Department of Civil Engineering



Dr. Samal Dharmarathna

Senior Lecturer


Office Address:

Department of Civil Engineering,

University of Peradeniya,

Peradeniya,20400,

Sri Lanka.

samal@eng.pdn.ac.lk
+94-81-2393531

Dr. Samal Dharmarathna is currently working as a Senior Lecturer (Grade II) at the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He received his BScEng (Hons) degree from the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Peradeniya in 2007. Then he joined industry and worked one year each at CML - MTD Construction Ltd and Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka as a Project Engineer and Civil Engineer respectively. He earned his Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree from the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Peradeniya in 2013. Upon completion, he worked as a Lecturer at International Training Institute of Irrigation & Water Management, Kothmale for a period of three years. In 2015 he entered the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Tokyo, Japan and completed his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in 2018. His Ph.D. thesis title was "Comparative Analysis of Sequential Time Discount Rate in Differential Disastrous Networks". After completing, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Transportation Research and Infrastructure Planning (TRIP) laboratory at the Department of Civil engineering, The University of Tokyo, Japan for a period of six months and returned thereafter.

  • 2018 - PhD, University of Tokyo , Tokyo, Japan
  • 2013 - MPhil, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
  • 2007 - BSc.Eng (Hons), University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
  • Transportation Planning
  • Discrete choice modeling (mode choice and route choice)
  • Behavior in Networks
  • Traffic Engineering
  • Sep. 2020 - To date : Senior Lecturer (Grade II) , Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya
  • Jun. 2019 - Sep. 2020: Temporary Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
  • Oct. 2018 - Mar. 2019: Post-Doctoral Researcher, Department of Civil Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo, Japan
  • Oct. 2015 - Sep. 2018: Doctoral Candidate, Department of Civil Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo, Japan
  • May 2012 - Sep. 2015: Lecturer, International Training Institute of Irrigation and Water Management, Kothmale, Sri Lanka
  • Apr. 2009 - Apr. 2012: MPhil Candidate, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
  • Oct. 2007 - Jul. 2008: Civil Engineer, Water Management Secretariat, Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka
  • Feb. 2007 - Sep. 2007: Project Engineer, A11 Road Project, CML - MTD Construction Ltd
  • Chartered Member, Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Sri Lanka (CMILT)
  • Member, Alumni Association of the Department of Civil Engineering, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
  • Associate Member, Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (AMIESL)
  • Associate Engineer, The Engineering Council, Sri Lanka (ECSL)
  • Member, Peradeniya Engineering Faculty Alumni Association (PEFAA)
  • Dharmarathna W.R.S.S., Herath S. and Weerakoon S.B. "Changing the planting date as a climate change adaptation strategy for rice production in Kurunegala district, Sri Lanka", International journal "Sustainability Science", Springer, Japan, ISSN 1862-4065, Vol. 9, No. 1, Sustain Sci (2014) 9:103-111, DOI 10.1007/s11625-012-0192-2
  • Dharmarathna W.R.S.S. and Eiji Hato, "Comparison of sequential time discount rate in differential disastrous networks", Proceedings of Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting, 07th - 11th January 2018, Washington D.C., USA
  • Dharmarathna W.R.S.S. and Eiji Hato, "Route choice behavior under extreme weather events in densified networks: a case study in Tokyo under torrential downpour", Proceedings of 15th Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) symposium, 07th - 08th December 2017, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20780.31366
  • Dharmarathna W.R.S.S. and Eiji Hato, "Unsteady Travel Behavior in Major and Minor Scale Disasters", Proceedings of infrastructure planning, The 56th Civil Engineering studies research presentation, Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE), 03rd - 05th November 2017, Iwate University, Japan
  • Dharmarathna W.R.S.S. and Eiji Hato, "Determination of travelers' characteristics under stressed conditions", Proceedings of 16th summer seminar on "Behavior Modelling in Transportation Networks", 13th - 15th October 2017, Behavior in Networks Unit, The University of Tokyo, Japan
  • Dharmarathna W.R.S.S., Weerakoon S.B., Herath S., Rathnayake U.R. and Weerakoon W.M.W. "Application of Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) model to optimize irrigated paddy cultivation under changing hydro-climate", Technical papers, Annual Transactions of IESL, Vol. I, Part B, pp 207-211, 24th October 2011, the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka
  • Dharmarathna W.R.S.S., Weerakoon S.B., Rathnayake U.R. and Herath S. "Testing Suitability of DSSAT for Rice Varieties Grown in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka", Proceedings of the 5th UN-CECAR conference on Disaster Risk Management & Sustainability, 15th November 2011, United Nations University Headquarters, Tokyo, Japan
  • Dharmarathna W.R.S.S., Weerakoon S.B., and Srikantha Herath "Analyzing Weather Patterns under the Climate Change Impacts in Kurunegala District", Sri Lanka water convention 2013, National conference to mark the world water day, Colombo, Sri Lanka, pp 26-31, 21st March 2013
  • Dharmarathna W.R.S.S., Weerakoon S.B., Rathnayake U.R. and Herath S. "Variation of irrigated rice yield under the climate change scenarios", Proceedings of the SAITM Second Research Symposium on Engineering Advancements, 27-28 April 2012, South Asian Institute of Technology & Medicine (SAITM), Malabe, Sri Lanka
  • Dharmarathna W.R.S.S. and Eiji Hato, "Unsteady travel behavior under uncertainty in densified networks", Proceedings of 5th conference on Sri Lanka - Japan collaborative research, 23rd September 2017, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. ISBN 978-955-7685-01-4
  • Dharmarathna W.R.S.S., and Weerakoon S.B. "Analysis of climate change impacts on rice production - case study of Kurunegala district, Sri Lanka", 8th International Perspective on Water Resources and the Environment, American Society of Civil Engineers/Environmental and Water Resources Institute (IPWE), 4th - 6th January 2016, Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • Dharmarathna W.R.S.S., Weerakoon S.B., Rathnayake U.R. and Herath S. "Long Term Weather Forecasting for Planning Yala Season Paddy Cultivation in Kurunegala District", Proceedings of the Peradeniya University Research Sessions (PURSE), Vol. 16, 24th November 2011, Sri Lanka
  • Dharmarathna W.R.S.S., Weerakoon S.B., and Srikantha Herath "Climate Change Impacts on Rice Production in Kurunegala District and Selected Adaptation Measures", Sri Lanka - Japan Collaborative Research 2013 (SLJCR-2013), 29th - 31st March 2013, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
  • Dharmarathna W.R.S.S., Weerakoon S.B., Rathnayake U.R., Herath S. and Weerakoon W.M.W. "Climate Change Impacts on Rice Production in Kurunegala District in Sri Lanka", 16th Inter-Governmental and Scientific Planning Group Meetings, Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) Networking and Poster Session, 6th April 2011, Colombo, Sri Lanka. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.16707.25125
  • MEXT scholarship for reading Doctor of Philosophy degree by the government of Japan (Oct. 2015 - Sep. 2018)
  • International Master Scholarship for reading Master of Philosophy degree by the United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan (Jun. 2009 - Jan. 2012)



Department of Civil Engineering