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Engineering & Informatics

Dr Enda Howley

B.Sc, Ph.D

Contact Details

Lecturer Above The Bar
Information Technology
Room 412
IT Building
National University of Ireland Galway

T: Ext: 4335
E: ehowley@nuigalway.ie
W: http://endahowley.ie
 
researcher

Biography
Dr. Enda Howley is a Lecturer (Above the Bar) in the Discipline of Information Technology, NUI Galway. He lectures primarily on the innovative industry-focused Higher Diploma in Software Design and Development programme. The programme involves 19 leading industrial partners.
 
Dr. Enda Howley won the Grad Ireland Postgraduate Programme of the Year in Information Technology award in 2015.
 
Dr. Howley has been a shortlisted finalist in the NUI Galway Presidents Teaching Awards in both 2014 and 2015.  He has a very active research career with over 50 internationally peer reviewed papers published since he began research in 2005.

Dr. Howley has previously held appointments as a Lecturer of Computing at the Institute of Technology Sligo, Ireland  and also as an SFI Post-doctoral researcher in NUI Galway (2008-2011) with the Systems Dynamics Research Group. During this period he was also appointed an Adjunct Lecturer in the College of Engineering and Informatics, NUI Galway.

In 2009 he completed my PhD Thesis “Trust and Multi-Agent Interactions: A Game Theoretic Analysis” with Dr. Colm O’Riordan in the Computational Intelligence Research Group, NUIG. His external examiner was Professor Karl Tuyls from University of Liverpool.

In 2004 he graduated with a first class honors (1.1) degree in Information Technology from NUI Galway and was awarded the pristigeous EMBARK Scholarship from the Irish Research Council.

Research Interests

  • Dr. Howley has a broad set of research interests which all relate to examining agent interactions and decision making across a range of problem areas. While his research can be classified in the broader sense by Artificial Intelligence and Software Engineering, a more specialized classification would include some of the following areas.

  • Multi-Agent Systems
  • Learning and Evolution
  • Complex Adaptive Systems
  • System Dynamics & Simulation
  • Norms and Social Networks
  • Cloud Computing
  • Smart Cities

Funded Research Students 

  • Nix Mc Donnell, “Applications of Multi-Agent and AI Approaches”, PhD Candidate. (ICHEC)

  • Martin Duggan, “Applications of Reinforcement Learning and AI Approaches.”, PhD Candidate. (College of Engineering Scholarship)

  • Martina Curran, “Agent Based Simulation of Public Health Inoculation Strategies”, PhD Candidate. (Irish Research Council Funded)

  • Patrick Mannion, “Multi-Agent Learning Algorithms for Smarter Cities & Urban Analytics”, PhD Candidate. (Irish Research Council Funded)

  • Siobhan Moran, “SmartBay Marine Data Analytics”, MSc Candidate. (Irish Research Council & SmartBay Co-Funded)

  • Karl Mason, “Advanced Optimisation and Learning Approaches”, PhD Candidate. (College of Engineering Scholarship)


Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2014) 'Preface to the special issue: Adaptive Learning Agents Part 2'
Devlin, S,Hennes, D,Howley, E (2014) 'Preface to the special issue: Adaptive Learning Agents Part 2'. Connection Science, 26 (2):101-102 [DOI] [Details]
(2014) 'A Parallel Framework for Bayesian Reinforcement Learning'
E.Barrett, J. Duggan & E.Howley (2014) 'A Parallel Framework for Bayesian Reinforcement Learning'. Connection Science, 26 (2):7-23 [DOI] [Details]
(2014) 'Preface to the special issue: Adaptive Learning Agents, Part 1'
S. Devlin, D. Hennes & E.Howley. (2014) 'Preface to the special issue: Adaptive Learning Agents, Part 1'. Connection Science, 26 (1):5-6 [DOI] [Details]
(2012) 'Observations on the shortest independent loop set algorithm'
Huang, JJ,Howley, E,Duggan, J (2012) 'Observations on the shortest independent loop set algorithm'. System Dynamics Review, 28 :276-280 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2012) 'Applying reinforcement learning towards automating resource allocation and application scalability in the cloud'
Barrett, E; Howley, E; Duggan, J (2012) 'Applying reinforcement learning towards automating resource allocation and application scalability in the cloud'. Concurrency And Computation: Practice And Experience (To Appear), [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2012) 'Co-evolutionary analysis: a policy exploration method for system dynamics models'
Liu, HL,Howley, E,Duggan, J (2012) 'Co-evolutionary analysis: a policy exploration method for system dynamics models'. System Dynamics Review, 28 :361-369 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
(2011) 'Investing in the Commons: a Study of Openness and the Emergence of Cooperation'
Howley, E; Duggan, D (2011) 'Investing in the Commons: a Study of Openness and the Emergence of Cooperation'. Advances In Complex Systems, 14 (2):229-250 [DOI] [Details]
(2007) 'The Effects of Viscosity in Choice and Refusal IPD Environments'
E. Howley & C. O'Riordan. (2007) 'The Effects of Viscosity in Choice and Refusal IPD Environments'. Artificial Intelligence Review, 26 (01-Feb):103-114 [Details]

