View source for Samarakoon S.M.K.B. (SNo:51454)

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I was born in Kandy, Sri Lanka in 1964. 

I studied at Dharmaraja College Kandy from 1970 to 1983. I was the Deputy Head Prefect and Vice Captain of the General Knowledge and Debating Team in 1983. I won 1st place in the Oratory Championship held by the Kandy Buddhist Association and was a member of the General Knowledge team that won the Championship organized by the YMBA, Kandy in 1982,1983 and the Runners-Up of the inter-school National General Knowledge Championship organized by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) and National Milk Board in 1983. I received Sir. D.B. Jayathilake Memorial Dhammapada Special Price and a Special Prize for the General Knowledge Team from President J.R. Jayawardene and Mister of Education Mr. Samraweeera Weerawanni in 1983 and 1984 respectively.
As a member of the debating team of the college, I participated in "Tharuna Sithuvili" youth programme conducted by Dr E.W. Adhikaram and Minister of Education Mr. Samaraweera Weerawanni and organized by the SLBC. In addition, I have participated in several friendly debating contests with the schools in Kandy such as Mahamaya, Highschool, Pushpadana, Walala Central etc.   
   
In 1985, 1986 I was a Kandy District Sports Quiz team member for the National Sports Quiz contest organized by the Sri Lanka Television (Rupavahini) Corporation (SLRC). In 1987, I captained the team and won the national championship.
  
I entered the Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya in 1985. I received a B.Sc. degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 1991.

While I was a student of the faculty of engineering, I was the captain of the two-member team in the "Dulux" Inter-University Engineering and General Knowledge contest organized by the Sri Lanka Television (Rupavahini) Corporation (SLRC) and won the national championship in 1991.  

I joined the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the public power utility of Sri Lanka, in 1992 as an Electrical Engineer and worked for 15 years in the areas of hydropower plants rehabilitation, maintenance, instrumentation, and control and as a Chief Engineer (Computer application and IT).

While I was working in CEB I obtained M.Eng. in computer science from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand in 1996 with an Excellent Pass. 

In 1999, I received the Award for Excellent Achievement awarded to the best participant in Client Server System Development COURSE conducted by the Centre for International Corporation for Computerization (CICC) in Japan. For the research and development done in the CEB, I was awarded Wimalasurendra Award from Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka in 2000, and the National Science and Technology Award by the President of Sri Lanka in 2006.

In 2007, I joined the Department of Computer Engineering, University of Peradeniya as a Senior Lecturer. From 2009 to 2012, I worked as a Research Assistant on study leave and obtained a PhD degree from Cardiff University, U.K. in 2012. In 2013 my PhD research received the best postgraduate research in engineering conducted during the period of 2009-2012 awarded by the University Grants Commission of Sri Lanka. 

I am a Chartered Engineer in Sri Lanka and the U.K. and a Member of the IESL, IET and a senior member of IEEE. 

My research interests are Computer Interfacing, Instrumentation & Industrial Control, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA); Computer Applications in Power System Automation and Control, Image Processing, Embedded Systems and IoT and Parallel Programming. I have published more than 30 papers in journals and conferences and am a reviewer of leading national and international journals. 

I have been a member of the committees on evaluating degree programmes in Sri Lanka and a member the committee for evaluating National Engineering Research Centre (NERD) in 2013.
   
I am a founder president of IEEE Central Region Subsection and a Charter member of a Lions Club and a Toastmasters Club of Kandy. 

I have been doing many social activities and an officer and active member in many societies including professional organizations such as IESL, IET, IEEE, Old Boys’ Associations of Dharmaraja College and the College Archives Foundation, Alumni Association of the Engineering Faculty; PEFAA.