Navigating Open-source, Organization, Developer, and Learning Ecosystems
My name is Zixuan Feng, and you can call me Steve. Starting August 2026, I will join the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) College of Engineering, Department of Computer Science, as a tenure-track Assistant Professor.
I collect and analyze data from open-source software (OSS) communities using mixed-methods approaches, combining statistical modeling, grounded theory, and large language models (LLMs), to develop and validate theories about socio-technical collaboration and software sustainability.
I earned my Ph.D. in Software Engineering, with a minor in Statistics, from Oregon State University, where I was advised by Dr. Anita Sarma.
Recruiting students
If you share interests in these areas, reach out at fengz3@vcu.edu.
Lab
NOODLE Lab
Navigating Open-source, Organization, Developer, and Learning Ecosystems
The NOODLE Lab studies how people build, sustain, and learn within software ecosystems. Our research
focuses on open-source communities, developer behavior, collaboration, productivity, software quality,
and AI-assisted work.
open-source softwarehuman–AI collaborationsocio-technical systemsdeveloper productivitycommunity sustainabilityempirical SE
