diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 7e1ca31..024a693 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -22,4 +22,4 @@ $(EMULATOR_LIB): src/hls4ml/emulator.cc
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) $(INCLUDES) -shared $^ -o $@
 
 clean:
-	rm $(EMULATOR_LIB)
+	rm -f $(EMULATOR_LIB)
diff --git a/include/hls4ml/emulator.h b/include/hls4ml/emulator.h
index 6d7e9cb..dd854c3 100644
--- a/include/hls4ml/emulator.h
+++ b/include/hls4ml/emulator.h
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ namespace hls4mlEmulator
         void* model_lib_;
 
     public:
-        ModelLoader(std::string model_name);
+        ModelLoader(std::string const& model_name = "");
         ModelLoader(ModelLoader const&) = delete;
         ModelLoader& operator=(ModelLoader const&) = delete;
         //prevent move constructor/assignment
@@ -35,9 +35,12 @@ namespace hls4mlEmulator
         
         ~ModelLoader();
 
+        std::string const& model_name() const { return model_name_; }
+
+        void reset(std::string const& model_name = "");
+
         std::shared_ptr<Model> load_model();
     };
 }
 
 #endif
-
diff --git a/src/hls4ml/emulator.cc b/src/hls4ml/emulator.cc
index 97e1c9f..861cbef 100644
--- a/src/hls4ml/emulator.cc
+++ b/src/hls4ml/emulator.cc
@@ -2,23 +2,30 @@
 
 using namespace hls4mlEmulator;
 
-ModelLoader::ModelLoader(std::string model_name)
-{
-    model_lib_ = nullptr; // Set to null for defined destructor behavior in case of failed load
-    model_name_ = std::move(model_name);
-    model_name_.append(".so");
+ModelLoader::ModelLoader(std::string const& model_name)
+  : model_lib_{nullptr},
+    model_name_{model_name} {}
+
+ModelLoader::~ModelLoader() {
+    reset();
 }
 
-ModelLoader::~ModelLoader(){
-  if (model_lib_ != nullptr)
-    dlclose(model_lib_);
+void ModelLoader::reset(std::string const& model_name) {
+    model_name_ = model_name;
+    if (model_lib_ != nullptr) {
+        dlclose(model_lib_);
+        model_lib_ = nullptr;
+    }
 }
 
+std::shared_ptr<Model> ModelLoader::load_model() {
+    if (model_name_.empty()) {
+      throw std::runtime_error("uninitialised model name: failed to load hls4ml emulator model !");
+    }
 
-std::shared_ptr<Model> ModelLoader::load_model()
-{
     //Open the model .so
-    model_lib_ = dlopen(model_name_.c_str(), RTLD_LAZY | RTLD_LOCAL);
+    std::string const model_lib_name = model_name_ + ".so";
+    model_lib_ = dlopen(model_lib_name.c_str(), RTLD_LAZY | RTLD_LOCAL);
     if (!model_lib_) {
         std::cerr << "Cannot load library: " << dlerror() << std::endl;
         throw std::runtime_error("hls4ml emulator model library dlopen failure!");