Chairman –Prof. Ashok Peiris

Ashok Peiris is presently employed as a Technical Director at GHD Pty Ltd., and responsible for design and providing construction stage services for major infrastructure projects in Australia and overseas. Previously he has held positions in academia, including Head of the Department of Computer Science and Founder board member of Faculty of IT, University of Moratuwa and Professor/Founder Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at SLIIT. He is a registered Chartered Engineer of IESL and IEAust. As a professional engineer, Ashok was involved in many legacy projects such as the Ballina Bypass, Kempsey Bypass Alliances and the design of a super tall building in excess of 600m high. Ashok has published over 30 technical publications in journals and conferences. Ashok graduated with First Class honours from the University of Moratuwa, specialising in Civil Engineering and received a PhD from the University of Tokyo and a MSc/DIC from Imperial College, University of London.

Vice Chairman – Eng. Paramsothy Gnanasothy

Eng. Paramsothy Gnanasothy graduated from the University of Peradeniya in 1991. He started his career as an instructor at the same university. He then worked in the State Development and Construction Corporation before migrating to Singapore where he played a major role in contract management and litigation from 1993 to 2012. During this period, he also headed the firm’s Indian operations. In 2014, he acquired his license as a builder in NSW and founded his own construction company. He has completed multiple projects since then and has currently been contracted to complete several building developments.

Secretary – Eng. (Dr.) Nilakshi Perera

Dr. Nilakshi Perera graduated from the University of Moratuwa in 2014, attaining her bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering with First Class Honours. Shortly after completing her studies, she worked as a lecturer at the University of Moratuwa for one year. She then pursued her PhD in Structural Engineering at Queensland University of Technology in 2018. Currently, she is working as a Structural Engineer at SMEC.

 

Treasurer – Eng. Mihimal Kadurugamuwa

Mihimal Kadurugamuwa graduated from the University of Moratuwa as a Civil Engineer with an honours degree in 2017.  He worked as a demonstrator in the Faculty of Engineering, University of Sri Jayawardenapura. Currently, he is studying for his doctoral degree at the University of Technology Sydney. He served as a committee member for the IESL NSW chapter in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 terms.

 

Editor – Eng. Sithy Razeen

Eng. Sithy Razeen graduated from the University of Peradeniya in 1981. She started her career as a Design Engineer with Colombo Municipal Council and then joined the Department of Buildings, before migrating to Australia in 1991. In Sydney, she initially worked at Sydney Water and then joined Randwick City Council as Engineer Works Administration. In 1998 she gained her Master of Engineering at University New South Wales, as well as starting work at Roads and Traffic Authority (now Transport for New South Wales) as a Pavement Engineer. She was mainly involved in the development and implementation of forward programs for the rehabilitation of Sydney region’s state road network. She is a Member of Institute of Civil Engineers London (MICE) and Member of IESL. She is passionate about networking with her Sri Lankan friends and colleagues in their main languages – Sinhala and Tamil.

 

Immediate Past Chairman – Eng. Mahendram Manoharan

Eng. Mahendram Manoharan graduated from the University of Peradeniya in 1990. He served in the National Water Supply & Drainage Board, Sri Lanka for more than 18 years and migrated to Australia in 2010. He joined the former State Water Corporation in 2010 and managed the design phase of the Old Man Creek water efficiency project. Eng. Manoharan worked in the Water and Sewer Division of the Young Shire Council and the merged Hilltops Council from 2012 for 6 years. He is currently employed as the Water and Sewer Strategic Planning Engineer at Eurobodalla Shire Council.

 

Committee Member – Eng. Rasika Gunawardana

Eng. Rasika Gunawardana graduated from the University of Moratuwa in 2007. He holds an MBA from Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK and is a member of Australian Institute of Energy. He served at Hayleys Group and few other leading private organisations and migrated to Australia in 2018. During his career Rasika has been involved in corporate sustainability, energy management, design, maintenance and management of water and wastewater treatment plants. He initially worked for Lachlan Shire Council and later joined New South Wales, Public Works Advisory where he currently works as an Engineer. His passions include photography and travelling.

 

Committee Member – Eng. Sisira Sanda Marakkala 

Eng. Sisira Kantha Sanda Marakkala B.Sc.Eng. Moratuwa, M.Eng. Monash, joined Ceylon Petroleum Corporation as a mechanical engineer in 1988, and subsequently worked as a Deputy Engineering Manager. From 1999 to 2006 he served in the Middle East in senior technical roles. After migrating to Australia, he served as a Planning Engineer and then as Reliability Engineer at the Shell Clyde refinery. In 2013, he became the Availability and Reliability Engineer of BP Refinery. In 2017 he joined Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) as the Leader, Reliability Centred Maintenance. He has served as a committee member as well as the Chairman of IESL WA Chapter before joining the IESL NSW Chapter. He is passionate about serving IESL NSW Chapter, has joined the committee with his son and daughter who both have followed father’s career path – engineering.

