Scientia Professor Gernot Heiser
- BSc'82 physics (Freiburg)
- MSc'84 physics (Brock)
- PhD'91 computer engineering (ETH Zurich)
I have been an academic at UNSW since completing my PhD in 1991. I am a full professor since 2002. Since 2009 I hold the John Lions Chair of Operating systems, and since 2011 the title of Scientia Professor.
Since its creation in 2003 I was a research program leader at NICTA, where I created what is now the Trustworthy Systems group, spanning NICTA and UNSW. NICTA got absorbed into CSIRO in 2017, and since 2021 the group is wholly at UNSW.
I have co-founded Open Kernel Labs in 2006 for commercialising my microkernel research outcomes. This has led to the L4-embedded microkernel being deployed on billions of mobile devices, including the secure enclave of all recent iOS devices, where it protects security-critical operations. OK Labs was sold to General Dynamics in 2012.
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
- Fellow, Engineers Australia 2022
- Member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina 2022
- ACM Software System Award 2022
- Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW 2022
- ACM SIGOPS Hall of Fame Award (2019) for the paper "seL4: Formal Verification of an OS Kernel" published at SOSP 2009.
- Fellow of the IEEE 2016
- South East Asia Regional Computer Confederation (SEARC) 2016 ICT Researcher of the Year
- Australian Computer Society Digital Disruptor Award 2015 ICT Researcher of the Year
- Fellow of the ACM 2014
- Engineers Australia Entrepreneur of the Year 2014
- Vice-Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence 2012
- Winner (with L4.verified team) NICTA's 2010 A. Richard Newton Excellence in Research Impact Award
- Warren Centre Innovation Hero Award, 2010
- New South Wales Scientist of the Year 2009, Category Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
- Winner NICTA's 2008 A. Richard Newton Excellence in Research Impact Award
- 2007 AIIA iAward, Category Applications and Infrastructure Tools
My Teaching
I teach Advanced Operating Systems.