Rate My Professor Damith Mohotti

Associate Professor Damith Mohotti is a Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering in the School of Engineering & Technology at UNSW Canberra, University of New South Wales. He earned his PhD in Structural Engineering from the University of Melbourne, Master of Engineering in Structural Engineering from the University of Moratuwa, and BSc in Civil Engineering with First Class Honours from the University of Moratuwa. His academic career includes serving as Lecturer in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Sydney from 2015 to 2019, PhD Candidate and Research Fellow in the Department of Infrastructure Engineering at the University of Melbourne from 2010 to 2015, and holding various industry positions as Structural Engineer and Project Manager from 2003 to 2009. He currently holds appointments as Visiting Associate Professor in the School of Civil, Mining and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wollongong since 2023 and Associate at Karagozian and Case in 2019. A Chartered Structural Engineer (CPEng, MIEAust), he has contributed to engineering consultancy and defence science sectors through numerous research and consultation projects.

Damith Mohotti is a nationally recognised expert in the design of protective structures, numerical modeling, and finite element analysis, with research focused on blast and impact effects on structures, development of smart materials, advanced numerical analysis methods including AI-based predictive modelling, and application of computational fluid dynamics in structural engineering. He has co-authored the book Polyurea: Synthesis, Properties, Composites, Production, and Applications (Elsevier, 2023), 81 journal articles, 11 book chapters, and 27 conference papers. Key publications include Surrogate modelling of unsteady wind pressure on tall buildings with varying slenderness and side ratios using attention-based neural networks (Journal of Building Engineering, 2026), Impact of polyurethane (PU) infill on the energy absorption efficiency of 3D-printed metallic Menger fractal structures (Thin-Walled Structures, 2026), and Characterising blast environment and structural loading from large-scale unconfined hydrogen explosions (International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2025). He has supervised several PhD completions, including Dr Kasun Wijesooriya and Dr Dakshitha Weerasinghe, and currently supervises multiple higher degree research students. His achievements include the Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science in Safeguarding Australia (2013, key member of DMTC team), Engineering Excellence Award 2017 from IESL NSW Chapter, and Project Contribution Award from DMTC. He has secured grants such as ARC Discovery Project DP23 ($400,000, 2023) for structural safety guidelines for accidental hydrogen explosion hazards and various DSTG funding totaling over $300,000. Mohotti has organized major conferences including MABS26 (2023) and ISIE2023.