Professor in Engineering Physics
Department of Physics, University of Colombo, Colombo 00300, Sri Lanka
Office: Department of Physics – Room No. 307
Work Phone: +94-11-2584777
Work Fax: +94-11-2584777
Brief Profile of Prof. C. Mahesh Edirisinghe
[Ph.D.(CMB), MBA(London Met.), B.Sc.(Hons)(CMB), LLB (Hons)(BNU), MIP, C.Phy., CTHE, SEDA(UK)]
Prof. C. Mahesh Edirisinghe is a distinguished academic, researcher, and higher education leader with expertise in Engineering Sciences, Higher Education Policy, Quality Assurance, and Strategic Management. His research interests encompass lightning climatology, natural hazard and disaster risk management, lightning and surge protection, grounding systems, transient analysis of power systems, weather and climate science, remote sensing and spatial analysis, electronic instrumentation, innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as policy development, governance, accreditation, and strategic management in higher education. Since 2002, Prof. Edirisinghe has served on the academic staff of the University of Colombo and currently holds the position of Professor in Engineering Physics.
He obtained his B.Sc. (Honours) Special Degree in Physics from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1997, followed by a Ph.D. in Instrumentation Physics through a collaborative research program between the University of Uppsala, Sweden, and the University of Colombo in 2007. He also holds an MBA from London Metropolitan University, UK (2016) and an LLB (Hons) in Law from Buckinghamshire New University, UK (2024).
In addition to his academic career, Prof. Edirisinghe has held numerous high-profile administrative and advisory roles in Sri Lanka’s education and science sectors. He served as Vice Chancellor of the University of Vocational Technology under the Ministry of Education, Higher Education, and Vocational Training (May 2023 – May 2025), and as Director General of the Sri Lanka Institute of Advanced Technological Education (SLIATE) from September 2022 to April 2023. He was also a Member of the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC), Ministry of Education (September 2022 – April 2023). Earlier, he held the post of Commissioner of the Sri Lanka Inventors Commission (2015–2018), Ministry of Science, Technology, and Research. He has been a member of the Board of Management or Board of Directors of several national institutions, including the University of Vocational Technology, the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies (ACCIMT), the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority (SLSEA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Institute of Human Resource Advancement (IHRA). He also served as a member of the Sectoral Committee on Electronics Engineering of the Sri Lanka Standards Institution. Prof. Edirisinghe also served as Acting Director of the Institute for Agro-technology and Rural Sciences (IARS) from December 2009 to February 2011 and as a member of the University of Colombo Sports Advisory Board from March 2021 to May 2023.
He currently serves as a Member of the National Committee on Higher Education Policy Development appointed by the Hon. Minister of Education, Higher Education, and Vocational Education, contributing to national-level policy formulation and reforms in the higher education sector. He has been serving as a member of the Standing Committee on Accreditation and Quality Assurance (SCAQA), Ministry of Education, Higher Education, and Vocational Education, Sri Lanka, since January 2024. In this role, he assists in the recognition of institutes as Degree Awarding Institutes (DAIs) and contributes to ensuring quality assurance of such institutes and their academic programs.
Internationally, Prof. Edirisinghe has made notable contributions to science education. He was the Public Relations Officer and a Member of the Executive Committee of the International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) (2012–2015) and served as the Country Coordinator for Sri Lanka and a Member of the International Board for the IJSO competition from 2008 to 2014. Prof. Edirisinghe served as President of the Institute of Physics, Sri Lanka (IPSL) from March 2025 to March 2026. He previously served as the President of Section E-1 (Physical Sciences) of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science in 2012, and as Joint Secretary of IPSL from 2007 to 2010.
He has been recognized nationally for his research excellence, receiving the President’s Award for Scientific Publication and the National Research Council Merit Award for Scientific Publication. His academic output includes over 75 peer-reviewed publications, and he has supervised more than 40 postgraduate research projects, including three PhD programs. A committed innovator, Prof. Edirisinghe has contributed to 25 inventions and earned multiple international honors, including three Gold Medals and a Grand Award at innovation exhibitions held in Switzerland, South Korea, and the United States.