Conference Publications

  Year Publication
(2011) 13th annual conference on Genetic and evolutionary computation
Liu, H; Howley, E; Duggan, J: (2011) Particle swarm optimisation with gradually increasing directed neighbourhoods 13th annual conference on Genetic and evolutionary computation Dublin, Ireland, , 12-JUL-11 - 16-JUL-11 , pp.29-36 [DOI] [Details]
(2011) 9th IEEE European Conference on Web Services
Barrett, E; Howley; E; Duggan J (2011) A Learning Architecture for Scheduling Workflow Applications in the Cloud . In: Gianluigi Zavattaro, Ulf Schreier, Cesare Pautasso eds. 9th IEEE European Conference on Web Services Lugano, Switzerland, , 14-SEP-11 - 16-SEP-11 , pp.83-90 [DOI] [Details]
(2011) 10th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems
E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2011) Tag-Based Cooperation in N-Player Dilemmas 10th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems Taipei, Taiwan, [Details]
(2010) The Multi-Agent Logics, Languages, and Organisations Federated Workshops
Liu, H; Howley, E; Duggan, J; (2010) The Impact of Market Preferences on the Evolution of Market Price and Product Quality . In: Olivier Boissier, Amal El Fallah-Seghrouchni, Salima Hassas, Nicolas Maudet eds. The Multi-Agent Logics, Languages, and Organisations Federated Workshops Lyon, France, , 30-AUG-10 - 02-SEP-10 [Details]
(2010) ADAPTIVE AND LEARNING AGENTS
HOWLEY, E et al. (2010) The Effects of Evolved Sociability in a Commons Dilemma ADAPTIVE AND LEARNING AGENTS , pp.33-48 [Details]
(2009) 10th European Conference, ECAL 2009
Barrett, E; Howley, E; Duggan, J; (2009) Evolving Group Coordination in an N-Player Game . In: George Kampis, István Karsai, Eörs Szathmáry eds. 10th European Conference, ECAL 2009 Budapest, Hungary, , 13-SEP-10 - 16-SEP-10 , pp.450-457 [DOI] [Details]
(2008) ADAPTIVE AGENTS AND MULTI-AGENT SYSTEMS
HOWLEY, E et al. (2008) Agent interactions and implicit trust in IPD environments ADAPTIVE AGENTS AND MULTI-AGENT SYSTEMS , pp.87-101 [Details]
(2008) ALIFE XI - The Eleventh International Conference on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems
E. Howley & C. O'Riordan. (2008) The Effects of Payoff Preferences on Agent Tolerance ALIFE XI - The Eleventh International Conference on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems Southampton, United Kingdom, , 05-AUG-08 - 08-AUG-08 [Details]
(2007) 7th ALAMAS Symposium
E. Howley & C. O'Riordan. (2007) Agent Interactions and Implicit Trust in IPD Environments 7th ALAMAS Symposium Maastricht, The Netherlands, , 02-APR-07 - 03-APR-07 [Details]
(2006) The effects of viscosity in choice and refusal IPD environments
Howley, E,O'Riordan, C (2006) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE REVIEW The effects of viscosity in choice and refusal IPD environments , pp.103-114 [DOI] [Details]
(2006) 2006 IEEE CONGRESS ON EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTATION, VOLS 1-6
HOWLEY, E et al. (2006) The effects and evolution of implicit trust in populations playing the iterated prisoner's dilemma 2006 IEEE CONGRESS ON EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTATION, VOLS 1-6 , pp.793-799 [Details]
(2006) Procs. of the Seventeenth Irish Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science
E. Howley & C. O'Riordan. (2006) The Effects of Viscosity in Choice or Refusal IPD Environments . In: D.A. Bell, P. Milligan and P.P. Sage eds. Procs. of the Seventeenth Irish Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science Queen's University, Belfast, , 11-SEP-06 - 13-SEP-06 , pp.213-222 [Details]
(2006) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
HOWLEY, E et al. (2006) The effects of viscosity in choice and refusal IPD environments ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE REVIEW , pp.103-114 [Details]
(2005) 2005 IEEE CONGRESS ON EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTATION, VOLS 1-3, PR
HOWLEY, E et al. (2005) The emergence of cooperation among agents using simple fixed bias tagging 2005 IEEE CONGRESS ON EVOLUTIONARY COMPUTATION, VOLS 1-3, PR , pp.1011-1016 [Details]

