Rate My Professor Samith Buddika Hetti Arachchige Don

Dr. Samith Buddika Hetti Arachchige Don is a Lecturer at Curtin Colombo, Curtin University’s campus in Sri Lanka, within the Global Curtin portfolio. He holds the position of Senior Lecturer in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Peradeniya, Faculty of Engineering, Sri Lanka. He earned his BSc.Eng in Civil Engineering with First Class Honors from the University of Peradeniya in 2009, an M.Eng in Structural Engineering/Earthquake Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2013, and a PhD in Structural Engineering/Earthquake Engineering from the same institution in 2017. His career began as a probationary lecturer at the University of Peradeniya in 2011, where he was promoted to Senior Lecturer. He has worked as a consulting structural expert for major constructions in Sri Lanka, participated in the Tokyo Institute of Technology earthquake reconnaissance team after the 2015 Nepal Gorkha earthquake, and served as a visiting researcher at TIT’s MSL Laboratory from 2017 to 2018.

His research focuses on earthquake-resistant design and analysis of structures, precast/prestressed self-centering systems, vibration-based and UAV-based structural health monitoring, AI applications in civil engineering, sustainable concrete materials, and conservation of ancient stupas. Key publications include “Damage to Cultural Heritage Structures and Buildings Due to the 2015 Nepal Gorkha Earthquake” (Journal of Earthquake Engineering, 2018), “Seismic Performance Evaluation of Post-Tensioned Hybrid Precast Wall-Frame Buildings and Comparison with Shear Wall-Frame Buildings” (ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, 2016), “Seismic Shear Design of Post-Tensioned Hybrid Precast Wall Buildings” (ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, 2018), “Effective Use of Biochar as an Additive for Alkali-Activated Slag Mortar Production” (Construction and Building Materials, 2023), and “Prediction of Drag Force Coefficient for Single-Column-Supported Billboard Structures” (Engineer: Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, 2022). Notable awards include the Gold Medal Professor S.R. De S. Chandrakeerthy Award for Best Paper (Society of Structural Engineers, Sri Lanka, 2022), Gold Medal Access Engineering PLC Award (2021), President’s Awards for Scientific Research (National Research Council, Sri Lanka, 2018), and Best Presentation Award at the 7th Multidisciplinary International Student Workshop (Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2015).