Staff Profile

Ellis Solaiman is a Reader at the School of Computing, Newcastle University. He previously received his PhD in Computing Science also from Newcastle University, where he subsequently worked as a Research Associate, Teaching Fellow, Lecturer (Assistant Professor), and Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor).

His research interests are mainly in the development of Trusted Distributed Smart applications using technologies such as Machine Learning, Blockchain, and Smart Contracts:

• Trust mechanisms in distributed systems such as the Cloud, Internet of Things, and Social Media.
• Simulation tools for Cloud and the Internet of things (IoT) applications.
• Online educational applications.
• Human-Computer aspects of Social media and electronic commerce. applications 
• Software verification and testing frameworks in distributed systems. 

Ellis is a Fellow of the the BCS, Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), and Academic Accreditation Lead for the School of Computing. 

Previous roles included Degree Programme Director for the MSc Computer Science.

He supervises a number of PhD students. Potential applicants that would like to do a PhD or an integrated IPhD are welcome to contact him for further information. 

Publications (Google Scholar):

https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=qqJUovcAAAAJ&hl=en

Currently leads the following modules:

Enterprise Middleware: CSC8104

Advanced Programming: CSC8404

MSc Computer Science Projects: CSC8099

Teaching related administrative duties:

Academic Lead for Accreditation for the School of Computing

Member of Newcastle University Online Assessment and Feedback Steering Committee

Member of the School Learning, Teaching and Student Experience Committee

School VLE Assessment Lead

Previous Roles:

Degree Programme Director for MSc in Computer Science

Admissions Officer for MSc in Computer Science

Home and international students, interested in pursuing a PhD in Computing are welcome to contact me at any time.

The main focus of his research is on the development of trust and dependability solutions within AI, and complex distributed systems (e.g, Cloud, Internet of Things, Blockchains, and Social Media). 

PhD project supervision:

1. Maryam Mosleh. Adaptive AI based Learning Systems, Exploring AI Explainability through HCI and Visualisation techniques. 2024-2029.
2. Banan Khateeb. Intergration of personalised explainability into AI based decision making for social media applications. (2024 - 2028).
3. Eman Alamoudi. The Application of Explainablility in AI Enabled Medical Applications (Explainable AI). 2023-2027.
4. Kwabena Adu-Duodu. An ontology for blockchain based circular supply chain smart contracts. 2022 - 2026.
5. Stanly Wilson Palathingal. A Blockchain based architecture and implementation for circular supply chains in the built environment. 2021 - 2025.
6. Ahmad Alsharidah. The application of Blockchain and Federated Learning within Internet of Things Applications. 2021 - 2025.
7. Adam Booth. The application of Federated Learning in Smart Environments. 2021-2025.
8. Adel Albshri. Simulating Blockchain-based Internet of Things Applications. 2020-2024 (completed). 
9. Dr Andharini Cahyani. Personal Learning Analytics for students. 2017-2022 (completed).
10. Dr Ali Alzubaidi. Automated Monitoring of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for the Internet of Things (IoT) using Smart Contracts and Blockchain. 2018 - 2022 (completed).
11. Dr Bakri Awaji. Investigating the application of Smart Contracts and Blockchain technology for improving transparency in higher education. 2018 - 2022 (completed).
12. Dr Aisha Alarfaj. Investigating Design and Trust mechanisms for conducting commerce in social media platforms. 2017 – 2021 (completed).
13. Dr Khalid S. Alwasel. Algorithms and Systems for Big Data Applications QoS Management in SDN Clouds. 2016-2021 (completed).
14. Dr Ryan Crosby. Using Ipsative Assessment to improve Feedback Quality and the Student Assessment Experience in University Computer Science. 2017-2021 (completed).
15. Dr Yinhao Li. Simplifying Internet of Things (IoT) Data Processing Workflow Composition in Edge and Datacentre Clouds. 2016-2020 (completed).
16. Dr Awatif Alqahtani. Specification of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for the Internet of Things (IoT). 2016 – 2020 (completed).

https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/ellissolaiman/

Students that would like to do a PhD or an integrated IPhD are welcome to contact Ellis for further information: ellis.solaiman@ncl.ac.uk

Google Scholar:

https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=qqJUovcAAAAJ&hl=en

Research Projects:

National Edge AI Hub for Real Data: Edge Intelligence for Cyber-disturbances and Data Quality, EPSRC, EP/Y028813/1, February 2024 – January 2029, £15,000,000 GBP – FEC.

