Meet Sri Lankan Researcher —Hansika Hewamalage

What are you currently working on or worked on before?

My research domain is time series forecasting. In my Ph.D. project, I am working on applying global forecasting models to advance time series forecasting in a Big Data environment.

Specifically, I am looking at the exact conditions under which global forecasting models (which learn from many time series simultaneously) become competitive alternatives to traditional statistical forecasting techniques which have been state-of-the-art in forecasting for many decades.

What is the name of your current institute?

Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University, Australia

What encouraged you to pursue your research topic?

Accurate time-series forecasting affects many domains such as transportation, tourism, and health care. It is a critical task to do it right, and if you get it wrong, the losses can be quite costly. Therefore, forecasting is such a field that requires a lot of applied research, not just theoretical.

The work that we do has a huge practical impact on many different industries. Because of this reason, I get hands-on experience with solving actual real-world problems through time series forecasting research.

Where do you find your best inspiration for your work?

I am currently working in a very dynamic research group consisting of several academic researchers and Ph.D. students as well. We share our learnings and ideas within this group. For me, most of the inspirations and ideas come through the knowledge that the senior researchers share with us.

Their experiences and the lessons that they have learned along the way really help me with my academic growth. Apart from that, there is a large body of forecasting researchers who gather annually at an international symposium to present their work and discuss common problems in the domain. This forecasting community along with the practical problems that we encounter through industry connections inspires me to work creatively and build new solutions.

What’s one of your biggest personal achievements so far?

Out of the several achievements that I have had so far, the following are the ones that I consider most valuable to myself.

Becoming the all-island 6th in the G.C.E Ordinary Level Examination 2007, becoming the all-island 11th in the G.C.E Advanced Level Examination 2010 in the Physical Science stream, graduating with a first-class from the Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa, receiving the Monash Graduate Research Scholarship in order to be admitted to the Ph.D. program at the Faculty of Information Technology, and recently got my first research paper in forecasting accepted at the International Journal of Forecasting.

You can find it in my Google Scholar profile.

What lessons would you share with a budding researcher?

Being a researcher is a tough journey. You would more often be disappointed than content with your work. In my opinion, perseverance and resilience are the two most important attributes that any researcher should have. Never stop learning and never compare yourself with your peers.

Retain your curiosity and keep looking for opportunities for growth. Be familiar with the conferences or experts in your domain and follow them regularly. The best reward you get is the feeling that your findings will someday contribute to the betterment of society.

What motivated you to be a researcher?

During my undergraduate degree, I had a keen interest in machine learning and data science-related subjects. I took a few of them during the final year of my Bachelor's degree and I think that is what mainly paved the pathway to continue further in these areas.

Before starting the Ph.D., I used my free time to take online courses in these domains to expand my knowledge further. These activities motivated me to explore this space and its problems more by becoming a researcher.

If there is a chance, will you help build research in Sri Lanka?

Yes, indeed. As a student who enjoyed all the benefits provided by the Sri Lankan education system, I would be more than happy to help build research in Sri Lanka.

According to your opinion, what are the changes that the Sri Lankan education system needs to do, in order to meet the requirement of the international industry and academia?

In my opinion, the Sri Lankan education system needs to be more exposed to the practical side of the subjects, rather than being restricted to theory. Especially, when working with international researchers, English is the key to communication.

So, in my opinion, English (both written and spoken) needs to be given more priority as a language in Sri Lankan schools. We often see students struggling through their undergraduate studies due to the lack of English knowledge. Our student-teacher relationship needs to change such that rather than just listening and accepting, the student actually gets involved in the whole learning process by questioning.

Research activities in Sri Lankan universities should be resourced with sufficient funding as well as equipment. This way the best brains of the country will remain rather than migrating.