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Biography
Dr. Upul Attanayake is an Assistant Professor of Civil and Construction Engineering at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan. In 1998, he obtained his B.Sc.(Eng.) degree with honors from the Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. In 1999, Dr. Attanayake was one of the Millennium Scholarship recipients from the Asian Institute of Technology. He obtained his M.Eng degree specialized in Structural Engineering in 2001. His research was on structural dynamics/earthquake engineering. Dr. Attanayake was successful in securing a graduate research assistantship from the Center for Structural Durability at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, to continue graduate studies towards his Ph.D. Dr. Attanayake worked on several Michigan Department of Transportation sponsored research projects on condition assessment and health monitoring of highway bridges. Dr. Attanayake’s doctoral research was to develop rational load response analysis models for orthotropic bridge decks integrating the mechanics of materials and macromechanics concepts. Dr. Attanayake graduated from Wayne State University in 2006 and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Structural Durability until December 2006. In January 2007, he joined the Western Michigan University as a research associate. In August 2008, he assumed duties as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Attanayake’s teaching effectiveness has been recognized with fellowships and awards such as 2008 ExCEEd Teaching Fellowship from the ASCE and Outstanding Teaching Assistant Service Award. In addition to his regular undergraduate and graduate teaching responsibilities on Structural Analysis, Soil Mechanics, Construction Methods and Materials, and Finite Element Applications, Dr. Attanayake conducts an annual two-day workshop on Finite Element Basics & Refined Bridge Structural Analysis for bridge engineers, fulfilling their continuing education requirements. Dr. Attanayake’s research on condition assessment and health monitoring of highway bridges integrate structural system behavior and material response to harsh environmental conditions. Dr. Attanayake provides finite element expertise to the Center for Advanced Vehicle Design and Simulation (CAViDS) at Western Michigan University for developing refined finite element models of complete vehicle structural systems for reliability and rollover analyses. Dr. Attanayake’s technical specialties include structural and bridge engineering, structural dynamics, mechanics of materials, development of analysis and design models for orthotropic bridge decks, condition assessment and health monitoring of structures, concrete durability, nondestructive testing, and finite element applications. Dr. Attanayake is a registered Professional Engineer (PE) in the state of Michigan. He is a member (since 2007) of the Transportation Research Board Technical Committee: AFN30-Durability of Concrete; associate member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL), and the Structural Engineers Association of Michigan (SEAMi); and a professional member of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute. In addition, he is an active participant of the Transportation Research Board Technical Committees: AFF30- Concrete Bridges and AFF40-Dynamics and Field Testing of Bridges. Dr. Attanayake has authored/co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed papers and half a dozen technical reports. He has made more than 15 technical presentations at national and international conferences. |
