Sam Karunaratne

Infobox_Scientist
honorific-prefix = Professor
name = Sam Karunaratne

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birth_date = 1937
birth_place = flagicon|SRI Makoora, Kegalle
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nationality = Sri Lankan
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field = Computer Science,
Electrical Engineering
work_institution = Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology
University of Moratuwa
alma_mater = University of Ceylon
University of Glasgow
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Samarajeewa "Sam" Karunaratne, FIET, FIESL (born in 1937) is an Emeritus Professor and a leading Sri Lankan academic who was a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa and the founding & current President of the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology. He has held a number of other appointments in the field of higher education in Sri Lanka, Prof Karunaratne is a pioneer in the development of the use of computers in the field of engineering, and also played an important role in the development of IT education and industry in Sri Lanka.

Early life

Karunaratne was born as Samarajeewa Karunaratne to a family of land proprietors, Mr. and Mrs. T. Karunaratne in Makoora, Kegalle. He had his early education at Bandaranaike Maha Vidyalaya, Hettimulla and received his secondary education at St. Mary's College, Kegalle [ [http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2007/01/07/spe05.asp Sam and Kusuma Karunaratne] ] . He then went on to do his higher studies at the University of Ceylon, where he gained a First class honours degree in electrical engineering. He then achieved his M.Sc. degree in engineering from the University of Glasgow and a Diploma in Electrical Engineering from the University of London.

He is a chartered engineer of both Sri Lanka and UK, a fellow of the British Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), and 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.

He went on to teach at the University of Moratuwa, where he became the head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and helped establish the Department of Computer Engineering. Then became the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and later the Vice Chancellor 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. This was one of the many notable reasons to award him with the DSc. Currently he is serving as the president of the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology, a leading research & higher education institute in the field of Information Technology. He is also a member of the board of directors at the Institute of Technological Studies, Colombo.

Personal life

Karunaratne married renowned lecturer and once Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Colombo, Kusuma Karunaratne in July 1967. 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 specializing in Image processing. The elder, Savant Karunaratne has a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Sydney University, Australia. The younger, Passant Karunaratne is a Principal Research Engineer in USA.

Awards

*He received the honor of Emeritus Professor from the University of Moratuwa.
*In 2006 Karunaratne was awarded an honorary Doctorate, also from the University of Moratuwa.

ee also

*Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology

References