Conference Paper

  Year Publication
(2010) An Extension of Loop Deactivation in the Behavioral Method. The 28th International System Dynamics Conference.
J. Huang, E. Howley & J. Duggan (2010) An Extension of Loop Deactivation in the Behavioral Method. The 28th International System Dynamics Conference. Seoul, South Korea: Conference Paper [Details]
(2010) An Eigenvector Approach for Analysing Linear Feedback Systems. The 28th International System Dynamics Conference.
J. Huang, E. Howley & J. Duggan (2010) An Eigenvector Approach for Analysing Linear Feedback Systems. The 28th International System Dynamics Conference. Seoul, South Korea: Conference Paper [Details]
(2009) The Ford Method: A Sensitivity Analysis Approach. 27th International System Dynamics Conference.
J. Huang, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2009) The Ford Method: A Sensitivity Analysis Approach. 27th International System Dynamics Conference. Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA: Conference Paper [Details]
(2009) Evolving Group Coordination in an N-Player Game. 10th European Conference on Artificial Life.
E. Barrett, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2009) Evolving Group Coordination in an N-Player Game. 10th European Conference on Artificial Life. Budapest, Hungary: Conference Paper [Details]
(2009) The Effect of Random Social Interactions on Norm Convergence. 20th Irish Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science, (AICS'09), Lecture Notes in Computer Science.
D. Mungovan, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2009) The Effect of Random Social Interactions on Norm Convergence. 20th Irish Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science, (AICS'09), Lecture Notes in Computer Science. University College Dublin: Conference Paper [Details]
(2009) Individual Versus Group Rationality: A Coevolutionary Approach to the Beer Game. The 27th International System Dynamics Conference.
H. Liu, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2009) Individual Versus Group Rationality: A Coevolutionary Approach to the Beer Game. The 27th International System Dynamics Conference. Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA: Conference Paper [Details]
(2005) Agent Cooperation using Simple Fixed Bias Tags And Multiple Tags. 16th Irish Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science.
E. Howley & C. O'Riordan. (2005) Agent Cooperation using Simple Fixed Bias Tags And Multiple Tags. 16th Irish Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science. University of Ulster: Conference Paper [Details]

Editorial

  Year Publication
(2014) Preface to the special issue: Adaptive Learning Agents, Part 1 INTRODUCTION.
Devlin, S,Hennes, D,Howley, E (2014) Preface to the special issue: Adaptive Learning Agents, Part 1 INTRODUCTION. Editorial [DOI] [Details]

