Samarajeewa "Sam" Karunaratne, FIET, FIEE, FIESL (born in 1937) is an

emeritus professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of engineering and a leading Sri Lankan

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

who is the founding

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

and president of the

Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology The Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා තොරතුරු තා‌ක්ෂණ ආයතනය; ta, இலங்கை தகவல் தொழில்நுட்ப நிறுவனம� ...

and the former

vice-chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

of the

University of Moratuwa (''Vidyaayev Sharvadhanam'') , motto_lang = Sanskrit , mottoeng = Wisdom is all Wealth , established = , type = Public , chancellor = K. K. Y. W. Perera , vice_chancellor = N. ...

. He has held a number of other appointments in the field of higher education in Sri Lanka, including senior professor of electrical engineering and dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, president of the

Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) is a multidisciplinary professional engineering institution in Sri Lanka. History It was the Director of Public Works at the time F A Cooper, who while attending a meeting while on circuit, who plan ...

. Karunaratne is a pioneer in the development of the use of computers in the field of engineering and played an important role in the development of information technology education and industry in Sri Lanka.

Early life and education

Karunaratne was born as Samarajeewa Karunaratne to a family of land proprietors, Mr. and Mrs. T. Karunaratne in Makoora,

Kegalle Kegalle ( si, කෑගල්ල; ta, கேகாலை) is a large town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. It is located on the Colombo–Kandy road, approximately from Colombo and from Kandy. It is the main town in the Kegalle District ...

. He had his early education at Bandaranaike Maha Vidyalaya, Hettimulla and received his secondary education at St. Mary's College, Kegalle.Sam and Kusuma Karunaratne
He then went on to do his higher studies at the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univer ...

, where he gained a

first class honours degree The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. He then achieved his MSc degree in engineering from the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and a diploma in electrical engineering from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He is a

chartered engineer Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process thr ...

of both Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom, a fellow of the British

Institution of Engineering and Technology The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a multidisciplinary professional engineering institution. The IET was formed in 2006 from two separate institutions: the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), dating back to 1871, and ...

(IET), fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (FIESL), a fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, London (FIEE), and a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences Sri Lanka.

Career

Karunaratne took part in many major construction projects in Sri Lanka, pioneering the use of computer aided designing. An electrical engineer by profession, he took up to university teaching and was a lecturer in electrical engineering at the

University of Ceylon, Peradeniya The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univ ...

before moving to the

as a professor of electrical engineering in July 1969, where he held the chair from then until his retirement 9 October 2002. He has been the teacher of over 500 electrical engineers who hold high positions in Sri Lanka and internationally. He has been in universities in Sri Lanka and abroad since he joined the university as an undergraduate in 1956, except for a two-year period when he was with the State Engineering Corporation. During his time at the State Engineering Corporation, from 1967 to 1968, he was in charge of the country's first digital computer installation and he computerised the design of civil engineering structures, including the Kalutara Cetiya (Kalutara Degoba), a thick shell design that is the world's only hollow Buddhist shrine. He was responsible for the computerisation of the GCE Ordinary-Level and Advanced-Level examination processing in 1968, with over 350,000 candidates. As the head of the Department of Electrical Engineering, he spearheaded the establishment of the Department of Computer Engineering. He then became the dean of the Faculty of Engineering, and later the

of the University of Moratuwa. He is considered to be the chief contributor towards the development of the Department of Electrical Engineering to its present status, and has been the teacher of over 500 electrical engineers who hold high positions in Sri Lanka and abroad. These are some of the many notable reasons why he has been awarded the degree of

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

from the University of Moratuwa. He has served many institutions as a member of the Governing Board, including the National Engineering Research and Development Centre (NERD); the Natural Resources, Energy and Science Authority of Sri Lanka (NARESA); the Post-Graduate Institute of Management; the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL); the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka; the Arthur C. Clarke Centre for Modern Technologies (ACCMT); and the

Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගුවන් විදුලි සංස්ථාව, ''Shrī Lankā Guvan Viduli Sansthāva'', ta, இலங்கை ஒலிபரப்புக் க� ...

(SLBC). He is the recipient of several scholarships and fellowships ommonwealth Scholarship, Fulbright Scholarship, Commonwealth Fellowship, I.A.E.A Fellowship, Commonwealth Travelling Fellowship, UNESCO Fellowship]. Karunaratne was the President of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka. He was also the Director of the Arthur C. Clarke Centre for Modern Technologies, and was a member of the Board of Governors of the United Nations Centre for Space Science and Technology Education Asia-Pacific established in Dehradun, India. His research is mainly in electrical power systems and digital control system, and he has published several papers on these subject. He is a chartered engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, London (FIEE), a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (FIESL), and a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the founding President of the

, a leading research and higher education institute in the field of Information Technology, and currently also holds the position of Chancellor and executive head of this institute. He is also a member of the board of directors at the Institute of Technological Studies, Colombo.

Personal life

Karunaratne married Kusuma Ediriweera Jayasooriya in July 1967, who became a renowned professor and Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies,

University of Colombo (Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate) , mottoeng = ''Wisdom Enlightens'' , established = , endowment = Sri Lankan rupee, LKR 1.461 1,000,000,000 (number), billion

. She is a pioneer in the field of Sinhalese Studies and the first female Dean in Sri Lanka. They have two sons, Savant Kaushalya and Passant Vatsalya, both electrical engineers specialising in

Image processing An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

Graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...

, and

Video Processing In electronics engineering, video processing is a particular case of signal processing, in particular image processing, which often employs video filters and where the input and output signals are video files or video streams. Video processing tec ...

. The elder, Savant Karunaratne has a PhD in

Electrical and Computer Engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, Australia. The younger, Passant Karunaratne has a PhD in

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) is an academic program at many universities which comprises scientific and engineering aspects of computing. CSE is also a term often used in Europe to translate the name of engineering informatics academic ...

from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

, and is a Principal Research Engineer in the United States.

Awards

*Karunaratne is the recipient of several scholarships and fellowships, including the

Commonwealth Scholarship The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) is an international programme under which Commonwealth governments offer scholarships and fellowships to citizens of other Commonwealth countries. History The plan was originally proposed b ...

, the

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

, the Commonwealth Fellowship, the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

Fellowship, the Commonwealth Travelling Fellowship, and the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Fellowship. *In 2006 Karunaratne was awarded an honorary Doctorate from the

References

2
Professor Karunaratne's webpage on Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Moratuwa

External links