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Tony Bastin Roy Savarimuthu

Tony Savarimuthu imageB.E (Hons)(BITS, Pilani, India), M.E (Software Systems)(BITS, Pilani, India), PhD (Otago, NZ)
Associate Professor

Room 7.18, Otago Business School
Tel +64 3 479 5143
Email tony.savarimuthu@otago.ac.nz
Web http://waitaki.otago.ac.nz/~tonyr

Background and interests

Associate Professor Tony Savarimuthu lectures and coordinates COMP101, the introductory paper in Information Science. Tony has a background of working as a Software Engineer and a Lecturer in India.

His main research interests are in the areas of multi-agent systems (particularly normative multi-agent systems) and Software Engineering. Recently, he has also been active in the area of Information Systems.

His PhD thesis in the area of multi-agent systems investigated mechanisms for norm emergence and norm identification in artificial agent societies. His thesis was placed in the Dean’s exceptional thesis list for Otago’s School of Business in 2011.

View Tony's PhD thesis (PDF)
Exceptional PhD theses

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Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy (Information Science)
    2003 - 2011, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
  • Master of Engineering (Software Systems)
    2000 - 2002, BITS, Pilani, Rajasthan, India
  • Bachelor of Engineering (Hons), Chemical
    1996 - 2000, BITS, Pilani, Rajasthan, India

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Papers

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Experience

  • Associate Professor (Feb'17 - till date)
    Department of Information Science, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
  • Senior Lecturer (Feb'13 - Feb'17)
    Department of Information Science, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
  • Lecturer (Mar'06 - Jan'13)
    Department of Information Science, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
  • Teaching Fellow (Feb'04 - Feb' 06)
    Department of Information Science, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
  • Teaching Assistant (Dec'03 - Feb'04)
    Department of Information Science, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
  • Software Engineer (Jul'02 - Aug'03)
    Coralgrid Software Ltd (now a part of Triple Point Technology, Inc.), Chennai, India
  • Assistant Lecturer (part time, Jul'02 - Aug'03)
    Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Off Campus centre at Chennai, India
  • Teaching Assistant (Jul'00 - Jun'02 )
    Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India

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Research

  • Multi-agent Systems (particularly normative multi-agent systems)
  • Software engineering
  • Information systems
  • Computing Education

Tony is a part of the research group:
Autonomous Systems

Past projects

  • Principal researcher in the ORG grant titled “An experimental framework to facilitate investigations into adaptive wireless networks”, 2007
  • A named researcher in the School of Business grant titled “Interactive and Collaborative Learning in a Distributed Environment”, 2007
  • A named researcher in the CALT grant on Innovation in Teaching, titled “Promoting active learning in lecture rooms in large courses”, 2005

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Supervision

Currently supervising

  • Priyanka Patel
  • Mostafa Alwash
  • Pankaj Sharma
  • Amir Sedigh
  • Jithin Cheriyan

Currently co-supervising

  • Saurabh Malgaonkar
  • Amritha Anavankot

Completed PhDs

  • Amala Arul Sharmila Savarimuthu (2006 - 2011), Title: Mechanisms for self-organization of groups in agent societies, Supervisors: Dr. Maryam Purvis, Prof. Martin Purvis, Mr. Tony Savarimuthu

Completed Masters

  • Jack Kanimea, (MCom, 2008-2009), Title: Integrating Single Sign On and enabling secure interactions in a composite Web Service, Supervisors: Mr. Tony Savarimuthu and Dr. Maryam Purvis, Status: Completed in 2009.
  • Tarik Al-ani (MAppSc, 2010-2011), Title: Android In-Vehicle Infotainment System (AIVI), Supervisors: Mr. Tony Savarimuthu and Dr. Maryam Purvis, Status: Completed in 2011.
  • Honours/Postgraduate diploma (Dissertations cosupervised with Dr. Maryam Purvis)
  • Jinhong Xie (Title: An RFID-based Location-aware Web Application to Enhance User Experience in an Aquarium, completed in 2010)
  • Danica Milic (Title: Dynamic ridesharing and social networking application development on Android mobile phone platform, completed in 2008)
  • Alya Alaali (Title: Mechanisms associated with spread of opinions in human population on a social network, completed in 2007)
  • Anh Le Thu (Title: Current Problems and Tools Support for Testing Distributed Systems, completed in 2006)