Scalable Circular Supply Chains for the Built Environment, EPSRC, EP/V042017/1, January 2022 – December 2024, £453,561 GBP. 

• Articles

  • Solaiman E, Awad C. Trust and Dependability in Blockch-AI-n Based MedIoT Applications: Research Challenges and Future Directions. IT Professional 2024, 26(3), 87-93.
  • Wilson Stanly, Adu-Duodu Kwabena, Li Yinhao, Solaiman Ellis, Rana Omer, Dustdar Schahram, Ranjan Rajiv. Data Management Challenges in Blockchain-Based Applications. IEEE Internet Computing 2024, 28(1), 70-80.
  • Wilson S, Adu-Duodu K, Li Y, Sham R, Almubarak M, Wang Y, Solaiman E, Perera C, Ranjan R, Rana O. Blockchain-Enabled Provenance Tracking for Sustainable Material Reuse in Construction Supply Chains. Future Internet 2024, 16(4), 135.
  • Albshri A, Alzubaidi A, Alharby M, Awaji B, Mitra K, Solaiman E. A conceptual architecture for simulating blockchain-based IoT ecosystems. Journal of Cloud Computing 2023, 12, 103.
  • Alzubaidi A, Mitra K, Solaiman E. A blockchain-based SLA monitoring and compliance assessment for IoT ecosystems. Journal of Cloud Computing: Advances, Systems and Applications (JoCCASA) 2023, 12, 50.
  • Alwasel K, Jha DN, Habeeb F, Demirbaga U, Rana O, Baker T, Dustdar S, Villari M, James P, Solaiman E, Ranjan R. IoTSim-Osmosis: A Framework for Modelling and Simulating IoT Applications over an Edge-Cloud Continuum. Journal of Systems Architecture 2021, 116, 101956.
  • Solaiman E, Wike T, Sfyrakis I. Implementation and evaluation of smart contracts using a hybrid on‐ and off‐blockchain architecture. Concurrency and Computation Practice and Experience 2021, 33(1), e5811.
  • Alqahtani A, Solaiman E, Patel P, Dustdar S, Ranjan R. Service Level Agreement Specification for End to End IoT Application Ecosystems. Software: Practice and Experience 2019, 49(12), 1689-1711.
  • Li Y, Alqahtani A, Solaiman E, Perera C, Jayaraman P, Buyya R, Morgan G, Ranjan R. IoT-CANE: A unified knowledge management system for data-centric Internet of Things application systems. Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing 2019, 131, 161-172.
  • Noor A, Mitra K, Solaiman E, Souza A, Jha D, Demirbaga U, Jayaraman P, Cacho N, Ranjan R. Cyber-Physical Application Monitoring across Multiple Clouds. Computers and Electrical Engineering 2019, 77, 314-324.
  • Alzubaidi Ali, Solaiman Ellis, Patel Pankesh, Mitra Karan. Blockchain-based SLA Management in the Context of IoT. IT Professional 2019, 21(4), 33-40.
  • Wang M, Jayaraman P, Solaiman E, Chen L, Li Z, Jun S, Georgakopoulos D, Ranjan R. A Multi-layered Performance Analysis for Cloud-based Topic Detection and Tracking in Big Data Applications. Future Generation Computer Systems 2018, 87, 580-590.
  • Ranjan R, Garg S, Khoskbar A, Solaiman E, Philip J, Georgakopoulos D. Orchestrating BigData Analysis Workflows. IEEE Cloud Computing 2017, 4(3).
  • Solaiman E, Ranjan R, Jayaraman P, Mitra K. Monitoring Internet of Things Application Ecosystems for Failure. IT Professional 2016, 18(5), 8-11.
  • Ranjan R, Jayaraman P, Solaiman E, Georgakopulos D. Cyber-Physical-Social Clouds: Future Insights. IEEE Technical Committee on Cyber-Physical Systems 2016, 1(1), 11-14.
  • Molina-Jimenez C, Shrivastava SK, Solaiman EM, Warne JP. Run-time monitoring and enforcement of electronic contracts. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 2004, 3(2), 108-125.

