Prof. Priyan Dias

Consultant Professor

Faculty of Engineering | Civil Engineering

Career Summary

November 2021 to date – Emeritus Professor in Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa.
October 2021 to date – Consultant Professor, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, Malabe, Sri Lanka.
December 2006 to September 2021 – Senior Professor in Civil Engineering, attached to the Division of Building & Structural Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
May 2014 to May 2017 – Director, Office of Research, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
November to December 2012 – Endeavour Executive Awardee at Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne (Study areas – sustainability, nanotechnology, vulnerability).
July 2011 – Visiting Research Fellow at Systems Centre, University of Bristol, U.K. (Study area – Systems thinking and approaches).
April 2011 – Alexander S. Onassis Fellow, based in Athens, Greece (Study area – Ancient Greek temples as analogical sources for Anaximander’s model of the cosmos).
June 2007 to June 2010 – Head, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
December 1998 to December 2006 – Professor in Civil Engineering, attached to the Division of Building & Structural Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
August 2000 to April 2001 – Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, U.S.A. (Research Areas – Philosophy of Engineering and Engineering Design)
June 1995 to December 1998 – Associate Professor in Civil Engineering, attached to the Division of Building & Structural Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
June 1986 to June 1995 – Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering (Grade II from 1986-1992 and Grade I from 1992 to 1995), attached to the Division of Building & Structural Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
October 1992 to July 1993 – Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, U.K. (General Research Area – Civil Engineering Systems; Specific Research Areas – Conceptual modelling, Philosophy of Engineering).
October 1982 to May 1986 – Research Scholar at Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London, while on study leave from the University of Moratuwa. (General research area – Concrete Structures; Specific research topic – Thermal Creep of Hardened Cement Paste.)
April 1981 to September 1982 – Asst. Lecturer in Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
July 1978 to April, 1979 – Engineering Trainee with Department of Buildings, Sri Lanka.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

BSc(Eng)(Hons.) – University of Moratuwa, 1980.
PhD – University of London, 1986.
DIC – Imperial College of Science & Technology, London, 1986.

HONOURS AND AWARDS

UNESCO Team Gold Medal for the best results in the B.Sc. Engineering Final Examination at the University of Moratuwa, 1978/79.
Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue doctoral studies at Imperial College, University of London, 1982-1985.
S.D. & C.C. Award for the best paper by an Associate Member under 35 years of age in the Engineer Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, 1989/90. (Title: Changes in the design of reinforced concrete structures introduced by BS 8110: 1985.)
S.D. & C.C. Award for the best paper by an Associate Member under 35 years of age in the Engineer Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, 1990/91. (Jointly with Dr. Mrs. M.T.P. Hettiarachchi; Title: A cost comparison of some ground reservoir forms.)
Commonwealth Fellowship to pursue post doctoral research at University of Bristol, U.K., 1992/93.
NARESA merit award for scientific research, 1993. (Jointly with Dr. S.S.L. Hettiarachchi; Project - Investigations on coastal structures armoured with natural rock and concrete armour units).
Third Prize for Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka competition for paper on Water Related Infrastructure sponsored by St. Anthony's Industries Group, 1996 (Title: Design and performance of 11350 cu.m. rectangular Jubilee Reservoir in Sri Lanka).
First Prize for Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka competition for paper on Water Resources/ Water Management sponsored by International Irrigation Management Institute, 1998 (Title: The analysis of proposed change and stakeholder response - a case study).
Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS) General Research Committee award, 1998 (Research area: Factors affecting Sorptivity of Concrete).
Fulbright Senior Scholar Award to pursue postdoctoral research at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, U.S.A., 2000/01.
Outstanding Research Performance Award (15 year duration), University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 1999.
Outstanding Research Performance Award (3 year duration), University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009.
President’s Research Award (for publications in Science Citation Index journals) – Years 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2021
NSF merit award for scientific research, 2001. (Jointly with G.N. Kodagoda; Project – The feasibility of using product models for representing building information).
Institution of Civil Engineers (U.K) Overseas Prize, 2006 (Jointly with R. Dissanayake and R. Chandratilake); Paper – Lessons learned from tsunami damage in Sri Lanka.
Committee of Vice Chancellors and Directors Award for the Most Outstanding Researcher in Technology Related Sciences (2008)
Aristotle S. Onassis Foreigner’s Fellowship to pursue research in philosophy at National Technical University of Athens (April 2011)
Excellence in Engineering Award, Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, 2011
Endeavour Executive Award for Professional Development at University of Melbourne (Nov-Dec 2012)
Long Service Award, Institution of Structural Engineers, 2012.
Included in top 2% of researchers worldwide in a Stanford University-Elsevier database (2020 to 2023). Link: https://elsevier.digitalcommonsdata.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/7
Bernard Soysa Orator, Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, 2021

Research Interests and Memberships

Research Interests

Topics in Structural Engineering
Topics in Concrete Technology and Durability
Topics in Reinforced Concrete Design
Tsunami Resilience of Buildings
Modelling of Building Degradation
Artificial Intelligence Applications in Civil Engineering
Systems approaches for Civil Engineering
Philosophy for Engineering

Memberships

CEng, MIE(SL) – Corporate Membership of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, 1991.
CEng, MIStructE – Corporate Membership, Institution of Structural Engineers, U.K., 1994.
FIE(SL) – Fellowship of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, 1998.
FNAS(SL) – Fellowship of the National Academy of Sciences, Sri Lanka, 2007.
FSSE(SL) – Fellowship of the Society of Structural Engineers, Sri Lanka, 2017.
Honorary Fellow, Society of Structural Engineers, Sri Lanka, 2019.
Honorary Life Fellow, Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, 2020.