At a special ceremony held recently in Adelaide, Australia , Professor Priyan Mendis of the University of Melbourne was presented with the highest accolade given to an engineer for his service to the concrete industry in Australia. He was awarded the Honorary Lifetime Membership of the Concrete Institute of Australia.
The honorary lifetime membership is defined in its Constitution as an award presented to any person admitted as such whom the Council considers has made an outstanding contribution to the development and use of concrete in Australia. This recognition does not come as a surprise since his expertise in many areas such as high-strength and high-performance concrete, wind engineering for buildings, design of high-rise buildings to name a few, is recognised and appreciated worldwide. Many iconic structures around the world such as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE, Eureka Tower in Melbourne, Australia, the new Southern stand of Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) have benefited through his consultation.
Professor Priyan Mendis receiving his award for Honorary Lifetime Membership from the Immediate Past President of the Concrete Institute of Austalia , Michael van Koeverden
Professor Mendis is a past pupil of Royal College, Colombo and a graduate of the University of Moratuwa. He received his PhD from the Monash University in Australia. He has since resided in Melbourne with his loving wife and two children. He is a well-respected academic with a solid background of working as a Structural Engineer, designing a number of skyscrapers in the Melbourne city skyline. He is both a Chartered Engineer (Fellow of Engineers Australia) and an academic professor which is a feat achieved by only a handful in both the engineering and academic community. He is a Professor in the Department of Infrastructure Engineering at the University of Melbourne and the Leader of the Advanced Protective Technology of Engineering Structures (APTES) Group. He was also the Convener of the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) Research Network for a Secure Australia (RNSA) from 2004 to 2011. He also acts as the Director of the ARC Centre for Advanced Manufacturing of Prefabricated Housing (CAMP.H) which is providing the know-how to the Australian construction industry to use advanced manufacturing and construction techniques to build modular and prefabricated buildings in a matter of days. Having authored and co-authored more than 250 journal papers, conference papers and technical reports on high-strength and high-performance concrete, tall buildings, wind and earthquake engineering, fire performance of tall buildings and facades, explosion effects on buildings, design and analysis of concrete structures and bridges, and sustainable materials, Professor Mendis possesses one of the most colourful academic profiles of any Australian or world expert. He has also published the book titled ‘Design of High-strength Concrete Members: State-of-the art’ which is a heavily-used guide by the structural engineers who are designing tall buildings using high strength and high-performance concrete. The Electronic Journal of Structural Engineering (EJSE) was his brainchild and is a heavily referenced journal among engineers worldwide. Professor Mendis is the editor-in-chief for this journal which provides open-access to any viewer. Professor Mendis has previously been awarded the Eureka Prize which is the leading award in Australia for the best science-based research in Safeguarding Australia in 2013 and award for recognition of service to Protective Technology at the Safeguarding Australia Conference in 2006/2007.
The fact that he resides overseas has not limited him from offering his services to his motherland and he is no stranger to both the Sri Lankan construction industry and academia. He provided the visionary leadership in establishing Sri Lanka’s first green-rating system for buildings
The fact that he resides overseas has not limited him from offering his services to his motherland and he is no stranger to both the Sri Lankan construction industry and academia. He provided the visionary leadership in establishing Sri Lanka’s first green-rating system for buildings and is the founding Chairman of the Green Building Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL). His expertise in high-performance concrete and design of tall buildings has been sourced for a number of upcoming iconic buildings in Colombo such as the Colombo Lotus Tower, Cinnamon Life, Krrish Square, Colombo City Centre and the 96 Legends Square. He has also delivered many keynote speeches and lectures in Sri Lanka over the years sharing his expertise of many fields. Moreover, he has supervised a number of Sri Lankan graduates to obtain their PhDs at the University of Melbourne.
As a prominent figure in the Sri Lankan community in Australia, Professor Mendis has been instrumental in establishing the Association of Sri Lankan Engineers in Australia (ASLEA) and was its first president. Over the last 25 years, this association has provided a platform for Sri Lankan engineers working in Australia to get together and carry out many benevolent tasks such as providing scholarships to engineering students in Sri Lanka and providing a platform to new engineers who migrate to Australia to build their professional networks.
This article is unfortunately not big enough to cover all of Professor Mendis’s achievements, awards and contributions to the academic and engineering community. With so much professional recognition and respect around the world for his expertise in many areas, Professor Mendis still maintains his humble and down-to-earth personality. A well-respected and much loved professional amongst his peers and others alike, Professor Mendis is a great role model for any young Sri Lankan who desires to reach greater heights.
