Chan Wirasinghe, Ph.D. former Dean of the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary received the “Order of the University of Calgary at the engineering convocation on June 5, 2018. He is a transportation engineer and has helped build an international reputation for the Schulich School of Engineering. Since 1976, Wirasinghe has been a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at UCCalgary where he served for over 12 years as the dean of the Faculty of Engineering.
His achievements at the Schulich School of Engineering include: doubling student enrolment with an associated expansion in the number of faculty members, expanding the Engineering Internship Program to over 400 placements, pioneering the Women in Engineering Initiative, and winning the 2006 Minerva Mentoring Award from the Alberta Women’s Science Network.
He has received many awards during his career, including an honorary DSc from the University of Moratuwa in 2001; APEGA’s highest honor, the Centennial Award; and was named Calgary’s Citizen of the Year in 2005. He received the biennial Medal of Excellence in Engineering Education from the World Federation of Engineering Organizations in 2015.
Wirasinghe is a Fulbright Scholar and holds a Ph.D. and MS in Civil Engineering (Transportation) from the University of California at Berkeley, and a BSc in Engineering (Civil Engineering) from the University of Ceylon.
He became a Fellow of Engineers Canada in 2009. Wirasinghe has given over a dozen keynote presentations at international conferences and been the featured speaker at an AGM luncheon of APEGA, and at the University of Calgary convocation. He has been a member of the Council of NSERC, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (an Order-in-Council appointment), and serves on Camp 18 of the Corporation of Seven Wardens.
