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PROFESSOR · RESEARCHER · ENGINEERCAMPO GRANDE, BRAZIL
Awdren FontãoSoftware Engineering
with and for AI.
I connect research and practice to investigate how to build software with AI, evaluate AI systems, and support the people who make it happen.
Let’s talkExplore my work
COMPANIES AND PARTNERSA software or AI challenge?Explore my experience in engineering, applied research and technical education.Discuss a collaborationRESEARCHERSLet’s investigate together.Explore my research agenda, publications and connections to practice.Discover my researchSTUDENTSInterested in working with me?Find research topics, supervision levels and how to start a conversation.Explore supervision
I am a professor at the Faculty of Computing of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), coordinator of its graduate program in Computer Science (PPGCC) for 2025–2026, and coordinator of the Software Engineering Laboratory (LEDES).
I hold a PhD, a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree from the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM).
My experience spans the Nokia and Microsoft developer ecosystems, developer communities, and projects with companies and public institutions. My research brings together people, processes and AI in Software Engineering.
Full background on LinkedInFrom engineering to applied researchExplore my background
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2020–present · UFMS / LEDES
Professor, researcher and software engineer. LEDES coordinator since 2021 and PPGCC coordinator for 2025–2026.
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Since 2021 · LIA
Research collaborator and AI engineer.
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2019 · Sidia
Technical Specialist, following my PhD at UFAM.
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2014–2019 · UFAM
Software Engineering research and teaching as an assistant professor in 2017–2018.
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2008–2015 · INdT
From an internship and software development to Technical Evangelist and Developer in the Nokia and Microsoft ecosystems.
01 / Work in connectionUniversity + industry + society
Knowledge
put into practice.
Projects connecting organizational challenges, scientific investigation and education. Explore the context, my role and the evidence behind each area.
ENGINEERING · APPLIED RESEARCH · DEVREL
Let’s define a problem worth solving.
I collaborate with companies and institutions on software and AI projects, applied studies, DevRel and technical education. My background combines development, research, coordination and developer communities.
How to start
- Share your challenge. What are the context, team and needs?
- Explore the fit. Engineering, research, education, or a combination.
- Define the next step. Scope, contribution, expected evidence and collaboration conditions.
pantanal.dev
Training connected to B3 challenges. A program I coordinate, with 213 graduates and approximately 50 MVPs in 2023–2025.
Regional talent.
Real industry challenges.
I coordinate pantanal.dev, an immersive training program connecting students from Brazil’s Central-West region with digital challenges from B3, PDtec, Neoway and BLK.
Participants develop solutions through direct interaction with industry professionals, bringing together Software Engineering, Data Science and AI. The second cycle began in 2025.
213certified students
~50MVPs developed
3scientific papers
Related research and supervision
The Hyacinth macaw paper presents project-based learning for Software Engineering for AI. Related student research explores DevOps education through role-play, fairness testing, metamorphic testing, bias and vulnerabilities.
Read the SBES 2023 paperRead the DevOps role-play study
Results from 2023–2025 · Some MVPs transferred to B3Explore the program
Developer Relations
Communities, skills and value creation. Experience in the Nokia and Microsoft ecosystems connected to research and consulting.
2011 AND 2012Nokia Developer Champion
Build relationships.
Expand opportunities.
Six years in Developer Relations in the Nokia and Microsoft ecosystems, in Brazil and Latin America, included developer training, hackathons, conferences and technical team leadership.
I coordinated research on DevRel in software ecosystems (2020–2024) and positive interactions in Software Engineering teams (2023–2024). This background also informs consulting work for companies including Itaú and Jusbrasil.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE · 2012–2013
Approximately 1,300 developers trained and 500 apps built by supported developers in the Nokia and Microsoft ecosystems. Historical indicators from my work at INdT.
Related research and supervision
DevGo and studies on DevRel roles and skills connect professional practice to research. Student research also explores ecosystem discontinuation and the experience of LGBTQIAPN+ people in agile teams.
Explore the DevGo modelRead the skills studyRead the inclusion study
TJMS & PGE-MS
Software engineering and applied AI for justice-sector challenges through partnerships with UFMS.
Technology for
justice-sector needs.
I work as an engineer on projects developed with the Court of Justice of Mato Grosso do Sul (TJMS) and the State Attorney General’s Office (PGE-MS).
Project areas include finding case law, automating the collection of initial claim information, extracting information from legal proceedings, and supporting the preparation of legal responses.
I also coordinate the Technological Residency in Intelligent Software Engineering, connecting professional education to these institutional challenges.
My role: software engineering within the projects and residency coordination. These areas describe partnership scope; the studies below are related research.
Related research and supervision
A project started in 2025 investigates case analysis and legal document production, particularly for healthcare claims, alongside expert calculations and data integration. Related student research examines agentic AI architecture risks, security tactics for AI architectures and requirements discovery using language models.
Related paper: fairness testing in RAG systems
AI and science governance
Data, requirements and processes to support decisions in higher education, graduate education and research funding.
Information to support
public decisions.