Committee Member: Eng. Julian (Nagendran) Mehanathan 

Julian Mehanathan has graduated as Civil Engineer from University of Peradeniya in 1994. Initially he had the opportunity to work as a Structural Design Engineer at a high rise residential apartment project in Singapore. Then he joined Road Development Authority and has worked as a Highways and Bridges Senior Engineer. In the year 2000, Julian has won “Wimala Surendra Prestigious Award” by IESL for an invention paper written on “Low Cost bridge design and construction in Sri Lanka”. After migrating to Australia in 2010, Julian started his career with Transport for New South Wales ( TfNSW ) Newcastle regional office as Project Engineer. Julian holds a Masters degree in pavement engineering from University of La Trobe Melbourne. He is a Fellow of Engineers Australia (EA) as well as Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka. Julian is a current committee member of Civil/Structural division of EA, Newcastle Chapter. Before migrated to Australia, he was a Council Member of IESL from 2002 to 2003.

Committee Member – Miss. Menuli Sanda Marakkala 

Menuli Sanda Marakkala is a Civil Engineering 4th year undergraduate student of UNSW. She first gained industrial training experience in 2019, as a work experience undergraduate with Liverpool City Council. At the Council, she was able to work in projects associated with Western Sydney Airport. Since January 2020, she has joined Transport for New South Wales as Cadet Engineer. Her current placement is with Sydney Trains, she is involved in delivering track remediation projects located across the network. She sets an excellent example to young engineers by joining committee as an undergraduate over 2 consecutive years – 2019/20 and 2020/21.

 

Committee Member – Eng. Prabath Rathnayaka 

Eng. Prabhath Rathnayaka is a Civil and Environmental Engineering Graduate from University of Ruhuna. He worked for MAGA Engineering Pvt. Ltd following his graduation in 2014 and joined Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka in 2015. He was a Project Engineer in Uma-Oya Multipurpose Development Project. Prabhath completed his Master degree in Disaster Management at the University of Peradeniya in 2019. Currently, he is attached to East West Surveying and Consulting as a civil engineer in Sydney.

 

Committee Member – Eng. (Dr.) Manasi Wijerathna 

Eng. Dr. Manasi Wijerathna graduated with First Class Honours from University of Moratuwa, in 2014. She then joined Department of Civil Engineering in University of Moratuwa as a research assistant and completed her Master’s degree in 2015. She received her PhD from Western Sydney University (WSU) in 2018. Currently she is working as Geotechnical Engineer at GHD Group, Australia. Apart from providing geotechnical design and analysis inputs for different projects, she enjoys numerical simulation of complex geotechnical problems. She is an author of more than 20 technical publications in journals and conferences.

 

Committee Member – Eng. Janidu Sanda Marakkala 

Eng. Janidu Sanda Marakkala has developed interest in the study of manufacturing of planes, space-vehicles and satellites since he was a little kid. It’s one of the reasons why he chose to study Mechanical Engineering at University of Technology, Sydney (UTS ). He is currently on a 6-month internship with Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), attached to the department that involves in research on effective disposal of waste. After his postgraduate studies, he intends to pursue his career in the aerospace industry possibly as a Design Engineer.

 

Committee Member – Eng. Dayani Kahagala Hewage 

Eng. Dayani Kahagala Hewage has obtained the B.Sc. (Hons) in Civil Engineering from the University of Moratuwa in 2012 and MPhil. in Civil Engineering in the same university in 2015. Before moving to Australia, she has gained experience as a structural design engineer, a green building consultant and was a lecturer in Sri Lanka. Currently, she is pursuing her Ph.D. on material and structural engineering in Western Sydney University.

 

Committee Member – Eng. Nemasha Ambagahawatte 

Eng. Nemasha Ambagahawatte is a Civil Engineering (Hons) graduate from the University of Wollongong (2019).  He has completed his industrial training at Wollongong Civil Contractors Pty Ltd, Wollongong. He joined Transport for NSW Southern Regional office in March, 2020 as a Graduate Engineer and supervised regional Sprayed Sealing works for southern region. He joined Downer EDI, Mogo Office in January 2021 as a Site Engineer and continued managing Sprayed Sealing works whilst managing a number of road projects for various councils in southern part of New South Wales.

 

Note of appreciation of Web administrator – Eng. (Dr.)  Buddhi Wijerathna  

Eng. (Dr.)  Buddhi Wijerathna is an Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering graduate from the University of Moratuwa in 2011. After graduation, he joined Dialog Axiata (Pvt) Ltd as a research engineer while working as an assistant lecturer, at the University of Moratuwa. He gained his PhD from The University of Technology Sydney in robotics and currently, he is working at 5B Australia, developing robotic solutions for utility-scale solar farms. He also worked at the UTS Robotics Institute in collaboration with Roads and Maritime services, NSW to build a cleaning and painting robot for the Sydney Harbor Bridge and with Sydney water to build advanced robotic condition assessment techniques for water pipes. He is a past secretary of the IESL NSW chapter 2017/2018 committee. Since then, he has been giving his valuable and consistent support to the chapter as the web administrator, taking care of broadcasting and web posting.

 

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. – Mahathma Gandhi”

All members of “IESL NSW Committee 2020-21” is committed to get lost according to Mahathma Gandhi’s golden saying – Stay Tuned!

 

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