Publications | Projects | Service | Awards

About Me

Hello! My name is Sarah and I am currently a Ph.D. student at Washington State University, School of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. I perform research in the Software Engineering Lab, in conjunction with the NeuroCognitive Science Lab under the supervision of Dr. Venera Arnaoudova. In 2016 I recieved my B.S. in computer science from the American University of Beirut.

Research interests

My research is focused on improving the way developers write, comprehend, and review source code. I am currently exploring the use of eyetracking and brain imaging technology as objective measures of program comprehension. I am specifically interested in how various aspects of the source code lexicon and readability affect developers’ cognitive load during daily tasks, like bug localization and code reviews.

I am also very interested in Biometrics, Empirical Software Engineering, Software Quality and Maintenance, and Natural Language Processing.

News & Upcoming Events

• (11/2018) I am visiting TU Delft as a guest speaker in Dr.Felienne Hermans Psychology of Programming class
• (11/2018) I’ll be attending ESEC/FSE Doctorial Symposium to present my paper/poster “Moving Towards Objective Measures of Program Comprehension”
• (09/2018) Attended GHC as a student scholar: