Meet Sri Lankan Researcher — Professor Arosha K. Bandara.
Arosha K. Bandara is a Professor of Software Engineering at the Open University, UK whose research addresses the practical problems associated with building and maintaining self-managing (adaptive) systems.
Professor Arosha completed his Ph.D. at Imperial College London, UK in 2005. prior to this, he worked as a Senior Software Engineer at Sapient Corporation, USA.
He has been an investigator on a number of security and privacy projects funded by EPSRC (PRiMMA and Privacy Dynamics), ERC (Adaptive Security and Privacy — ASAP) and the Qatar National Research Fund (Adaptive Information Security in the Cloud).
What are you currently working on and What encouraged you to pursue this topic?
I’m currently working on Software Engineering for Adaptive Systems and what encourages me the most is the pervasive nature of software-intensive in the modern world and the need for software systems to continuously adapt to effectively meet the needs of their users.
What methodology are you using or used for your research?
A mixture of empirical and theoretical methods, that combine software engineering with social psychology, business strategy, human-computer interaction, healthcare, and machine learning
Where have you currently based/Which university or research lab?
I’m working at The Open University UK, Software Engineering & Design Group (https://sead.open.ac.uk).
Where do you find your best inspiration for your work?
My best inspiration comes from interacting with my students and peers.
What do you hope to achieve with your research?
To develop digital technologies that better meet the needs of their users.
Can you share with us some of your publications?
Sure, Anyone can find my publication here. if they are interested.
What’s one of your biggest personal achievements so far?
I would say being the leading educator on the development of the online course, “Introduction to Cyber Security” which has been studied by over 200K learners worldwide. If you are interested in cybersecurity you can find it here.
What lessons would you share with a budding researcher?
Always stay curious; focus on developing the core skills of your discipline and systematically applying them to new problems.
What motivates you to be a researcher?
Curiosity and interesting problems that can improve the world.
What are the changes the Sri Lankan education system needs to meet the requirement of high tech industries?
Promote creativity and problem solving more.
What are your suggestions to Sustainable Education Foundation to improve the education system in Sri Lanka and all around the world?
I would say help young people gain additional experience of working collaboratively to solve challenging problems — developing their creativity and skills in tandem.
