements in fault injection methods and software testing optimization. Her innovative safety testing and system verification approaches have earned recognition in multiple Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Symposium publications. "Evaluating excellence across industries requires deep technical understanding and practical performance experience," Jayakumar says.

Technical Innovation and Research Impact

In a series of notable changes in her field, Jayakumar made significant strides in enhancing safety and efficiency across various critical systems, particularly in nuclear power applications and autonomous mining.

Jayakumar has spearheaded a property-based fault injection method utilizing Simulink Design Verifier. This novel approach ensures comprehensive coverage of potential fault scenarios, enabling early identification of critical issues in nuclear power applications. Her work was presented and published at the 7th International Symposium on Model-Based Safety and Assessment (IMBSA 2020) in Lisbon, Portugal.

Building on this success, Jayakumar also researched systematic software testing critical embedded digital devices in nuclear power applications. Presented at the IEEE 2020 International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering Workshops (ISSREW), this work thoroughly applies combinatorial and pseudo-exhaustive testing techniques to evaluate software reliability in high-stakes nuclear environments.

In autonomous vehicles, Jayakumar played a crucial role in developing efficient Model-in-the-Loop (MiL) and Hardware-In-The-Loop (HiL) tests for autonomous mining trucks. These tests verify the functionality of robotic software modules responsible for autonomous motion features, helping to identify software design issues early in the development process.

As part of a NASA research project conducted at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Jayakumar made significant contributions to safety-critical systems in urban air mobility (UAM) environments. Her work focused on developing an STPA-based systematic fault injection framework in MATLAB and sophisticated test beds for experimental analysis and demonstration of pervasive heterogeneous monitoring architecture for UAM vehicle onboard systems.

In collaboration with her professors and research lab colleagues at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Jayakumar contributed to a significant milestone by co-inventing and jointly submitting a patent application for SymPLe, a new FPGA overlay architectural concept. This innovation integrates FPGA overlay architectures, model-based design for verification, and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) to address the stringent requirements of safety-critical Instrumentation and Control (I&C) applications in the nuclear industry. Designed to meet high safety integrity levels (SIL 3 and 4) as per the IEC 61508 Functional Safety standard.

Industry Applications and Leadership

DISTek Integration has significantly benefited from Jayakumar's expertise in system testing and embedded software development. Her contributions, including advanced Model-in-the-Loop (MIL) and Hardware-In-The-Loop (HIL) test systems and harnesses, optimized Jenkins CI/CD workflows, deep knowledge of CAN protocols, and embedded software proficiency, have collectively enhanced DISTek's testing capabilities. These improvements have led to faster, more efficient, and more effective system testing processes across their autonomous mining truck development program, enabling earlier detection of software design issues and overall performance gains in their development lifecycle.

Mentoring activities at Open Avenues Foundation have allowed Jayakumar to share her technical expertise with new engineers in the field. Her role as a global computer science talent fellow involved creating practical training modules for advanced system simulation using models and the Internet of Things. The program has successfully prepared prospective engineers for careers in safety-critical software development.

Global Recognition Awards anticipates Jayakumar's technical assessment capabilities will enhance the evaluation process for software development and autonomous systems submissions. Her experience in automotive, off-highway, and nuclear power industries provides unique insights into safety-critical applications across multiple sectors. 

The appointment marks an important step in expanding the awards' technical evaluation criteria. Alex Sterling of Global Recognition Awards notes, "Athira Varma Jayakumar's analytical capabilities and proven track record in developing safety-critical systems will elevate our evaluation standards. Her appointment reinforces our mission to recognize innovative technological achievements that improve industry progress."

About Global Recognition Awards

Global Recognition Awards is an international organization that recognizes exceptional companies and individuals who have significantly contributed to their industry.

Contact Info:
Name: Alex Sterling
Email: Send Email
Organization: Global Recognition Awards
Website: https://globalrecognitionawards.org/

Release ID: 89151695

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