• Book Chapters

  • Awaji B, Solaiman E, Albshri A. Development and Evaluation of a Trusted Achievement Record of Accomplishments for Students in Higher Education Using Blockchain. In: James Uhomoibhi, ed. 14th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2022). Cham: Springer, 2023, pp.100-124.
  • AlArfaj A, Solaiman E. Consumer Needs and Design Practices for Trusted Social Commerce Platforms. In: Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2021. Springer, 2021, pp.205-226.
  • Alqahtani A, Alwasel K, Noor A, Mitra K, Solaiman E, Ranjan R. The Integration of Scheduling, Monitoring, and SLA in Cyber Physical Systems. In: Ranjan R; Mitra K; Jayaraman PP; Wang L; Zomaya AY, ed. Handbook of Integration of Cloud Computing, Cyber Physical Systems and Internet of Things. Cham: Springer, 2020, pp.237-254.
  • Solaiman E, Sfyrakis I, Molina-Jimenez C. High Level Model Checker Based Testing Of Electronic Contracts. In: Cloud Computing and Services Science. Springer-Verlag, 2016, pp.193-215.
  • Solaiman E, Molina-Jimenez C, Shrivastava S. Model Checking Correctness Properties of Electronic Contracts. In: Goos G; Hartmanis J; van Leeuwen J, ed. Service-Oriented Computing - ICSOC 2003. Heidelberg: Springer Berlin, 2003, pp.303-318.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Adu-Duodu K, Wilson S, Li Y, Oladimeji A, Huraysi T, Barati M, Perera C, Solaiman E, Rana O, Ranjan R, Shah T. A Circular Construction Product Ontology for End-of-Life Decision-Making. In: 40th ACM/SIGAPP Symposium On Applied Computing (SAC 2025). 2025, Sicily, Italy: ACM.
  • Wilson S, Adu-Duodu K, Li Y, Sham R, Solaiman E, Rana O, Ranjan R. Verifiable Querying Framework for Multi-Blockchain Applications. In: IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (ICBC 2024). 2024, Dublin, Ireland: IEEE.
  • Alsharidah A, Jha DN, Wei B, Solaiman E, Ranjan R. SecureFed: Blockchain-Based Defence for Data Poisoning Attack in Federated Learning. In: 17th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Utility and Cloud Computing (UCC). 2024, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
  • Wilson S, Adu-Duodu K, Li Y, Sham R, Wang Y, Solaiman E, Perera C, Ranjan R, Rana O. Tracking Material Reuse across Construction Supply Chains. In: 2023 IEEE 19th International Conference on e-Science (e-Science). 2023, Limassol, Cyprus: IEEE.
  • Albshri A, Awaji B, Solaiman E. Investigating the Requirement of Building Blockchain Simulator for IoT Applications. In: IEEE International Conference on Smart Internet of Things (SmartIoT). 2022, Suzhou, China: IEEE.
  • Awaji B, Solaiman E. Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of Blockchain-based Trusted Achievement Record System for Students in Higher Education. In: 14th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU). 2022, online: Scitepress.
  • AlArfaj A, Solaiman E. Comparing different qualitative methods to understand user experience in Saudi Arabia. In: 20th European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. 2022, Coimbra, Portugal: European Society for Socially Embedded Technologies (EUSSET).
  • Albshri A, Alzubaidi A, Awaji B, Solaiman E. Blockchain Simulators: A Systematic Mapping Study. In: IEEE International Conference on Services Computing (SCC). 2022, Barcelona, Spain: IEEE.
  • Alzubaidi A, Mitra K, Solaiman E. Smart Contract Design Considerations for SLA Compliance Assessment in the Context of IoT. In: 2021 IEEE International Conference on Smart Internet of Things (SmartIoT). 2021, Jeju, Korea: IEEE.
  • Awaji B, Solaiman E, Marshall L. Investigating the Requirements for Building a Blockchain-Based Achievement Record System. In: 5th International Conference on Information and Education Innovations (ICIEI 2020). 2020, London: ACM.
  • Barnes J, Colquhoun J, Devlin M, Heels L, Lord P, Marshall L, Napier C, Solaiman E, Speirs N, Talbot L, Ushaw G, Witty C. Designing a Portfolio-Oriented Curriculum using Problem Based Learning. In: CEP 2020: Proceedings of the 4th Conference on Computing Education Practice. 2020, Durham, United Kingdom: ACM.
  • Awaji B, Solaiman E, Marshall L. Blockchain-Based Trusted Achievement Record System Design. In: 5th International Conference on Information and Education Innovations (ICIEI 2020). 2020, London: ACM.
  • Awaji B, Solaiman E, Albshri A. Blockchain-Based Applications in Higher Education: A Systematic Mapping Study. In: 5th International Conference on Information and Education Innovations (ICIEI 2020). 2020, London: ACM.
