University of the Sunshine Coast
Adelaide, Australia
- LecturerJul 2025 – present
About
I am an AI researcher, educator, and data scientist with expertise in Machine Learning, AI for Business, and data-driven decision-making. With experience spanning academia and industry, including roles at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Kindship, and the University of Adelaide, I focus on applying AI to solve real-world business challenges.
I completed my PhD in Computer Science at the University of Adelaide in 2025, where I researched AI and language technologies for cyberbullying detection. I am passionate about translating cutting-edge AI research into practical, scalable solutions and welcome opportunities for industry collaboration.
- AI Engineering
- Machine learning
- Text mining
- Cloud computing
- Data governance
- Systems architecture
- Project management
- Statistics
- Higher education teaching
- Python
- R
Languages: English and Sinhalese.
Current projects
Earlier projects
Experience
University of South Australia
Mawson Lakes, Australia
- Teaching AssistantApr 2023 – Jul 2025
Ran tutorials on Systems Architecture, Design Thinking Studio, System Requirements and User Experience, and Project Studio.
Kindship
Adelaide, Australia
- Data Scientist (contract)Dec 2022 – Sep 2024
Helped design and build Barb, an AI chatbot for NDIS queries. The team placed second in the CSIRO AI Sprint.
The University of Adelaide
Australia
- Data Scientist2021 – 2025
Built a Power BI dashboard that presents cyberbullying data so experts can evaluate machine learning, deep learning and transformer-based models.
- Teaching AssistantFeb 2022 – Jul 2022
- Research AssistantJul 2020 – Mar 2021
Developed ML models to optimize resource utilisation of cloud platforms through a co-tunning approach. In this study, I investigated and evaluated how cloud resources (OpenStack) are used by big data platforms such as Hadoop and Spark.
University of Colombo School of Computing
Sri Lanka
- LecturerNov 2018 – Oct 2020
Lectured on software engineering, advanced software development, embedded systems, computer networks, advanced web development and mobile applications.
- Assistant LecturerFeb 2017 – Nov 2018
Lectures and tutorials on advanced web development, software engineering, programming and project management.
- Research AssistantJun 2016 – Jun 2017
- InstructorFeb 2016 – Jan 2017
Tutorials and labs on computer systems, operating systems and computer networks.
Education
The University of Adelaide
PhD in Computer Science
March 2021 – 2025
Thesis: Developing Language Resources and Advancing AI Techniques for Automatic Detection of Cyberbullying Causes
The University of Colombo School of Computing
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Information and Communication Technology
October 2011 – January 2016
Thesis: Reusing Discarded-Smartphone Capabilities on Quadcopters: The Rationale, Benefits & Issues
First class honours, GPA 3.86 / 4.00. Activities: CompSoc and IEEE.
Certification Introduction to Project Management, University of Adelaide, Aug 2023
Volunteering HDR Student Representative, University of Adelaide, Dec 2023 – Dec 2024
Publications
Awards & recognitions
University of Adelaide Research Scholarship
Tuition fee waiver and living stipend, 2021
Best Paper Award
Best ICT research, UCSC Research Symposium, 2016
Best Performance in Four Year Degree Program
University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, General Convocation 2015 · Details
Best Final Year Undergraduate Research Project
University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, General Convocation 2015 · Details
Best Performance in Industrial Placement
University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, General Convocation 2015 · Details
Manthan Award, Entertainment & Games category
Sangeethaya.lk, Digital Empowerment Foundation, India
Merit Award, Best Sports & Entertainment Website
Sangeethaya.lk · Details