Embedded systems are computer systems that are not immediately recognised as such. For example, you might find them in cars, planes and robotics. The complexity of these kinds of systems is increasing rapidly, and that presents a challenge within this field of study. Pimentel and his research group will focus on the design, programming and dynamic management of multi-core and multi-processor embedded computer systems. The modelling, analysis and optimisation of the extra-functional aspects of these systems, such as performance, energy consumption and reliability, are central to his research.

In his research, Pimentel frequently works with external parties, such as semiconductor company ASML. He is currently the leader of five research projects funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme. One example of these is the ADMORPH project, in which he is heading an international consortium that aims to make mission- and safety-critical systems that are controlled by computers more resistant to malfunctions and cyber attacks. The consortium, launched in February, received a €4.5 million grant from the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.

Pimentel teaches various aspects of computer systems at the UvA’s College of Informatics and the Graduate School of Informatics, including computer organisation, parallel system architectures and the programming and design of (embedded) computer systems.

About Pimentel

Pimentel has worked at the UvA since 1998. Since 2008, he has been an associate professor and group leader of Parallel Computing Systems. He has also worked as a guest researcher at Philips Research. In addition, he is a member of the management board of the Informatics Institute and, until recently, was the director of the Graduate School of Informatics. He was previously the director of the Computer Science Bachelor's programme.

Pimentel studied Computer Science at the UvA and obtained his PhD – also at the UvA – on the basis of research in the field of High Performance Computing.

Outside the UvA, Pimentel serves as a member of the scientific advisory board of the Department of Computer Science at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and is a board member of the ICT Research Platform Netherlands (IPN). He is also a member of the editorial board of the scientific journals Journal of Signal Processing Systems and Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory. He is or has been involved in the organisation of more or less all of the prestigious conferences in his field. Since 2001, as the founder and chair of the SAMOS foundation, he has also contributed to the organisation of the annual international SAMOS conference.