2015 Prof. Buddhima Indraratna
Annual Individual Award 2015
THE RECIPIENT OF THE 2015 RTSA INDIVIDUAL AWARD IS PROFESSOR BUDDHIMA INDRARATNA, PROFESSOR OF CIVIL ENGINEERING, AND RESEARCH DIRECTOR CENTRE FOR GEOMECHANICS & RAILWAY ENGINEERING AT THE FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG.
The RTSA Individual Award recognises the outstanding contribution that Professor Indraratna has made to the Australian and world-wide rail industry for over 20 years.
He is a Civil Engineering Graduate of Imperial College, London and subsequently gained his PhD from the University of Alberta in 1987. He is the Founding Director of the Centre for Geomechanics & Railway Engineering (GRE) at the University of Wollongong, which is the first formal rail track research centre in an Australian University, and currently mentors over 15 full-time staff and 30 PhD students. GRE is one of the three national research centres forming the ARC Centre of Excellence for Geotechnical Sciences and Engineering in which Professor Indraratna is a Program Leader overseeing all rail research activities.
His significant contributions to Rail Geotechnology have been acknowledged through numerous national and international awards, including:
• The 2009 EH Davis Memorial Lecture, regarded as the highest accolade within the Australian Geomechanics Society
• The 2011 Engineers Australia Transport Medal for outstanding contributions to Australian railways
• The 2012 Eurasian University Medal, and:
• Twice recipient of Robert Quigley award (2007; 2012) from the Canadian Geotechnical Society.
• The 2009 EH Davis Memorial Lecture, regarded as the highest accolade within the Australian Geomechanics Society
• The 2011 Engineers Australia Transport Medal for outstanding contributions to Australian railways
• The 2012 Eurasian University Medal, and:
• Twice recipient of Robert Quigley award (2007; 2012) from the Canadian Geotechnical Society.
In addition Professor Indraratna was honoured as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) and was also the winner of 2009 Business Higher Education Round Table (BHERT) award for R & D Innovations sponsored by the Australian Commonwealth.
He has been a UN consultant in south and south-east Asia, and an advisor to the Sri Lankan government on post-tsunami rehabilitation of rail tracks. He has published nearly 450 articles (190+ Journal papers) and 6 research-based Books, and supervised over 40 PhD graduates.
Professor Buddhima Indraratna receiving the RTSA Individual Award at the NSW Chapter Annual Dinner in 2015