Since 2024, I have participated in projects on AI for public governance in higher education and an observatory of Brazil’s National Graduate Education System.
Their objectives include supporting the national advanced training agenda and monitoring education and intellectual output across all 27 Brazilian federative units. The AI initiative is part of CAPES’s strategic institutional project P12.
Since 2023, I have coordinated research on project management in research funding foundations, using BPMN process modeling to support requirements and business rules for a management platform.
Related supervision
Related topics include public-data transparency, in Wallynson Rodrigo Henrique da Silva’s 2022 undergraduate thesis, and AIOps architecture for software product monitoring, in Rafael Rogado Ribeiro Sobrinho’s master’s research started in 2025.
Technology, culture and inclusion
Games, public information and accessible resources to broaden access to knowledge and value underrepresented histories.
Broaden access.
Value histories.
I coordinated the Software Engineering project for the educational game Museu das Mulheres Negras (Des)conhecidas (2023–2024), connecting a virtual museum with learning about Black women’s histories and contributions.
I also participated in the Cooperativism Observatory and Solidarity Economy evaluation platform (2022–2025), supporting PRODES with information for governance and public policy.
Related research and supervision
Gilvan Ferreira Alves Junior’s 2023 undergraduate research explored Software Engineering for the museum game. Related publications address accessibility in educational resources and games, alongside the Humap pocket library app for health education and access to knowledge.
Read the educational games studyRead the Humap pocket library paper
02 / ResearchQuestions that guide my work.
How do we build
software, together?
I investigate the technical and human dimensions of Software Engineering, with attention to the changes introduced by AI.
Build and evaluate AI systems.
Requirements, architecture and testing for systems incorporating AI. Topics include metamorphic testing, fairness and bias in retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).
Explore quality studiesUnderstand the people who build.
DevRel and Developer Experience (DevX) connect these areas to working relationships, inclusion, talent retention and Software Engineering education.
Explore studies on peopleRecognition
RESEARCH · EDUCATION · SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITYBest PhD thesis at two national events
First place in the SBES Software Engineering and SBSI Information Systems thesis competitions.
Brazilian Computer SocietyGoogle Higher Ed Faculty AI Fellowship
Member of the Latin America program for higher education faculty.
Distinguished Reviewer Award
Recognized for reviewing in the ICSE Software Engineering in Practice track.
2017 · SBC Third place in Brazil’s national Computing master’s thesis competition.
Student awards: undergraduate and master’s research
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS · BY RESEARCH AREA
Selected papers and their contributions to research and practice.
01 / RESEARCH AREA
Software Engineering and AI
Using AI in development and evaluating the quality of systems that incorporate language models.
Metamorphic Fairness Testing of Retrieval-Augmented Generation: Diagnosing Retriever Bias and Evaluating Graph-based Mitigation
ContributionMetamorphic tests to diagnose retriever bias and evaluate graph-based mitigation in RAG systems.
Read the paperApplying Generative Artificial Intelligence for Vulnerability Fixing in a Proprietary Software Ecosystem
ContributionPSECO-SafePatch: in the case study, average fixing time decreased by 84%, with an 89% patch success rate and human validation.
Read the paper
02 / RESEARCH AREA
DevRel, Developer Experience and ecosystems
Ecosystem governance, value creation, inclusion, collaboration and talent retention.
A Developer Relations (DevRel) model to govern developers in Software Ecosystems
ContributionDevGo: a developer governance model with four focus areas, six stages and 62 lessons learned from DevRel practitioners.
Read the paperOn Value Creation in Developer Relations (DevRel): a practitioners’ perspective
ContributionInvestigates value creation in DevRel from practitioners’ perspectives.
Read the paper“We are dying!” On Death Signals of Software Ecosystems
ContributionInvestigates ecosystem death signals and the consequences of platform discontinuation for developers and communities.
Read the paperInvestigating the Developer Experience of LGBTQIAPN+ People in Agile Teams
ContributionInvestigates the experience of LGBTQIAPN+ people in agile software teams.
Read the paperSupporting software engineering managers in talent retention: The Brazilian context
ContributionTR4SEM: a talent retention support framework developed through a study with 21 Software Engineering managers in Brazil.
Read the paper
03 / RESEARCH AREA
Quality, maintenance and evolution
Evidence to understand technical debt, reliability and software evolution.
Technical Debt of Software Projects Based on Merge Code Comments
ContributionAnalyzes merge-related code comments to investigate technical debt in software projects.
Read the paperBuilding the Landing Zone for Site Reliability Engineering: A Multivocal Literature Review
ContributionBrings together academic and practitioner literature to understand Site Reliability Engineering adoption.
Read the paper
04 / RESEARCH AREA
Software Engineering education
Project-based learning and the development of technical and interpersonal skills connected to practice.
Building soft skills through a role-play based approach for Requirements Engineering remote education
ContributionCombines collaborative learning and role-play to develop interpersonal skills in remote Requirements Engineering education.