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Publications

Meldrum, S., Licorish, S. A., Owen, C. A., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2020). Understanding stack overflow code quality: A recommendation of caution. Science of Computer Programming, 199, 102516. doi: 10.1016/j.scico.2020.102516

Malgaonkar, S., Licorish, S. A., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2020). Understanding requirements prioritisation: Literature survey and critical evaluation. IET Software, 14(6), 607-622. doi: 10.1049/iet-sen.2019.0215

Sharma, P., Savarimuthu, B. T. R., & Stanger, N. (2020). Mining decision-making processes in open source software development: A study of Python Enhancement Proposals (PEPs) using email repositories. Proceedings of the Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering (EASE). (pp. 200-209). ACM. doi: 10.1145/3383219.3383240

Malgaonkar, S., Licorish, S. A., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2020). Towards automated taxonomy generation for grouping app reviews: A preliminary empirical study. Proceedings of the Communications in Computer and Information Science (QUATIC). (pp. 120-134). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-58793-2_10

Cheriyan, J., Savarimuthu, B. T. R., & Cranefield, S. (2020). Norm violation in online communities: A study of Stack Overflow comments. arXiv. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/abs/2004.05589

Edited Book - Research

Purvis, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (Eds.). (2009). Computer-mediated social networking: Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 5322). Berlin, Germany: Springer, 201p. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-02276-0

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Chapter in Book - Research

Afshar Sedigh, A. H., Frantz, C. K., Savarimuthu, B. T. R., Purvis, M. K., & Purvis, M. A. (2019). A comparison of two historical trader societies: An agent-based simulation study of English East India Company and New-Julfa. In P. Davidsson & H. Verhagen (Eds.), Multi-agent-based simulation XIX (MABS): Multi-agent-based simulation XIX: Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 11463). (pp. 17-31). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-22270-3_2

Yasir, M., Purvis, M., Purvis, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2015). Improving energy outcomes in dynamically formed micro-grid coalitions. In A. Ghose, N. Oren, P. Telang & J. Thangarajah (Eds.), Coordination, organizations, institutions and norms in agent systems X (COIN): Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 9372). (pp. 251-267). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-25420-3_16

Frantz, C., Purvis, M., Savarimuthu, B. T. R., & Nowostawski, M. (2015). Modelling the impact of role specialisation on cooperative behaviour in historic trader scenarios. In A. Ghose, N. Oren, P. Telang & J. Thangarajah (Eds.), Coordination, organizations, institutions and norms in agent systems X (COIN): Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 9372). (pp. 53-71). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-25420-3_16

Farhangian, M., Purvis, M., Purvis, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2015). Agent-based modeling of resource allocation in software projects based on personality and skill. In F. Koch, C. Guttmann & D. Busquets (Eds.), Advances in social computing and multiagent systems: Communications in computer and information science (Vol. 541). (pp. 130-146). Cham, The Netherlands: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-24804-2_9

Frantz, C., Purvis, M. K., Nowostawski, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2015). Analysing the apprenticeship system in the Maghribi Traders Coalition. In F. Grimaldo & E. Norling (Eds.), Multi-agent-based simulation XV (MABS): Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 9002). (pp. 180-196). Heidelberg, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-14627-0_13

Farhangian, M., Purvis, M., Purvis, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2015). The effects of temperament and team formation mechanism on collaborative learning of knowledge and skill in short-term projects. In F. Koch, C. Guttmann & D. Busquets (Eds.), Advances in social computing and multiagent systems: Communications in computer and information science (Vol. 541). (pp. 48-65). Cham, The Netherlands: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-24804-2_4

Savarimuthu, B. T. R., & Dam, H. K. (2014). Towards mining norms in open source software repositories. In L. Cao, Y. Zeng, A. L. Symeonidis, V. Gorodetsky, J. P. Müller & P. S. Yu (Eds.), Agents and data mining interaction: Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 8316). (pp. 26-39). Heidelberg, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-55192-5_3

