Rate My Professor Pradeep Abeygunawardhana

Prof. Pradeep Abeygunawardhana holds a Ph.D. in Robotics Engineering from Keio University, Yokohama, Japan (2010), an M.Sc. in Engineering from the same institution (2006), and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka (2003). He currently serves as Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Computing and Information Technology at the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT), where he previously held positions as Head of the Computer Systems Engineering Department and Senior Lecturer. Additionally, he is the Director of Technology Diffusion at the Information Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka. His career features a blend of academic teaching, research project management, and industry contributions, including organizing national and international events such as the National Robotic Competition (Robofest) and National Coding Competition (Codefest). He has collaborated with researchers from Curtin University, including co-authoring the paper "Evaluating the Success of Digital Learning in Sri Lankan Tertiary Education" with D. Nawinna and others in 2022.

Abeygunawardhana's research specializations encompass agricultural robotics and automation, precision farming and smart agriculture technologies, robotics and IoT for disaster management, environmental monitoring and sensing, wireless sensor networks in smart agriculture, machine learning for autonomous agricultural robots, sensor fusion in robotics systems, remote sensing and data analytics for disaster management, social robotics, human-robot interaction, and AI, ML, and IoT applications in material science and social development. Key publications include "Vibration suppression of two-wheel mobile manipulator using resonance-ratio-control-based null-space control" (IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 2010), "Augmented reality based smart supermarket system with indoor navigation using beacon technology" (2018 IEEE International Conference on Information and Automation for Sustainability, 2018), "Autonomous cloud robotic system for smart agriculture" (Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference, 2019), "Self-sustaining control of two-wheel mobile manipulator using sliding mode control" (IEEE International Workshop on Advanced Motion Control, 2010), and "Environmental interaction of two wheeled mobile manipulator by using reaction torque observer" (IEEE International Workshop on Advanced Motion Control, 2008). He has earned the Japanese Government Monbukagakusho scholarship (2004-2009), Keio Leading Lab Research Grants (2007, 2008, 2009), a Bronze award from the National Best Quality Software Awards (NBQSA), Sri Lanka (2017), and awards from Toastmasters International for communication and leadership excellence. As a reviewer for prestigious journals and conferences, his contributions advance robotics and IoT innovations for societal challenges.