Bio-Data as submitted & certified by the candidate
Eng. (Dr.) Pallaha Athawudagedara Kamal Karunananda graduated in 2001 with a BSc (Second Class Honours (Lower)) degree in Engineering from University of Peradeniya in the field of Civil Engineering. He obtained his MPhil. from University of Peradeniya in 2004 and MEng. and DEng. Degrees from Ehime University, Japan in 2009 and 2012, respectively. His field of study is structural engineering.
He became a Member of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) in the year 2015. He has been serving the editorial board of IESL and also serving as the Editor of the journal “ENGINEER” up to now. He contributes his service to IESL as a committee member for drafting National Policy in Engineering and Technical Education in Sri Lanka. He has published 4 books, 7 book chapters, 14 peer-reviewed journal and over 60 conference publications. The Co-authored paper titled “Cost and reliability interaction in bridge maintenance in the “ËNGINEER” Journal was awarded the SD&CC award in 2008 by IESL. Further, he has served a reviewer for several high impact international Journals such as International Journal of Fracture Mechanics.
He commenced his career in 2002 as a Research Assistant at the University of Peradeniya. Soon after his doctoral studies in 2012, he joined the Department of Civil Engineering, The Open University of Sri Lanka as a senior Lecturer, the position he holds up to now. He served the department of Civil Engineering as the Head of the Department from 2019 January until 2021 June.
He has served as a structural engineer for a number of projects in Sri Lanka and worked with government organizations such as National Water Supply and Drainage Board, Finance Ministry, Sri Lanka Railways, Department of Archelogy and Sri Lanka Telecom. He is one of the founding members of the Sri Lankan Chapter of International Association of Bridge Management and Safety and Sri Lanka Association of Wind Engineering. He has conducted a few IESL public lectures on non-destructive testing and research ethics.
Election Statement as submitted & certified by the candidate
My experience mainly includes teaching undergraduates in the field of Civil engineering in Sri Lanka, which includes supervising final year research projects. I have also served as a structural engineer for number of national level projects.
I have been actively involved in promoting civil engineering as a career during work in the Open University of Sri Lanka. I have refereed substantial number of technical Papers for the Journal “ENGINEER” and every effort has been made to submit the comments at my earliest, while adhering to the required standards. Further, I have been serving as the Honorary Secretary of the IESL Council for the session 2023/24 and as an Editorial Board Member and also as the Editor in “Engineer” Journal.
If elected, I would be able to immensely contribute to a development and progression of engineering education system in the country, through my experience gained from the university teaching and as well from the industry, while supporting members’ views and concerns in the Council. Further, I would do my utmost dedication to upgrade present quality of Engineering Education in Sri Lanka. I am confident and strongly believe that I have the enough skills to support the institution in this context.
