Samindi Samarakoon

Professor

Faculty of Science and Technology
Department of Mechanical and Structural Engineering and Materials Science
KE E-224

Bio

Dr. S.M Samindi M.K. Samarakoon started to work at the Department of Mechanical and Structural Engineering and Materials Science (IMBM) in University of Stavanger (UiS) since 2008 as a research fellow and since 2011 to 2012 as a Lecturer. She has been working as an associate professor since 2012 up to date. She has served as a lecturer from August 2005 to August 2008 attached to Department of Civil Engineering and Department of Engineering Management at University of Peradeniya (UoP). She earned a BSc in Civil Engineering (four-years) in 2002 from UoP, Sri Lanka and a MEng in 2005 from Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand. She obtained PhD in Offshore Engineering (2011), UiS, Norway.

Her area of specialization is in Structural engineering (i.e. design and analysis of reinforced concrete structures and environmental friendly materials for construction industry) and offshore Engineering (technology qualification and applications of Best Available Techniques (BAT), incorporating sustainability concerns within different industrial settings and technology qualification for Oil and Gas operations in remote and harsh environments, operations and maintenance of industrial constructions).

Currently, Samindi is the main supervisor for 2 PhD projects and she has supervised over 22 master theses and 43 bachelor theses at Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Mechanical and Structural Engineering and Materials Science, University of Stavanger, Norway. She has published 54 articles in peer reviewed journals and conferences (including book chapters). 

Ongoing Research:

  • The structural durability assessment and control of reinforced concrete constructions: impact of cracks due to different loading conditions.
  • Concrete Fatigue in wind turbine supporting structures.
  • Modelling of corrosion propagation phase in steel reinforcement /pre-stressing tendons of concrete structures in marine environment: Service life prediction.
  • Lean construction and Building Information Modelling (BIM) applications.
  • Risk and Reliability based technology qualification.
  • Gamification and immersive learning-based teaching methods development

Work Experience 

  • 06.2012- to date Associate professor, IMBM, University of Stavanger, Norway  
  • 09.2011- 05.2012 Lecturer, IMBM, University of Stavanger, Norway 
  • 09.2008 - 8.2011 Research Fellow, IMBM, University of Stavanger, Norway  
  • 02.2007-09.2008 Lecturer, Dept. of Engineering Management, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. 
  •  08.2005-02.2007 Lecturer, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.  
  • 08.2003-05.2005 Master Student, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand 
  • 12.2002-05.2003 Instructor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.  

Education 

  •  Ph.D. in Offshore Engineering, University of Stavanger, Norway (Double qualified: 1. Technology Qualification in Offshore Industry; 2. Structural Engineering - specialized in durability assessment and control of reinforced concrete structures)
  •  M.Eng. Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand  
  • B.Sc. Eng. in Civil Engineering, Univ. of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka 

University Pedagogy/Teaching Methodology Training 

  • Completed Basiskurs i universitetspedagogikk (Hours: 100).

 Participation of Evaluation/Selection Committees  

  • Evaluation committee member for the post of Associate Prof. in Safety and Environment in University of Tromsø, Norway. 
  • Evaluation committee member for the position of Associate professor in Structural engineering, Oslo Metropolitan University, Olso, Norway. 

 PhD research fellow: 

  • Second opponent in the evaluation committee for the PhD of Predicting production rates of pouring ready mixed concrete by using Tower Cranes in Egypt by Emad Abd-EI-Hamied EI-Maghraby Mohamed.  
  • Evaluation committee member for the post of Research Fellow in Offshore Technology, University of Stavanger. (PhD project: Managing Numerical Simulation Data for Mechanical Design Optimization) 

  PhD and Post doc supervision

  • Main Supervisor of Dr. Chavin Guruge (2021), Tile: Cracking Behaviour of Reinforced Concrete Structures Subjected to Service Load: Experimental and Numerical Investigation. Defended on 27.10.2021. https://uis.brage.unit.no/uis-xmlui/handle/11250/2789578
  • Main supervisor, Title: "Investigation of mechanical properties and damage evolution in low carbon concrete subjected to cyclic loading", Candidate to be selected. (2022-2025)
  • Main supervisor: post-doctoral research fellow: Dr. Mohammadreza Kamali, Title: "Developing Organic Retarder for Geopolymers for Elevated Temperatures", University of Stavanger. (2022 to 2024)
  • Co-supervisor of PhD project of Ms.Daria Biskupska: Tentative Title: "Performance improvement of complex engineering projects: Digitalization and use of LEAN concepts", Blueday Technology and University of Stavanger, Norway. (2019-2023)
  • Supervisor of PhD project (University of Stavanger) of Mr. Noorhan Firdaus Pambudi, Tentative title: "Interrelationship among Social, Economic, and Environmental Dimensions in Circular Household Waste Business Model Development". Dual degree University of Stavanger, Norway and Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia (2021-2024).
  • Ms. Nirosha Adasooriya (Main Supervisor), started in 2018, Initial title: Modelling of corrosion propagation phase in steel reinforcement /pre-stressing tendons of concrete structures in marine environment: Service life prediction. Project was started and published one journal paper (https://www.witpress.com/elibrary/cmem-volumes/6/3/1995). Internally transferred the project to another area of research and defended the thesis in 2020, title: Structural Integrity of Steel Bridges: Environment-Assisted Cracking. 

   International project experience 

  • 2016-2018: BIM4PLACEMENT (2016-2018), Proj.No: 2016-1-IT01-KA202-005399: BIM4PLACEMENT European key competences in building and construction. Objective of the BIM project is to develop training program to disseminate knowledge about building information modelling. Total Grant : 262980 Euro. 
  •  2018-2020: I-TRACE (2018-2020), Proj. No. 2018-1-IT01-KA202-006836 ,Immersive TRAining for aerospace, KA2 - Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good Practices, KA202 - Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training, University of Stavanger, Norway; University of Rzeszow, Poland; Associazione di promozione sociale FO.RI.S; Istituto Tecnico Settore Tecnologico "E.FERMI"; CADLAND SRL, CONSELL GENERAL DE LES CAMBRES OFICIALS DE COMERC INDUSTRIA I NAVEGACIO DE CATALUNYA; Institut Illa dels Banyols, Italy. Total Grant :284155 Euro 
  • 2019-2023: TEAL2.O (2019-2023) Proj. No. 610186-EPP-1-2019-1-LK-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP, Improving Access to Science and Technology Higher Education in Resource-Poor Institutions through an Open Platform for Technology Enabled Active Learning; UoP and SLTC Sri Lanka; IITA, India; Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), India; AIT, Thailand; University of Bologna, Italy; University Transilvania of Brasov, Romania; ECQ, Bulgaria; NU, Thailand; UoM, Sri Lanka; Total Grant  999091 Euro

National grants

  • 2021-2024, NRC project  (Kompetanse- og samarbeidsprosjekt), Project title: "New Cementitious Material for Oil Well Cementing Applications - SafeRock", Role:Work package leader.
Publications