Yasir, M., Purvis, M., Purvis, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2014). An intelligent learning mechanism for trading strategies for local energy distribution. In S. Ceppi, E. David, V. Podobnik, V. Robu, O. Shehory, S. Stein & I. A. Vetsikas (Eds.), Agent-mediated electronic commerce: Designing trading strategies and mechanisms for electronic markets (LNBIP 187). (pp. 159-170). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-13218-1_12

Frantz, C., Purvis, M. K., Nowostawski, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2014). Modelling institutions using dynamic deontics. In T. Balke, F. Dignum, M. Birna van Riemsdijk & A. K. Chopra (Eds.), Coordination, organizations, institutions, and norms in agent systems IX (COIN): Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 8386). (pp. 211-233). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-07314-9_12

Farhangian, M., Purvis, M. K., Purvis, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2014). Modelling the effects of personality and temperament in small teams. In T. Balke, F. Dignum, M. Birna van Riemsdijk & A. K. Chopra (Eds.), Coordination, organizations, institutions, and norms in agent systems IX (COIN): Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 8386). (pp. 25-41). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-07314-9_2

Yasir, M., Purvis, M. K., Purvis, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2014). Intelligent battery strategies for local energy distribution. In T. Balke, F. Dignum, M. Birna van Riemsdijk & A. K. Chopra (Eds.), Coordination, organizations, institutions, and norms in agent systems IX (COIN): Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 8386). (pp. 63-80). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-07314-9_4

Andrighetto, G., Cranefield, S., Conte, R., Purvis, M., Purvis, M., Savarimuthu, B. T. R., & Villatoro, D. (2013). (Social) norms and agent-based simulation. In S. Ossowski (Ed.), Agreement technologies: Law, governance and technology series (Vol. 8). (pp. 181-189). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-5583-3_11

Singh, M. P., Arrott, M., Balke, T., Chopra, A., Christiaanse, R., Cranefield, S., … Savarimuthu, B. T. R., … Villata, S. (2013). The uses of norm. In G. Andrighetto, G. Governatori, P. Noriega & L. W. N. van der Torre (Eds.), Normative multi-agent systems. (pp. 191-229). Dagstuhl, Germany: Schloss Dagstuhl. doi: 10.4230/DFU.Vol4.12111.191

Ghose, A., & Savarimuthu, T. B. R. (2013). Norms as objectives: Revisiting compliance management in multi-agent systems. In H. Aldewereld & J. S. Sichman (Eds.), Coordination, organizations, institutions, and norms in agent systems VIII (COIN): Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 7756). (pp. 105-122). Berlin, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-37756-3_7

Balke, T., Cranefield, S., Di Tosto, G., Mahmoud, S., Paolucci, M., Savarimuthu, B. T. R., & Verhagen, H. (2013). Simulation and NorMAS. In G. Andrighetto, G. Governatori, P. Noriega & L. W. N. van der Torre (Eds.), Normative multi-agent systems. (pp. 171-189). Dagstuhl, Germany: Schloss Dagstuhl. doi: 10.4230/DFU.Vol4.12111.171

Savarimuthu, B. T. R., Purvis, M., & Verhagen, H. (2012). An agent-based simulation of employing social norms in energy conservation in households. In S. Cranefield & I. Song (Eds.), Agent based simulation for a sustainable society and multi-agent smart computing: Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 7580). (pp. 16-31). Heidelberg, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-35612-4_2

Savarimuthu, S., Purvis, M., Savarimuthu, B. T. R., & Purvis, M. (2012). Gossip-based self-organising open agent societies. In N. Desai, A. Liu & M. Winikoff (Eds.), Principles and practice of multi-agent systems: Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 7057). (pp. 105-120). Heidelberg, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-25920-3_8

Savarimuthu, B. T. R., Cranefield, S., Purvis, M. A., & Purvis, M. K. (2011). Identifying conditional norms in multi-agent societies. In M. de Vos, N. Fornara, J. V. Pitt & G. Vouros (Eds.), Coordination, organizations, institutions, and norms in agent systems VI (COIN): Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 6541). (pp. 285-302). Heidelberg, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-21268-0

Savarimuthu, S., Purvis, M., Purvis, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2011). Mechanisms for the self-organization of peer groups in agent societies. In T. Bosse, A. Geller & C. M. Jonker (Eds.), Multi-agent-based simulation XI: Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 6532). (pp. 93-107). Berlin, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-18345-4_7

Savarimuthu, B. T. R., Cranefield, S., Purvis, M. A., & Purvis, M. K. (2010). Internal agent architecture for norm identification. In J. Padget, A. Artikis, W. Vasconcelos, K. Stathis, V. Torres da Silva, E. Matson & A. Polleres (Eds.), Coordination, organizations, institutions and norms in agent systems V: Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 6069). (pp. 241-256). Berlin, Germany: Springer.

