Nalintha Wijayaweera, an undergraduate student from the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, won the best oral presentation award at the recent international conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in Sri Lanka (DRRM 2023).
Nalintha presented his study entitled "Investigating the use of hydraulic gradient as an indicator in landslide susceptibility analysis" based on the findings of his undergraduate research project supervised by Dr. Dr. H.G.L.N. Gunawardhana. The study found that hydraulic gradient, a measure of the flow of water through soil, can be used to accurately predict landslide risk, even when there is no other obvious evidence of danger. This finding could help to improve landslide early warning systems and reduce the loss of life and property due to potential landslides.
The conference was held on July 25th, 2023, at the Kothalawala Defence University (KDU) in Rathmalana, Sri Lanka. It was co-organized by KDU and the University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom. The conference brought together researchers and practitioners from around the world to share their knowledge and experiences on disaster risk reduction and management.
This award is a testament to the high quality of research being conducted at the University of Moratuwa. His work has the potential to make a significant contribution to the field of disaster risk reduction and management.
