News & Events

The inauguration ceremony of the Master of Energy for Circular Economy (MECE) program for the 2025/2026 intake (3rd intake) was successfully held on 27th May 2025 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH).

The 1st International Symposium on Green Industry Initiative for Sustainable Industrial Development (ISGSD 2024) was successfully organized as a parallel event to the International Industry Expo - 2024 exhibition.

Dr. Thushara Subasinghe, a senior lecturer attached to the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, has recently been appointed as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Paint, Printing Materials, and Chemical Industries Sector within the Ministry of Industries. This

Dr. R.M.D.S. Gunarathne from the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering was appointed as an Erasmus Mundus Association (EMA) Country Representative for Sri Lanka from 28^th October 2022  - 10^th October 2024. Country Representative

Dr. Thilini U. Ariyadasa from the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa delivered a speech at the webinar, “High-Technology Based Techno-Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Sri Lanka’s economic recovery and resilience” on 17

Dr. R.M.D.S. Gunarathne from the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering was appointed as a Young Editorial Board Member of Applied Energy Journal from 1^st of October 2022 for two years.

A four-member team (Ushalini, Sithira, Induwara and Tharshaa) of level three undergraduates from the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa represented Sri

A workshop on "Chemical Management" was held for Technical Officers and Lab Attendants of the Department on 13th October 2022.

Dr. Thushara Subasinghe had been invited as the guest lecturer at the "Green Chemistry and Chemical Management" workshop organised by the National Cleaner Production Centre at Rock Fort Hotel, Unawatuna, on the 27th & 28th of October 2022. Dr. Thushara shared his

Dr. Mahinsasa Rathnayake, senior lecturer at the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa, participated in the live streaming programme ‘Big Focus’ conducted by Ada Derana TV channel. The theme of the programme was

"Importance of Research in Nanotechnology for Sustainable Energy Development" which was the next step of the Explorer series, Explorer 3.1, the flagship event of the Research for Undergraduates (R4U) club of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering (DCPE),

The undergraduate project titled “Torrefaction of Gliricidia and Rubberwood for Energy Applications” of the team, S.S. Senadheera, S.W. Abeysiriwardana, and U.M.A. Devaraja supervised by Dr. R.M.D.S.

Dr. Mahinsasa Rathnayake (Senior lecturer of Department of Chemical and Process Engineering) had been invited as the speaker of Pre-Conference Webinar No.3 of International Research Conference of SLTC 2022. The theme of the webinar is “Sustainable Biofuels in Circular

The month of June brings forth two of the most important dates dedicated to the protection and conservation of the environment—World Environment Day on June 5 and World Oceans Day on June 8.

At its meeting held on 01st July 2022, the council of IESL has decided to grant “Full Accreditation” to the Bachelor of Science Engineering Honours Degree Chemical and Process Engineering programme.

The M30 meeting, a joint progress meeting and workshop discussing the Erasmus+ cofounded project aimed at capacity building in the field of Higher Education on EUSL Energy and EU BBC Digital was held at the University of Twente (UT) in the Netherlands

Dr. Mahinsasa Rathnayake, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa expressed his views at Ada Derana Big Focus Live Discussion that was telecasted on 30th June 2022. In this TV program, Dr. Rathnayake joined with

“The Many Facets of Research", the first installment of “Research Hub”, the newest initiative of the Research for Undergraduates (R4U) club of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering (DCPE), University of Moratuwa, was successfully held on June 12th, 2022, via Zoom

The department of Chemical and Process Engineering in partnership with Haycarb PLC and the guidance of Professor Ajith De Alwis, conducted a virtual tour of the factory premises for the fresh undergraduate students of DCPE on 1^st July 2022 over zoom platform.

Dr. R.M.D.S. Gunarathne from the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering was appointed as an Early Career Editorial Board Member of the Resources, Environment and Sustainability Journal.

