Curriculum Vitae
Hello, I’m Samangi
I am curious, energetic, hardworking, and passionate, and I am ready for challenges no matter what comes my way. I love to explore, dive into different complementary subjects, and understand the essence of how they correspond. The amazing human brain, creative sparks, music, and Artificial Intelligence fascinate me. I count on modern technology, which predicts enormous possibilities. Correlations of all these subjects trigger my passion for exploring how designers interact with AI-powered creativity support tools to bring in design and innovation for the betterment of the world.Education
Doctor of Philosophy - Engineering and IT (Human Computer Interaction) | (2022 - to date)
School of Computing and Information Systems, Faculty of Engineering and IT, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Supervisors: Dr. Greg Wadley and A/Prof. Jenny Waycott
Research title: Exploring the effect of AI-powered creativity support tools in design work
Bachelor of Design (Hons) (First Class) | Overall GPA: 3.94/ 4.2 | (2014 - 2019)
Department of Integrated Design, Faculty of Architecture, University of Moratuwa,
Sri Lanka
Field of Specialization: Media and Communication Design
Class Rank: 1st (Highest OGPA of the Media and Com. Design Field))
Primary and Secondary Education | (2000 - 2013)
Holy Cross College - Gampaha, Sri Lanka
Certifications
Introduction to User Experience Design an online non-credit course | (2019)
Authorized by Georgia Institute of Technology and offered through Coursera.
Graduated from The Roger Hatchuel Academy | (2017)
The Cannes Lions School, Cannes, France.
Web Application Architectures; a six week online non-credit course | (2014)
Authorized by University of New Mexico and offered through Coursera.
Work Experience
Academic Tutor | INFO10003 - Fundamentals of Interaction Design | July 2023 - Nov 2023
The University of Melbourne, Australia.
Academic Tutor | INFO20005 - User Interface Development | Feb 2023 - June 2023
The University of Melbourne, Australia.
Lecturer – on contract | Full-time | June 2021 – May 2022 (11 months)
Department of Information and Communication Technology,
Faculty of Technology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.
Senior Executive UX Designer | July 2020 – June 2021 (11 months)
Dialog Axiata PLC, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Supervisor: Mr. Nalin de Abrew
Research Assistant | Jan 2020 – Jun 2020 (5 months)
University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
Supervisor: Dr. Anishka Hettiarachchi
Research Intern | March 2019 – July 2019 (4 months)
National University of Singapore, Human Computer Interaction Lab.
Supervisor: Associate Professor. Shengdong Zaho
Trainee UX Engineer | November 2017 - March 2018 (4 months)
99X Technology, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Supervisor: Mr. Rasika Mahindasiri
Assistant Teacher | January 2014 - March 2014 (3 months)
Holy Cross College - Gampaha, Sri Lanka.
Subjects taught:
• Grade 5 English Medium (Mathematics),
• Grade 6 Sinhala & English Medium (History, Civics, Geography),
• Grade 8 (History, Civics, Geography).
Research Projects
Exploring the Effect of AI-powered Creativity Support Tools in Design Work – Doctor of Phillosophy (2022 - to date)
Human Computer Interaction Group, School of Computing and Information Systems,
The University of Melbourne, Australia.
Sinhala Traditional music for stress relief: An Interaction Design Intervention | March 2019 – July 2019 (4 months)
Level IV Dissertation – B.Des
Department of Integrated Design, Faculty of Architecture,
University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
Publications
Wadinambiarachchi, S., & Samarawickrama, S. (2018). Sinhala Traditional Music of Sri Lanka for Stress relief: An Interaction Design Intervention. FARU 2018 International Research Conference. Galle: Faculty of Architecture, Research Unit.
Design Projects
Assisting design students to cope with creative blocks: An Interaction Design Intervention| March 2019 – July 2019 (4 months)
Level IV Comprehensive design Project – B.Des
Department of Integrated Design, Faculty of Architecture,
University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
Honors, Awards and Achievements
Rowden White Scholarship 2022| (2022)
The University of Melbourne
Best Poster winner - CIS Doctoral Colloquium 2022 | (2022)
School of Computing and Information Systems - The University of Melbourne
Melbourne Research Scholarship | (2022)
The University of Melbourne
Highest OGPA of the Media and Com. Design Field B.Des (Hons) 2014 Batch | (2019)
Department of Integrated Design, Faculty of Architecture, University of Moratuwa,
Sri Lanka
Shortlisted for VidyaJyothi Professor Dayantha S Wijeyesekera Award for the Most Outstanding Graduand of the Year 2018 | (2019)
University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
Shortlisted for Deshamanya Dr. Roland Silva Award for the Most Outstanding Faculty of Architecture Graduand of the Year 2018 |(2019)
Faculty of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
Dean’s List in Semester 1,2,3,4,6,7,8 | (2014 – 2019)
Faculty of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
Selected as the Student Representative of Sri Lanka for Roger Hatchuel Academy Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity 2017, France | (2017)
Cannes Young Lions Sri Lanka
Best Student in Information and Communication Technology -2013 | (2013)
Holy Cross College Gampaha, Sri Lanka
Service and Leadership
Co-President of the Sri Lankan Graduates’ Society | (Sep 2023 - to date)
Sri Lankan Graduates’ Society of the University of Melbourne (SLGS)
Reviewer – CHI 2024
The ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2024.
Reviewer – DIS 2023
ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) 2023.
Reviewer – INTERACT 2023
The 19th International Conference of Technical Committee 13 (Human- Computer Interaction) of IFIP (International Federation for Information Processing).
Associate Chair - CHI 2023 Late-Breaking Work| (Jan - Feb 2022)
The ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2023
Student volunteer - CSCW 22, Online | (Nov 2022)
ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing
Media and Communications Organizer | (Sep 2022 – Sep 2023)
Sri Lankan Graduates’ Society of the University of Melbourne (SLGS)
Chair - Colombo ACM SICGCHI Chapter | (Dec 2021 – May 2022)
Local chapter of ACM SIGCHI in Sri Lanka
Member of the Judge Panel | BestWeb 2021 | (2021)
Organized by the LK Domain Registry