Dominik Frey
PhD candidate in Computer Science · Linköping University

Researcher and software engineer working on safe autonomous systems.

I build model-based methods that generate and run the test scenarios autonomous systems must pass before they can be trusted, currently for autonomous vessels. Before my PhD I wrote firmware for fleet trackers, built cooperative robot cars at Nokia Bell Labs, and built enterprise software for Valeo.

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ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award, ISSTA 2025

Autonomous systemsModel-based assuranceSimulation-based testingSafety-critical systemsModel-driven engineeringSoftware engineeringMaritime autonomous surface ships
Portrait of Dominik Frey
Linköping, Sweden

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Education and research above the line, industry below. Each bar and marker opens its entry.

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Research and industry

Academic

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I work on making maritime autonomous surface ships (MASSs) safe. My research turns the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS) into models that can generate every semantically different multi-vessel encounter and run it in simulation.

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Before the PhD I spent two and a half years building systems for other people: firmware for fleet trackers, a cooperative fleet of autonomous robot cars, and an enterprise system for a multinational automotive supplier.

Publications

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  1. ACM logoMODELS 2026Research paper
    • ACM badge: Artifacts Available v1.1
    • ACM badge: Artifacts Evaluated & Reusable v1.1
  2. ACM logoMODELS 2026 ToolsTool paper
  3. ACM logoMODELS 2026 DSDoctoral symposium
  4. ACM logoISSTA 2025Research paper
    • ACM badge: Distinguished Paper

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About

I am a PhD candidate in Computer Science at Linköping University, in the Software and Systems division, supervised by Dániel Varró and Ulf Kargén. My position is funded by the National Graduate School in Computer Science (CUGS), and I am affiliated with the Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP).

My research is about safety assurance for autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs). Ships at sea follow the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), but those rules were written for human watch officers and leave a lot to interpretation, especially when more than two vessels meet. I use model-based techniques (graph models, graph solvers and constraint satisfaction) to systematically derive functionally complete sets of encounter scenarios and execute them in simulation, so that an autonomous vessel can be checked against every semantically different situation rather than only the ones that happen to show up in historical data.

My route here went through industry. I wrote STM32 firmware for GPS fleet tracking at iData, designed and programmed a fleet of cooperative autonomous robot cars at Nokia Bell Labs, and I did design and delivery of an inventory management system for Valeo at Artillence. I studied computer engineering at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BSc and MSc, both cum laude), with an Erasmus semester in Porto and the Human-Centred AI Masters programme on the side.

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Languages

  • HungarianNative
  • EnglishProficient
  • SwedishBasic