Savarimuthu, B. T. R., Cranefield, S., Purvis, M., & Purvis, M. (2010). A data mining approach to identify obligation norms in agent societies. In L. Cao, A. L. C. Bazzan, V. Gorodetsky, P. A. Mitkas, G. Weiss & P. S. Yu (Eds.), Agents and data mining interaction: Lecture notes in computer science (Vol. 5980). (pp. 43-58). Berlin, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-15420-1_5

Savarimuthu, B. T. R., Purvis, M., & Cranefield, S. (2009). Norm emergence in multi-agent societies. In D. Król & N. Thanh Nguyen (Eds.), Intelligence integration in distributed knowledge management. (pp. 195-206). Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

Savarimuthu, B. T. R., Purvis, M., Purvis, M., & Cranefield, S. (2009). Social norm emergence in virtual agent societies. In M. Baldoni, T. C. Son, M. B. van Riemsdijk & M. Winikoff (Eds.), Declarative agent languages and technologies VI: Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 5397). (pp. 18-28). Berlin, Germany: Springer.

Purvis, M., Ebadi, T., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2009). An agent-based library management system using RFID technology. In D. Król & N. Thanh Nguyen (Eds.), Intelligence integration in distributed knowledge management. (pp. 171-181). Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

Savarimuthu, B. T. R., Cranefield, S., Purvis, M., & Purvis, M. (2008). Role model based mechanism for norm emergence in artificial agent societies. In J. S. Sichman, J. Padget, S. Ossowski & P. Noriega (Eds.), Coordination, organizations, institutions, and norms in agent systems III: Lecture notes in artificial intelligence (Vol. 4870). (pp. 203-217). Berlin, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-540-79003-7_15

Purvis, M., Purvis, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2008). Facilitating collaboration in a distributed software development environment using P2P architecture. In S. Joseph, Z. Despotovic, M. Gianluca & S. Begamaschi (Eds.), Agents and peer to peer computing: Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (Vol. 4461). (pp. 167-174). Berlin, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-540-79705-0_16

Savarimuthu, B. T. R., Purvis, M., & Purvis, M. (2006). Creating ontologies for a collaborative multi-agent based workflow system. In R. P. Katarzyniak (Ed.), Ontologies and soft methods in knowledge management. (pp. 201-216). Adelaide, Australia: Advanced Knowledge International.

Purvis, M. A., Savarimuthu, B. T. R., & Purvis, M. K. (2005). Evaluation of a multi-agent based workflow management system modeled using coloured Petri nets. In M. W. Barley & N. Kasabov (Eds.), Intelligent Agents and Multi-Agent Systems: 7th Pacific Rim International Workshop on Multi-Agents. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 3371. (pp. 206-216). Berlin, Germany: Springer.

Purvis, M. A., Purvis, M. K., Haidar, A., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2005). A distributed workflow system with autonomous components. In M. W. Barley & N. Kasabov (Eds.), Intelligent agents and multi-agent systems: 7th Pacific Rim International Workshop on Multi-Agents. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 3371. (pp. 193-205). Berlin, Germany: Springer.

Savarimuthu, B. T. R., & Purvis, M. A. (2004). A collaborative multi-agent based workflow system. In M. G. Negoita, R. J. Howlett & L. C. Jain (Eds.), LNAI 3214: Knowledge-based intelligent information and engineering systems: 8th International Conference. (pp. 1187-1193). Berlin: Springer.

