Sunil Abeyesundere

Dr. Sunil Abeyesundere BSc(Hons), MSc, PhD, CEng, PE (born December 14, 1947) is a Computer, Electronics Specialist and former Competent Authority ITN & Consultant to the Ministry of State of Sri Lanka.

Early life

Dr. Sunil Abeyesundere was born on December 14, 1947 in Colombo as the only son of the late Hon. Justice A.W.H. Abeyesundere QC and Mrs. Abeyesundere.

Education

He had is early schooling at St. Joseph's College, Colombo and Royal College, Colombo. Thereafter he received his higher education in the U.K. and in the U.S.A. attending Loughborough University, the University of Chicago and the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Abeyesundere obtained a B.Sc. (Eng) (Hons) in Electrical Engineering, a M.Sc. in Electronics Engineering and a Ph.D. in Advanced Computer Systems. He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and also a Professional Engineer (PE) and is a Fellow/Senior Member of many learned Societies/Institutions.

Career

After holding senior appointments in the U.K., Zambia, India and the U.S. since graduation, in the late 1970s Dr. Abeyesundere was appointed by the Sri Lanka Cabinet as Consultant to the Ministry of State of Sri Lanka and was responsible for the planning stages of the National TV Rupavahini along with his counterpart at NHK of Japan. On the acquisition of [http://www.itn.lk/newsmain.html ITN] by the State he was appointed Jt. Competent Authority of ITN by the Minister of Finance along with the late Mr. Thevis Guruge who was Director-General of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC).He also functioned as Chief Director of the National TV Planning Center tasked with preparing the program content for the nascent TV network.

He had the distinction of playing a pivotal role in the introduction of TV to Sri Lanka along with those such as Mr. Shan Wickremasinghe (brother of ex-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe) and Mr. Anil Wijewardene along with his State Ministry colleague Dr. Sarath Amunugama, the then Secretary, Ministry of State who is now a Member of the Cabinet of Sri Lanka.

On leaving government service he functioned in different consultative capacities in the private sector. He functioned as a Consultant (Honoris Causa) to the Sri Lanka Army in its computerization program in the Committee chaired by the late Lt. Gen Cecil Waidyaratne (Colonel at that time) before migrating with his family to the United States. While there he worked as a Senior IT Specialist in the Aerospace & Defense Industry (Lockheed-Martin) for almost two decades before his retirement.

Interests & Family

Dr. Abeyesundere is an avid amateur radio operator and was at one time the youngest to be licensed in Sri Lanka in the 1960s. He has operated under different call signs over the years - 4S7AB (Sri Lanka), 9J2AB (Zambia), G4FLD (U.K.), AA6SF & AE4SD (USA) and is currently licensed as W4ABG (USA).

He is married to Supipi (nee Wijeratne) and has two children; a daughter Nilipi and a son Asanka all of who live in the U.S.A.