Curriculum Vitae
Hello, I’m Samangi Wadinambiarachchi
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., Kelly, R., Pareek, S., Zhou, Q., & Velloso, E. (2024). The Effects of Generative AI on Design Fixation and Divergent Thinking. 18. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642919
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
Third Place - FEIT GR Showcase Research Poster Competition 2024
The University of Melbourne
Finalist – FEIT 3 Minute Thesis Competition
Faculty of Engineering and IT, The University of Melbourne
Diane Lemaire Scholarship 2024
The University of Melbourne
Rowden White Scholarship 2022
The University of Melbourne
Best Poster winner - CIS Doctoral Colloquium 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
Seminar Coordinator – HCI Group | (Jan 2025 - to date)
The University of Melbourne
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, CHI2025
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, CHI 2024 Late-Breaking Work
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