Read the paperHyacinth macaw: a project-based learning program to develop talents in Software Engineering for Artificial Intelligence
ContributionA project-based learning program to develop talent in Software Engineering for AI.
Read the paper
EXPLORE ALL PUBLICATIONS
03 / Teaching and supervisionStudent awards
A relevant question.
A research path.
I supervise undergraduate theses and research projects, as well as master’s and PhD research at PPGCC/UFMS.
Theses and research projects
Initial studies, problem investigation and solution development in Software Engineering, AI, DevRel and Developer Experience.
Master’s and PhD research
Research into the technical and human dimensions of Software Engineering. Check the program’s admissions calls and requirements.
PPGCC admissionsShare your research interest.
Include your educational background, intended level, the problem you are curious about and your availability. An initial idea is enough to start a conversation.
Discuss supervisionShared research interests are the starting point. Supervision availability, funding and admission depend on institutional conditions and selection procedures. My teaching covers verification, validation and testing, configuration management, and software projects.
Award-winning jointly supervised research. In 2022, Luiz Alexandre Martins da Costa’s master’s thesis, supervised by Rodrigo Santos and me, received first place in the SBSI, SBQS and WAMPS competitions.
Undergraduate research awards
- 2025 · Matheus OliveiraThird place, SBQS undergraduate research competition. Supervisor: Awdren Fontão; co-supervisor: Jonathan Andrade.
- 2024 · Fernando AyachThird place, SBES CTIC. Supervisor: Awdren Fontão.
- 2023 · Pedro ArantesHonorable mention, SBES CTIC. Supervisor: Awdren Fontão.
- 2022 · Felipe SoupinskiThird place, SBES CTIC. Supervisor: Awdren Fontão.
Undergraduate thesis award
2022 · Raphael Arruda de Oliveira
First place, SBSI CTCCSI. Supervision: Awdren Fontão and Bruno Cafeo.
Recognition from students. Chosen as graduation speaker (paraninfo) by the FACOM/UFMS Software Engineering classes of 2023.2, 2025.1 and 2026.1, and as honored patron by the classes of 2024.1, 2024.2 and 2025.2.
04 / Community servicePeer review · Committees · Organization
Contributing to
our research community.
I contribute to research evaluation and organize opportunities for exchange in Software Engineering.
Conferences and workshops
Committee service includes ICSE (SEIP and SEET), MSR, ESEC/FSE, CHASE, SBES, IHC and SBQS.
- CHASE 2027 · Research track program committee.
- ICPC 2027 · Replications and Negative Results (RENE) track program committee.
Scientific journals
- IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering
- IEEE Software
- ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology
- ACM Computing Surveys
- Journal of Systems and Software
- Information and Software Technology
- Empirical Software Engineering
- Science of Computer Programming
- Journal of Software Engineering Research and Development
Bringing people together
- CBSoft 2023 · General chair.
- SBSI 2022 · Research track chair.
- WTDQS 2026 · Chair of the Workshop on Theses and Dissertations in Software Quality.
Reviewing recognition at ICSE-SEIP, SBES, SBQS, SBSI and VEM is documented in my Lattes CV.
Lattes CV
05 / Resources · WritingOn DEV Community · In Portuguese
Research in conversation
with the community.
I share ideas and findings on DevRel, Developer Experience and value creation.
DevRel in practice: does my academic paper still make sense in 2026?
A reflection on DevGo in light of practitioners’ accounts, supported by NotebookLM and the author’s readings.
Read on dev.to (Portuguese)DevX and DevRel: how do they differ, and how can they create value together?
Connecting developer experience to relationships among engineering, product and communities.
Read on dev.to (Portuguese)Which skills are essential for DevRel professionals?
A study involving 24 professionals from ten countries on technical and interpersonal skills.
Read on dev.to (Portuguese)The value creation network in DevRel
Efficiency, retention, complementarity and innovation, discussed through research with DevRel practitioners.
Read on dev.to (Portuguese)
RESOURCES / Conversations and interviewsOn YouTube · In Portuguese
DevRel in conversation.
Conversations about research, careers, and bringing people and technology together.
INTERVIEW
DevRel, strategy and value creation
DevRel in organizations, business value and professional development.
Strategy · Value creation · Education
Watch on YouTube
PANEL · WITH PACHI PARRA
Careers and community in DevRel
Professional practice, content, community participation, inclusion and accessibility.
Careers · Communities · Inclusion
Watch on YouTube
INTERVIEW · WITH GABS FERREIRA
Understanding DevRel and its roles
The work of DevRel teams, their roles, skills and indicators.
Roles · Skills · Metrics
Watch on YouTube
RESOURCES / On Instagram@awdrenfontao
@AWDRENFONTAOIdeas.
Ideas.
Conversations.
A point of view.
Research, software and the people who build it. The conversation continues on Instagram.
Follow on Instagram
06 / Next conversationsResearch. Partnerships. Opportunities.
The next project
can begin
with a conversation.
For scientific collaboration, supervision, industry projects and professional opportunities.
awdren.fontao@ufms.brFor a first conversation, share your context, objective and the contribution you are looking for.