Other Item

  Year Publication
(2010) The Impact of Market Preferences on the Evolution of Market Price and Product Quality Workshop on Multi-Agent Systems and Simulatio. The Multi-Agent Logics, Languages, and Organisations Federated Workshops.
H. Liu, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2010) The Impact of Market Preferences on the Evolution of Market Price and Product Quality Workshop on Multi-Agent Systems and Simulatio. The Multi-Agent Logics, Languages, and Organisations Federated Workshops. Domaine Valpré in Lyon, France: Other Item [Details]
(2010) A Generative Approach to Constructing Dynamic Networks with Small World Properties. The International Workshop on Emergent Intelligence on Networked Agents (WEIN 2010) held at AAMAS '10.
D. Mungovan, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2010) A Generative Approach to Constructing Dynamic Networks with Small World Properties. The International Workshop on Emergent Intelligence on Networked Agents (WEIN 2010) held at AAMAS '10. Toronto, Canada: Other Item [Details]
(2010) A Reinforcement Learning Approach to Demand Estimation for Heterogenous Services. MDA4ServiceCloud.
E. Barrett, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2010) A Reinforcement Learning Approach to Demand Estimation for Heterogenous Services. MDA4ServiceCloud. Paris, France: Other Item [Details]
(2009) Norm Convergence in Populations of Dynamically Interacting Agents. The eleventh edition of the European Agent Systems Summer School.
D. Mungovan, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2009) Norm Convergence in Populations of Dynamically Interacting Agents. The eleventh edition of the European Agent Systems Summer School. University of Torino, Italy: Other Item [Details]

Thesis

  Year Publication
(2015) Avoidance Techniques & Neighbourhood Topologies in Particle Swarm Optimisation.
Karl Mason (2015) Avoidance Techniques & Neighbourhood Topologies in Particle Swarm Optimisation. Thesis [Details]
(2015) AI Optimisation Approach for Autonomic Cloud Computing.
Kieran Flesk (2015) AI Optimisation Approach for Autonomic Cloud Computing. Thesis [Details]
(2014) Particle Swarm Optimisation with Enhanced Memory Particles.
Broderick, Ian (2014) Particle Swarm Optimisation with Enhanced Memory Particles. Thesis [Details]
(2009) Trust and Multi-Agent Interactions: A Game Theoretic Analysis. Ph.D. Thesis.
E. Howley. (2009) Trust and Multi-Agent Interactions: A Game Theoretic Analysis. Ph.D. Thesis. Thesis [Details]

Technical Publication

  Year Publication
(2009) A Multi-Agent Feedback Model of Consumer Behaviour. Technical Report SDRG-0901.
D. Mungovan, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2009) A Multi-Agent Feedback Model of Consumer Behaviour. Technical Report SDRG-0901. National University of Ireland, Galway: Technical Publication [Details]
(2009) Inventory Management Strategies in the Beer Distribution Game. Technical Report SDRG-0902.
H. Liu, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2009) Inventory Management Strategies in the Beer Distribution Game. Technical Report SDRG-0902. National University of Ireland, Galway: Technical Publication [Details]
(2008) The impact of network structure and an asymptomatic incubation stage on the spread of a pathogen and fear. Technical Report SDRG-0801.
D. Mungovan, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2008) The impact of network structure and an asymptomatic incubation stage on the spread of a pathogen and fear. Technical Report SDRG-0801. National University of Ireland, Galway: Technical Publication [Details]

