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Dr. Upul Attanayake is a professor of civil and construction engineering at Â鶹´«Ã½. He is the director of the Michigan Department of Transportation Center of Excellence for Structural Durability at WMU. In 1998, he obtained his Bachelor of Science in Engineering with honors from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. In 2001, he obtained his Master of Science in Engineering, specialized in structural engineering, from the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok. In 2006, Attanayake obtained his Ph.D. from Wayne State University. 

Attanayake’s technical specialties include structural and bridge engineering, concrete durability, accelerated bridge construction, condition assessment and health monitoring of structures, nondestructive testing, finite element applications, and sustainable built-environment. He has secured more than $4 million in research funding from various agencies.  

Attanayake is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Michigan. His affiliations with the Transportation Research Board Technical Committees include AFN30-Durability of Concrete (member 2007 – 2016); AFF30 Concrete Bridges (member 2014 – 2020), AKM90 Polymer Concretes, Adhesives and Sealers (member 2021 – present); and AKC40 Construction of Bridges and Structures (member 2021 – present). He has authored or co-authored more than 90 peer-reviewed papers and 38 technical reports and has delivered more than 90 presentations at national and international conferences and professional meetings. Attanayake has mentored a large number of undergraduate and graduate Â鶹´«Ã½s and sponsored more than 35 Â鶹´«Ã½ presentations. He has been the organizer or instructor of more than 20 workshops on various topics and the organizer of a large number of special sessions at national and international conferences. He is the vice president of the International Association for Bridge Maintenance and Safety Sri Lanka Group.

Attanayake has been recognized with many awards including the inaugural Presidential Innovation Professorship at WMU in 2020; 2020 Excellence in Discovery Award for the Highest College Research Funding in fiscal year 2018-19; 2018 Excellence in Discovery Award for Highest Departmental Research Funding in 2017; the 2012 Outstanding Reviewer, ASCE Journal of Bridge Engineering; the 2012 Outstanding New Researcher, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Â鶹´«Ã½; ExCEEd (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) 2008 Teaching Fellow; and the government of Norway Millennium Scholarship, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand.