Gernot Heiser

[PHOTO: Gernot Heiser]   Scientia Professor and
John Lions Chair of Operating Systems
School of Computer Science and Engineering
UNSW Sydney, Australia

Founder and leader of the Trustworthy Systems Group

Member of the Advisory Pannel of the Australian Privacy Foundation

Chief Scientific Officer of Neutrality

Co-Founder of Secure Elements GmbH

Director of Forests Alive
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My primary occupation is leading research in and evangelising for the Trustworthy Systems (TS) Group, aiming at make software systems truly trustworthy, i.e., secure, safe and dependable. Prime application areas are safety- and security-critical cyberphysical systems such as aircraft, cars, medical devices, critical infrastructure and national security.

I also teach Advanced Operating Systems to a group of excellent students with a tendency to masochism. The course has, over the years, produced many Heroes of Operating Systems and has been copied at a number of universities. It also has its own prize for the best-performing student, the Advanced Operating Systems Prize.

In 2006 I founded Open Kernel Labs (OK Labs) for commercialising L4 microkernel technology. I served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) from 2006–2010 and as a Director from 2006 until OK's acquisition by General Dynamics in August 2012.

Photo talking to Dr Merkel

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red ball my thesis/paper writing guide for students and early-career researchers
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The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not “Eureka!” (I found it!) but “That's funny ...”
                Isaac Asimov
In my experience it's more likely “That's weird...”
                Gernot Heiser

There's a war on... between people who are trying to do something and the people who are trying to keep them from doing something wrong.
                Wilbur L. "Bill" Creech, Former commander of the USAF
The bad guys are winning.
                Gernot Heiser

Macnamara Fallacy:
The first step is to measure whatever can be easily measured. This is ok as far as it goes.
The second step is to disregard that which can't be easily measured or to give it an arbitrary quantitative value. This is artificial and misleading.
The third step is to presume that what can't be measured easily really isn't important. This is blindness.
The fourth step is to say that what can't be measured really doesn't exist. This is suicide.