Workshops

  Year Publication
(2011) Particle Swarm Optimisation with Gradually Increasing Directed Neighbourhoods . The Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference.
H. Liu, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2011) Particle Swarm Optimisation with Gradually Increasing Directed Neighbourhoods . The Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference. Dublin, Ireland: Workshops [Details]
(2011) A Learning Architecture for Scheduling Workflow Applications in the Cloud . The European Conference on Web Services.
E. Barrett, E. Howley & J. Duggan (2011) A Learning Architecture for Scheduling Workflow Applications in the Cloud . The European Conference on Web Services. University of Lugano, Switzerland: Workshops [Details]
(2011) An Agent Based Simulation of the Effects of Consumer Behavior on Market Price Dynamics. The Nineteenth IASTED International Conference on Applied Simulation and Modelling.
H. Liu, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2011) An Agent Based Simulation of the Effects of Consumer Behavior on Market Price Dynamics. The Nineteenth IASTED International Conference on Applied Simulation and Modelling. Crete, Greece: Workshops [Details]
(2010) A Comparison of Learning Approaches to Support the Adaptive Provision of Distributed Services. Adaptive Learning Agents (ALA) Workshop held at AAMAS '10.
E. Barrett, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2010) A Comparison of Learning Approaches to Support the Adaptive Provision of Distributed Services. Adaptive Learning Agents (ALA) Workshop held at AAMAS '10. Toronto, Canada: Workshops [Details]
(2010) The Evolution of Cooperation and Investment Strategies in a Commons Dilemma . Adaptive Learning Agents (ALA) Workshop held at AAMAS '10.
E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2010) The Evolution of Cooperation and Investment Strategies in a Commons Dilemma . Adaptive Learning Agents (ALA) Workshop held at AAMAS '10. Toronto, Canada: Workshops [Details]
(2009) The Evolution of Agent Strategies and Sociability in a Commons Dilemma. Adaptive Learning Agents (ALA) Workshop, to be held at AAMAS'09.
E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2009) The Evolution of Agent Strategies and Sociability in a Commons Dilemma. Adaptive Learning Agents (ALA) Workshop, to be held at AAMAS'09. Budapest, Hungary: Workshops [Details]
(2009) The Effect of Random Social Interactions and Dynamic Network Structures on Product Adoption. Workshop on Statistical Methods for the Analysis of Network Data in Practice.
D. Mungovan, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2009) The Effect of Random Social Interactions and Dynamic Network Structures on Product Adoption. Workshop on Statistical Methods for the Analysis of Network Data in Practice. University College Dublin, Ireland: Workshops [Details]
(2009) The Effects of Evolved Sociability in a Commons Dilemma. Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, Adaptive Agents and Multi-Agent Systems: Agent Learning and Argumentation.
E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2009) The Effects of Evolved Sociability in a Commons Dilemma. Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, Adaptive Agents and Multi-Agent Systems: Agent Learning and Argumentation. Workshops [Details]
(2009) Optimisation of the Beer Distribution Game with Complex Customer Demand Patterns. Congress on Evolutionary Computation.
H. Liu, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2009) Optimisation of the Beer Distribution Game with Complex Customer Demand Patterns. Congress on Evolutionary Computation. Trondheim, Norway: Workshops [Details]
(2008) Agent Interactions and Implicit Trust in IPD Environments. Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (LNAI), Adaptive Agents and Multi-Agent Systems III. Adaptation and Multi-Agent Learning.
E. Howley & C. O'Riordan. (2008) Agent Interactions and Implicit Trust in IPD Environments. Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (LNAI), Adaptive Agents and Multi-Agent Systems III. Adaptation and Multi-Agent Learning. Workshops [Details]
(2008) Modelling Antivirus Defence Strategies in Scale Free Networks. Nineteenth Irish Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science.
D. Mungovan, E. Howley & J. Duggan. (2008) Modelling Antivirus Defence Strategies in Scale Free Networks. Nineteenth Irish Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science. University College Cork, Cork: Workshops [Details]
(2006) The Effects and Evolution of Implicit Trust in Populations Playing the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma. Congress on Evolutionary Computation (IEEE CEC'06) as part of the Fourth IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence.
E. Howley & C. O'Riordan. (2006) The Effects and Evolution of Implicit Trust in Populations Playing the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma. Congress on Evolutionary Computation (IEEE CEC'06) as part of the Fourth IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence. Sheraton Vancouver Wall Center, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Workshops [Details]
(2005) The Emergence of Cooperation among Agents using Simple Fixed Bias Tagging. Congress on Evolutionary Computation.
E. Howley & C. O'Riordan. (2005) The Emergence of Cooperation among Agents using Simple Fixed Bias Tagging. Congress on Evolutionary Computation. Edinburgh, Scotland: Workshops [Details]

Committees

  Committee Function From / To
Co-Chair of Adaptive Learning Agents 2013 Co-Chair 05-JUN-12 / 07-MAY-13
Co-Chair of Adaptive Learning Agents 2014 Co-Chair 01-SEP-11 / 05-JUN-12

Education

  Year Institution Qualification Subject
2010 National University of Ireland Galway PhD in Computer Science Computer Science and Engineering
2004 National University of Ireland Galway BSc Information Technology

Teaching Interests

Dr. Howley has a broad range of teaching interests such as: 

  • Algorithms and Logic
  • Programming Languages (C, C# and Java)
  • Software Engineering 
  • Artificial Intelligence