Sri Lanka’s only packaging congress, sharing the most updated knowledge and expert solutions in the Packaging industry was held on 18^th and 19^th February 2022 at VIP lounge, SBMEC, BMICH, with the participation of a

Dr. Thilini U. Ariyadasa from the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa delivered an invited speech at the International Conference on Biotechnology for Resource Efficiency, Energy, Environment, Chemicals and Health (BREEECH

The inaugural session of the 2021/22 intake of the MSc/Post-graduate Diploma in Sustainable Process Engineering was taken place in virtual platform on 31st October 2021.
The keynote speaker for the session was Prof. William Chen, Michael Fam Chair Professor

Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa is a partner institute of TESS project (Techno-economic Societal Sustainable Development Training in Sri Lanka) ,which is co-funded by the European Union under the auspices of Erasmus + Capacity Building in Higher Education

The Annual General Meeting of the Research for Undergraduates (R4U) club of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering (DCPE), University of Moratuwa, was held on October 31st, 2021

Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa, participated as an invited panellist in the Pre-COP26 virtual event “Nitrogen for Climate and Green Recovery” on 27^th - 29^th

A keynote speech under the topic “Ocean-Based Solutions and Policy Frameworks for Enhanced Climate Action and Blue Economy” was delivered by Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa at the Sixth National

 webinar titled “Future Prospects of Sri Lankan Food Industry – An attempt to transcend the boundaries”, organized by the Research for Undergraduates (R4U) Club of Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa was

A presentation on

A presentation on Curren

A “Biosafety Awareness Webinar” organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations was held on the 20^th of May 2021 via Zoom.

Prof. P.G. Rathnasiri has been appointed as a Visiting professor at the University of Brescia, Italy. He will be conducting seminar cycles for students of the degree/master's degree courses and PhD on "Biological processes for the treatment of wastewater and

Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa, participated as a resource person in Career Guidance Program for O/L Students

A presentation on Global Harmonised System (GHS) for Chemicals Management was delivered by Senior Professor A

We are excited to

A conference publication titled ‘Modelling Adsorption Kinetics for Removal of Basic Red 18 Dye from Aqueous Solutions using Magnetic Particles Loaded Tea Waste ’, authored by Mses. A. M. P. Madhubashani and K. M. N. S. Sewwandi, and

Prof. Padma Amarasinghe, one of the most cited researchers in the University of Moratuwa was promoted to the post of Senior Professor in the Department of Chemical and Process

Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis participated in the Pathikada (පැතිකඩ

Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis has been appointed as a Member of the Committee developing the material flow analysis (MFA) on plastics in Sri Lanka.

As

Ms. Bernadine Jayasinghe, an award-winning media personality, professional trainer and entrepreneur completed her training sessions for 361 program season 2 on October 2020. 361 was an initiative taken by Department of Chemical & Process Engineering (DCPE) to

Dr. Deshai Botheju is an Advisory Consultant in Safety & Sustainability Engineering, a Researcher, an Author and a Senior Engineer in Chemical Engineering sector who is also an alumni of the DCPE.

National Cleaner Production Centre, Sri Lanka invited Dr. Thushara Subasinghe as a resource person to their Consultant Development in Chemicals Management and safety program 2020. Dr.

Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis has been selected as a member of the studying committee appointed by the Ministry of Finance regarding the establishment of the Sri Lanka

A special guest presentation for the students of the Faculty of Technology of the University of Sri Jayawardenapura was

The 9-year long product and process development research partnership between the University of Moratuwa, the Uni-Consultancy Services (UNIC) of the University of Moratuwa, and the DSI group of companies was renewed on the 27^th of July 2020. Through this renewal, D.

The research papers titled ‘Assessment of the potential of microalgal CO₂ sequestration from cement flue gas using locally isolated microalgae’ and ‘Development of a novel preprocessing method for removal of chlorophyll from microalgae’ received the best research

A journal publication titled ‘Biological decolorization of textile industry wastewater by a developed bacterial consortium’, authored by Ms. H. Gimhani Madhushika, Dr. Thilini U. Ariyadasa and Dr. Sanja Gunawardana of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering was

Dr. Sanja Gunawardena was appointed as a consultant of Bio System Engineering in Sri Lanka technological Campus on 12^th March 2020.

Prof. P.G. Rathnasiri from DCPE has established an international collaboration with laboratory of environmental biotechnology, Narbonne, France. Under this collaboration, research student named Praveen Weerasooriya spent six months internship from September 2019 to April

A team of consultants from the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa is engaged in a consultancy project to optimize the SoftSeal dying process at Prym Intimates Lanka Pvt Ltd, Biyagama Export Processing Zone, Biyagama.

Dr. Mahinsasa Rathnayake has been confirmed in the post of Lecturer (Probationary) since 02. 05. 2013, and was

Dr. Kriengsak Panuwatwanich, Associate Professor and Head of the School of Civil Engineering Technology, Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT), Thammasat University, Thailand, and Mr. Hideki Shimazu and Ms.