  • Alzubaidi A, Mitra K, Patel P, Solaiman E. A Blockchain-based Approach for Assessing Compliance with SLA-guaranteed IoT Services. In: 2020 IEEE International Conference on Smart Internet of Things (SmartIoT). 2020, Beijing, China: IEEE.
  • AlArfaj A, Solaiman E, Marshall L. Social Media and E-commerce in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – Trends and Future Directions. In: CHI - ArabHCI. 2019, Glasgow, UK: ACM.
  • Alqahtani A, Jha DN, Patel P, Solaiman E, Ranjan R. SLA-aware Approach for IoT Workflow Activities Placement based on Collaboration between Cloud and Edge. In: 1st Workshop on Cyber-Physical Social Systems (CPSS) 2019. 2019, Bilbao, Spain: ACM.
  • Awaji B, Solaiman E. Online Education Using Blockchain and Smart Contracts. In: 11th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2019). 2019, Heraklion, Crete: SCITEPRESS.
  • Molina-Jimenez C, Solaiman E, Sfyrakis I, Ng I, Crowcroft J. On and Off-Blockchain Enforcement Of Smart Contracts. In: EURO-PAR 2018 24th International European Conference on Parallel and Distributed Computing - FPDAPP 2018 International Workshop on Future Perspective of Decentralized Applications. 2019, Turin, Italy: Springer.
  • Alarfaj AA, Solaiman E. Investigating Commercial Capabilities and Trust in Social Media Applications for Entrepreneurs. In: 9th International Conference on Communities and Technologies - Transforming Communities (C&T '19). 2019, Vienna, Austria: ACM.
  • AlArfaj AA, Solaiman E. A Social Commerce Platform. In: 9th International Conference on Communities and Technologies - Transforming Communities (C&T '19). 2019, Vienna, Austria: ACM.
  • AlArfaj A, Solaiman E, Marshall L. “Why would you buy from a stranger?” Understanding Saudi citizens’ Motivations and Challenges in Social Commerce. In: 17th IFIP International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (INTERACT 2019). 2019, Paphos, Cyprus: Springer.
  • Molina-Jimenez C, Sfyrakis I, Solaiman E, Ng I, Wong M, Chun A, Crowcroft J. Implementation of Smart Contracts Using Hybrid Architectures with On and Off–Blockchain Components. In: The 8th IEEE International Symposium on Cloud and Services Computing (IEEE SC2) 2018. 2018, Paris, France: IEEE.
  • Alqahtani A, Li Y, Patel P, Solaiman E, Ranjan R. End-to-End Service Level Agreement Specification for IoT Applications. In: 2018 International Conference on High Performance Computing & Simulation (HPCS). 2018, Orléans, France: IEEE.
  • Alqahtani A, Patel P, Solaiman E, Ranjan R. A Toolkit for Specifying Service Level Agreements for IoT Applications. In: The 2018 International Conference on High Performance Computing & Simulation (HPCS 2018). 2018, Orléans, France: IEEE.
  • Solaiman E, Barney J, Smith M. Building A Formative Assessment System That is Easy To Adopt Yet Supports Long-Term Improvement: A Review of the Literature and Design Recommendations. In: 9th International Conference on Computer Supported Education CSEDU. 2017, Porto, Portugal: SciTePress.
  • Forshaw M, Solaiman E, McGee O, Robinson P, Emerson R. Meeting Graduate Employability Needs through Open-source Collaboration with Industry. In: ACM SIGCSE '16. 2016, Memphis, TN, USA: ACM.
  • Solaiman E, Sfyrakis I, Molina-Jimenez C. A State Aware Model and Architecture for the Monitoring and Enforcement of Electronic Contracts. In: 18th IEEE Conference on Business Informatics (CBI). 2016, Paris, France: IEEE.
  • Solaiman E, Sfyrakis I, Molina-Jimenez C. Dynamic Testing and Deployment of a Contract Monitoring Service. In: 5th International Conference on Cloud Computing and Services Science (CLOSER 2015). 2015, Lisbon, Portugal: SCITEPRESS.
  • Solaiman E, Sun W, Molina-Jimenez C. A Tool for the Automatic Verification of BPMN Choreographies. In: 12th IEEE International Conference on Services Computing (SCC). 2015, New York City, NY, USA: IEEE.
  • Solaiman E, Molina-Jimenez C, Shrivastava SK. Model Checking Correctness Properties of Electronic Contracts. In: International Conference on Service Oriented Computing (ICSOC03). 2003, Trento, Italy: Springer.
  • Solaiman E, Molina-Jimenez C, Shrivastava S. Model checking correctness properties of electronic contracts. In: Service-Oriented Computing - ICSOC 2003. 2003, Trento, Italy: Springer.
  • Molina-Jimenez C, Shrivastava S, Solaiman E, Warne J. Contract Representation for Run-time Monitoring and Enforcement. In: IEEE International Conference on E-Commerce. 2003, Newport Beach, California: IEEE.
  • Molina-Jimenez C, Shrivastava SK, Solaiman E, Warne JP. Contract Representation for Run-time Monitoring and Enforcement. In: 2003 IEEE International Conference on E-Commerce (CEC 2003). 2003, Newport Beach, California, USA: IEEE Computer Society Press.

