NW

N.T.S. Wijesekera

University of Moratuwa, Mahaweli Development Board/Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka, Institute for the Development of Commercial Law and Practice, Sri Lanka

ORCID iD 0000-0003-0964-4331
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About

Emeritus Professor, B.Sc. Eng . Hons, (Sri Lanka), P.G.Dip (Moratuwa), Diploma (Arbitration), M.Eng. (Tokyo), D.Eng. (Tokyo), C.Eng., FIE(Sri Lanka), MICE(London)

Sohan is an experienced chartered civil engineer with a solid theoretical foundation in the management of water, floods, drainage, and irrigation. His strong vision and desire for a sustainable environment reinforce his expertise in these areas.
Sohan is a practical engineer who relies on the fundamentals of water balance and systems approach. He is a very good observer of who deploys his analytical capability and communication skills to link theory, practical experience and stakeholder concerns to provide practical and lasting solutions. He has a proven track record for using data and scientific research to expand his experiences through case studies both in water abundant and water scare regions.
Sohan has the capability to engage with all types of stakeholders ranging from policy makers, executives, technical experts and general public. He has gained these capabilities by working as a practical engineer at base level, an academic at a variety of training institutes, by leading public sector institutions, and also by conducting many reviews and environmental assessments for large projects.
He is a committed worker good at teaching, consultancy, steering projects and contributing as a volunteer. He has served as a council member of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka, as the president of Sri Lanka Association of the Institution of Engineers UK and, as Chairman, National Committee on Hydrology at the National Science Foundation Sri Lanka. Sohan has been the CEO of GIS application Center of the Asian Institute of Technology during which he secured grants from the Japanese Government. He was instrumental in establishing the UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Center for South Asia Water Management by obtaining finances from the South Asia Foundation. He worked as the founder CEO of this center and contributed immensely by introducing the first international fulltime water masters degree program in Sri Lankan university system.
Sohan is a natural teacher and has a reputation for mentoring younger water professionals. His contribution towards the practice of teaching Problem Based Learning methods in water for postgraduate students has made the master’s program of Madanjeet Singh Center for water managment famous in the South Asian Region.
Sohan with a project grant received from the IUCN, carried out the regreening of a coastal village in Sri Lanka which had been destroyed by the devastating Tsunami of 2004. This project was awarded the best environmental project of SLAAS for the year 2008. Among his major consultancies are the Development of a Water Allocation Framework carried out for the Public Utilities Commission, the Study of Political Economy of water in Sri Lanka for the World Bank, Development of a Master Plan for the Gampaha District carried out for the China Harbour Corporation, and the Environmental Impact Assessment of the Southern Highway of Sri Lanka. He is a well-recognized leader in the water sector contributing to policy, planning and problem solving.

Employment

  • University of Moratuwa Professor Emeritus
    1993 - Present
  • Mahaweli Development Board/Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka Senior Engineer Designs/Contract Managment
    1979 - 1993

Education

  • Institute for the Development of Commercial Law and Practice, Sri Lanka Diploma in Commercial Arbitration
    2021 - 2021

Projects & Funding

Projects & funding information is unavailable.

Publications (60)