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Journal - Research Article

Meldrum, S., Licorish, S. A., Owen, C. A., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2020). Understanding stack overflow code quality: A recommendation of caution. Science of Computer Programming, 199, 102516. doi: 10.1016/j.scico.2020.102516

Yasir, M., Purvis, M., Purvis, M., & Savarimuthu, T. B. R. (2018). Complementary-based coalition formation for energy microgrids. Computational Intelligence. doi: 10.1111/coin.12171

Yasir, M., Purvis, M., Purvis, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2017). Agent-based modelling of coalition formation in energy micro-grids. International Journal of Agent-Oriented Software Engineering, 5(4), 399-432. doi: 10.1504/IJAOSE.2017.087639

Meldrum, S., Savarimuthu, B. T. R., Licorish, S., Tahir, A., Bosu, M., & Jayakaran, P. (2017). Is knee pain information on YouTube videos perceived to be helpful? An analysis of user comments and implications for dissemination on social media. Digital Health, 3. doi: 10.1177/2055207617698908

Keller, T., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2017). Facilitating enhanced decision support using a social norms approach. Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organisations, 15(2), 1. doi: 10.4018/JECO.2017040101

Yasir, M., Purvis, M. K., Purvis, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2015). Agent-based community coordination of local energy distribution. AI & Society, 30(3), 379-391. doi: 10.1007/s00146-013-0528-1

Savarimuthu, S., Purvis, M., Purvis, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2015). An agent-based simulation for restricting exploitation in electronic societies through social mechanisms. AI & Society, 30(3), 345-358. doi: 10.1007/s00146-013-0529-0

Frantz, C. K., Purvis, M. K., Savarimuthu, B. T. R., & Nowostawski, M. (2015). Modelling dynamic normative understanding in agent societies. Scalable Computing, 16(4), 355-378. doi: 10.12694/scpe.v16i4.1128

Savarimuthu, B. T. R., Cranefield, S., Purvis, M. A., & Purvis, M. K. (2013). Identifying prohibition norms in agent societies. Artificial Intelligence & Law, 21(1), 1-46. doi: 10.1007/s10506-012-9126-7

Savarimuthu, S., Purvis, M., Purvis, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2013). Gossip-based self-organising agent societies and the impact of false gossip. Minds & Machines, 23(4), 419-441. doi: 10.1007/s11023-013-9304-8

Savarimuthu, B. T. R., & Cranefield, S. (2011). Norm creation, spreading and emergence: A survey of simulation models of norms in multi-agent systems. Multiagent & Grid Systems, 7(1), 21-54. doi: 10.3233/MGS-2011-0167

Savarimuthu, B. T. R., Cranefield, S., Purvis, M. A., & Purvis, M. K. (2010). Obligation norm identification in agent societies. Journal of Artificial Societies & Social Simulation, 13(4). Retrieved from http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/13/4/3.html

Savarimuthu, B. T. R., Cranefield, S., Purvis, M. K., & Purvis, M. A. (2009). Norm emergence in agent societies formed by dynamically changing networks. Web Intelligence & Agent Systems, 7(3), 223-232. doi: 10.3233/wia-2009-0164

Ehrler, L., Fleurke, M., Purvis, M., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2006). Agent-based workflow management systems (WfMSs) JBees: A distributed and adaptive WfMS with monitoring and controlling capabilities. Information Systems & E-Business Management, 4(1), 5-23.

Purvis, M. A., Savarimuthu, B. T. R., & Purvis, M. K. (2006). Architecture for active and collaborative learning in a distributed classroom environment. Advanced Technology for Learning, 3(4), 225-232.

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Journal - Research Other

Malgaonkar, S., Licorish, S. A., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2020). Understanding requirements prioritisation: Literature survey and critical evaluation. IET Software, 14(6), 607-622. doi: 10.1049/iet-sen.2019.0215

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Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles

Purvis, M., Savarimuthu, B. T. R., & Purvis, M. (2005). Making classroom teaching and learning an enjoyable experience! Association for Computing Machinery New Zealand Bulletin, 1(2).

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Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Sharma, P., Savarimuthu, B. T. R., & Stanger, N. (2020). Mining decision-making processes in open source software development: A study of Python Enhancement Proposals (PEPs) using email repositories. Proceedings of the Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering (EASE). (pp. 200-209). ACM. doi: 10.1145/3383219.3383240

Malgaonkar, S., Licorish, S. A., & Savarimuthu, B. T. R. (2020). Towards automated taxonomy generation for grouping app reviews: A preliminary empirical study. Proceedings of the Communications in Computer and Information Science (QUATIC). (pp. 120-134). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-58793-2_10

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