Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jaffna is in the process of obtaining IESL recognition for degree program offered by Department of Civil Engineering. External overall program evaluation is one of the mandatory requirements to obtain the recognition of the program offered by Department of Civil Engineering. Program evaluation is a process for evaluating a course with respect to the academic and business aspects of the course, including planning, resourcing, course design, learning and teaching, student outcomes, course demand, management and external engagement. Prof. Nimal Rajapakse did the external overall program evaluation offered by department of Civil Engineering. He visited to the Department for a week period starting from 20th December 2017.
Summary of Experiences – Dr.Nimal Rajapakse
Dr. nimal Rajapakse is currently a Professor in the School of Engineering Science at Simon Fraser University (SFU). He received B.Sc.(Hons) from the University of Sri Lanka in 1977, and master’s and doctoral degrees from the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok in 1981 and 1983, respectively. He was the Head of the Department of Civil Engineering at University of Manitoba from 1997 to 2000. He joined the University of British Columbia (UBC) as Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 2000 and served in that capacity until 2007.He became the Director of the Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems at UBC in 2007. He was the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences at SFU from 2009 to 2015. He served as Vice-President (Research and International) of Carleton University from September 2015 to October 2016. He assisted University of Moratuwa, University of Ruhunu and SLITE in evaluating Engineering programme under Washington Accord.
Teaching:
Dr.Rajapakse has taught a wide range of courses in Applied Mechanics. He has guided fourteen PhD students and sixteen M.Sc students, as well as several post-doctoral fellows and research associated. He is currently guiding five PhD students and one post-doctoral fellow. He has co-authored a textbook in Engineering Mechanics.
Research:
Dr.Rajapakse’s research interests are in Applied Mechanics, with particular emphasis on the computational mechanics and coupled-field problems. He is the author of over 140 journal papers. His Goolge Scholar h-index is 37, and he has nearly 4000 citations. He has been an invited speaker at numerous conferences/symposia. He has received research grants worth over $15M. dr.Rajapakse has collaborated with IBM Research, Manitoba Hydro, Manitoba highways, AECL, Ballard and Westport Innovation. He has current and previous research collaborations with universities in Brazil, Germany, Japan, China, India, Thailand, Singapore and Sri Lanka. He has served as a foreign academic adviser for PhD students in Thailand, Brazil and Sri Lanka.
Honors:
Dr.Rajapakse is internationally renowned for Solid Mechanics research. He is the recipient of Horst Leipholz Medal of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, in recognition of outstanding research in Engineering Mechanics; the Meritorious Achievement Award of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC; the Special Visiting Professor Award of the science Without Borders Program of Brazil; the Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship from the Humboldt Foundation of Germany; the Rh Award for Outstanding Research in Applied Sciences awarded to a University of Manitoba faculty member within 10 years of receiving their doctoral degree; the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Visiting Fellowship; the King’s Scholarship of Thailand; and a full scholarship from the Asian Institute of Technology. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Engineering Institute of Canada. He is also a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering.
Professional Service:
Dr.Rajapakse currently serves on the editorial boards of four international journals. He was Associate Editor for Engineering Mechanics of the Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering for six years, and Associate Editor for Elasticity of the journal of Engineering Mechanics of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He has edited six special issues of international journals. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering, and as Chair of its Engineering Mechanics Division. He has also been Chair of the Elasticity Committee of the ASCE. He was a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Electricity Human Resources Council of Canada. He has served on the organizing and advisory committees of many international conferences and as a member of professional committees.
