Dr. Christian G. Liu, Ph.D. - Halifax, Canada

chris.liu@dal.ca - https://blockchain.cs.dal.ca

Ph.D. in Computer Science | Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Christian G. Liu (刘玄睿, formerly 刘钢 / Gang Liu) is a postdoctoral researcher at Dalhousie University （戴尔豪斯大学） specializing in software engineering, artificial intelligence, business intelligence, big data, network security, smart contracts, and blockchain technologies. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Dalhousie University and holds master’s degrees from Concordia University and Dalhousie University, with expertise spanning blockchain systems, AI, BI, and software modeling. With more than 20 years of IT industry experience, Dr. Liu has held leadership and technical roles at Ericsson, CGI, IBM, and Samsung, contributing to mobile network maintenance, enterprise software development, and AI–blockchain integration. In 2018, he led AI initiatives for Samsung’s Bixby platform before transitioning to academia, where he now integrates industry expertise with innovative research and teaching. Dr. Liu’s research advances automated transformation of BPMN business models into smart contracts through his novel DE-HSM multi-modal framework, which represents concurrency using Discrete Elements (DE) and functionality with Hierarchical State Machines (HSM). This approach enables support for complex trade transactions and smart contract upgrades, resulting in publications in Elsevier Blockchain: Research and Applications and ACM DLT. He is further developing Smart Contract as a Service (SCaaS), incorporating NLP to translate business requirements into BPMN and then into executable contracts, and applying AI to enhance scalability and security. At Dalhousie and Saint Mary’s, he has taught database, analytics, and business intelligence courses emphasizing AI-driven methods. Dr. Liu is committed to advancing blockchain and AI research while preparing students for careers in these transformative fields.

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada (2021-2024))

  Thesis Title: Supporting Long-term Transactions in Smart Contracts Generated from Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) Models

• Master of Computer Science (Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada (2019-2020))

  Thesis Title: FSM for Modeling for Off-Blockchain Computation

• Master of Applied Science in Computer Science (Concordia University, Montreal, Canada (2005-2007))

  Course-based degree

Professional Experience

• Academic

  • Postdoctoral Fellow (Dalhousie University (5/2024 - Present) under the supervision of Drs. Ye and Bodorik)

    Project Title: Adapting the TABS tool for SMEs to generate smart contracts for sustainability and safety data of their products

  • Instructor – Teaching university courses on a part-time basis (Dalhousie University & Saint Mary's University (1/2018 - Present)

    • CSCI 2133 - Rapid Prototyping (2019) – Dalhousie University

      2^nd-year course in Computer Science program
      

    • CSCI 4140 - Advanced Database Systems (2017, 2018, 2021 Summer & Fall Terms) – Dalhousie University

      4^th-year course in Computer Science

    • MCDA 5560 - Business Intelligence (2018 Summer & Fall) – Saint Mary’s University

      Graduate course in the Data Analytics program

    • CSCI 5408 - Data Warehousing (2018 Winter) – Dalhousie University

      Graduate course in the Master of Applied Computer Science Program

  • Teaching Assistant (TA) – Dalhousie University (1/2018 - Present)

    Leading Labs and Tutorials and Interacting with Students

    • CSCI 4140 (9 course deliveries)
    • CSCI 6313 (3 course deliveries)
    • CSCI 5409 (1 course delivery)

•  Industrial

  Samsung (Nanjing) Research Centre (5/2018 - 8/2018)

  • Role: Senior Lab Manager
  • Responsibilities: Led four research teams to provide AI solutions for the Samsung mobile platform. Supervised and scheduled research tasks, proposed new features or improvements for Samsung devices, estimated project time and budget, and monitored project progress.

  IBM Canada Ltd., Halifax, NS (4/2015 - 5/2018)

  • Role: Senior IT Specialist
  • Responsibilities: Provided full-stack development, coding documentation, and test analysis for company IT projects. Collaborated with business and test analysts to implement client requirements, establish test cases, and track system issues. Documented technical designs and peer-reviewed developer work.

  CGI Inc., Halifax, NS (1/2012 - 2/2015)

  • Role: Senior Java Developer
  • Responsibilities: Provided cross-functional leadership to implement client requirements precisely. Established test cases and tracked issues. Documented technical designs and peer-reviewed developer work. Trained and mentored new employees.

  Ericsson, Montreal, QC (7/2007 - 11/2011)

  • Role: Software Developer
  • Responsibilities: Maintained and developed core network applications. Focused on Java programming and Python testing framework construction.

   

Patents

• System and Methods for Automated Generation of Smart Contracts from BPMN Models Using DE-HSM Multi-modal Models Executed by Smart Contracts with Sidechain Processing. USPTO Utility Patent Application Number: 17968047; Submitted: 2022-10-18. Inventors: P. Bodorik, C. Liu, D. Jutla

Publications (Indexed by EI or SCI)