• Editorials

  • Ranjan R, Solaiman E, Villari M, Watson P. A note on tools and techniques for end-to-end QoS monitoring in Internet of Things. Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing 2019, 132, 160-163.
  • Alwasel K, Noor A, Li Y, Solaiman E, Garg S, Jayaraman P, Ranjan R. Cloud Resource Scheduling, Monitoring, and Configuration Management in the Software Defined Networking Era. IEEE Technical Committee on Cybernetics for Cyber-Physical Systems 2017, 1(3), 4-8.
  • Alqahtani A, Solaiman E, Buyya R, Ranjan R. End-to-End QoS Specification and Monitoring in the Internet of Things. IEEE Technical Committee on Cybernetics for Cyber-Physical Systems 2016, 1(2), 9-13.

• Reports

  • Delchev A, Sfyrakis I, Solaiman E. Developing a Compiler for EROP--A Language for the Specification of Smart Contracts, An Experience Report. arXiv: Newcastle University, 2023.
  • Molina-Jimenez C, Solaiman E, Sfyrakis I, Ng I, Crowcroft J. On and Off-Blockchain Enforcement Of SmartContracts. Newcastle upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle University, 2018. School of Computing Technical Report Series 1519.
  • Solaiman E, Sfyrakis I, Molina-Jimenez C. High Level Model Checker Based Testing Of Electronic Contracts. Newcastle upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2016. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1490.
  • Solaiman E, Sfyrakis I, Molina-Jimenez C. Dynamic Testing and Deployment of a Contract Monitoring Service. Newcastle upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2015. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1460.
  • Solaiman E, Sun W, Molina-Jimenez C. A Tool for the Automatic Verification of BPMN Choreographies. Newcastle upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2015. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1464.
  • Solaiman E. [PhD Thesis] Contract Representation for Validation and Run Time Monitoring. Newcastle upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2004.
  • Solaiman E, Molina-Jimenez C, Shrivastava SK. Model Checking Correctness Properties of Electronic Contracts. Newcastle upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2003. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 811.
  • Molina-Jimenez C, Shrivastava SK, Solaiman E, Warne JP. Contract Representation for Run-time Monitoring and Enforcement. Newcastle upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2003. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 810.