Concordia professor awarded the most influential paper award for his seminal work in software engineering

Emad Shihab, a professor of software engineering at Concordia's Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science, has been awarded the 2024 Most Influential Paper Award at the International Conference on Software Maintenance and Evolution (ICSME). The recognition highlights the long lasting impact of his research on improving software maintenance, a critical aspect of modern technology.

"This award showcases the exceptional software engineering research being conducted within our faculty," says Mourad Debbabi, dean of the Gina Cody School. "We are proud of Professor Shihab’s accomplishments and congratulate him on this well-deserved recognition."

Shihab's paper, "An Exploratory Study on Self-Admitted Technical Debt," first published in 2014, explores how developers knowingly introduce temporary fixes or shortcuts into their code, a practice known as "technical debt." These quick solutions often lead to unresolved issues that can later affect the quality and functionality of software systems – and much like financial debt, paying off technical debt later often comes with a higher price.

“I am deeply honoured to receive such a prestigious recognition for our work,” Shihab says. “It’s a inspiring to see our work spark new research at such a large scale over the past ten years.”

The award-winning research analyzed data from large, globally recognized open-source projects that serve as foundations for operating systems, web servers, and modeling tools. Shihab's study co-written with Aniket Potdar revealed that technical debt is common, even among experienced developers, and that neither time pressures nor code complexity play a significant role in its occurrence.

"It's a great honor to be recognized after all these years. It's also humbling to know this area of focus has spawned so much further research from our peers," says co-author Potdar.

The rigorous selection process for the award began with a list of the most highly cited papers from ICSME 2014, which was narrowed down and finally voted on by a selection committee from the ICSME 2024 Program Committee. Shihab’s paper was a clear winner and selected for opening a new research direction, sparking further studies on how developers can better manage and resolve technical debt to improve software quality over time.

The award was presented at ICSME in Flagstaff, Arizona in October 2024.

Find out more about the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science.