Mr. Susiri Costa, Lecturer (Probationary) at Department of Chemical & Process Engineering presented his research under the topic "Deep learning model to classify active and inactive ingredients in drugs" at 1st International Conference on Frontiers in Chemical Technology

Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering was appointed as a member of the committee to evaluate COVID-19

Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering was appointed as a member of the committee to evaluate COVID-19 related innovations by the United Nations Development Programme in Sri Lanka.

A newspaper column article by Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, written on child malnutrition and issues in food security of Sri Lanka was published in Daily Financial Times (Daily FT) on the 7^th of May

Four newspaper column articles written by Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, providing valuable insights to Sri Lankans regarding the COVID-19 pandemic were published in Daily Financial Times (Daily FT) in February

A ‘Green Talk’ webinar under the topic ‘3P and the Pandemic’ was delivered by Senior

A Keynote address on the topic “Feeding the Future and Technology” was delivered by Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis of the Department of Chemical and

Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa was selected as a member of Management Systems Certification Committee (MSCC) at Sri Lanka Standards Institute since 2012. This committee oversees the certification of

Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa has been appointed as the Chairman of National Mirror Committee on ISO14000 (Sri Lanka Standards Institute).  He has been a member in the Advisory committee to

Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa was selected to serve as a member of the Intellectual Property Advisory Commission (IPAC) and was reappointed to serve IPAC with the National Intellectual Property

• Professor Ajith de Alwis appointed as the President of Sri Lanka Pugwash Group

Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa was appointed as the

Senior Professor Ajith de Alwis of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa was appointed to serve as an advisor for the Sri Lanka Association for Quality and Productivity (SLAAQP) which was founded in 1996 and was the successor to the Quality

Ms. Upuli Perera of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa was conferred to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the General Convocation Ceremony held on the 24^th August 2020. Dr.

A new research initiative with the aim of development of emission control mechanism for a biogas combustion system was established on the 21^st April 2020. This research project will be carried out under the joint supervision of Prof. Mahinsasa Narayana of

A conference publication titled ‘Process Parameter Optimization of Urban Biowaste Carbonization’, authored by Messrs. Hasitha Dhananjana Perera, Chathuranga Wickramasinghe, and Prof. Mahinsasa Narayana of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering was presented at the 6

EUSL energy project is to establish a true, fully integrated collaboration between the partner universities in Sri Lanka and the universities in the European Union.

A Journal publication titled ‘Enhanced O2/N2 Separation of Mixed-Matrix Membrane Filled with Pluronic-Compatibilized Cobalt Phthalocyanine Particles’, authored by S. A. S. C. Samarasinghe, Chong Yang Chuah, H. Enis Karahan, G.S.M.D.P. Sethunga, and Tae-Hyun Bae of the

A Journal publication titled ‘Influences of operating parameters and membrane characteristics on the net energy production in dense, porous, and composite hollow fiber membrane contactors for dissolved biomethane recovery’, authored by

Dr. Dilhara Sethunga successfully defended the PhD Viva-Voce Presentation titled “Hollow fiber membrane contactors for dissolved methane recovery from anaerobic reactor effluents” on 13^th February 2020 at Nanyang Technological University, Republic

A conference publication titled ‘Technical and Environmental Feasibility of Co-firing Torrefied Biomass in a Coal-fired Power Plant’, authored by Mses. Udya Devaraja,  Sachini Supunsala, and Dr.

A conference publication titled ‘Study on Fluidization Behaviour of Raw and Dry Sri Lankan Black Pepper’, authored by Mses. Manisha Abesekara, Kalpani Dissanayake, Gayani Jayatunga, and Prof.

A conference publication titled ‘Purification Of Automobile Wastewater Using Fly Ash-Clay Composite’, authored by Miss Mihiri Dasanayake, Messrs. Sajith Anushan, Chamath Karunarathna, and Prof.

A conference publication titled ‘Tea Waste Impregnated with Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Dye Removal from Aqueous Solutions’, authored by Mses. Pavithri Madhubashani, Nimni Sewwandi, and Prof.

Prof. Shantha Walpalage has been appointed as the Chairman of the Education Advisory Sub-Committee of the Plastics and Rubber Institute of Sri Lanka (PRISL) for the year 2020/2021. The Plastics & Rubber Institute of Sri Lanka (PRISL) is the national professional body

Dr. Thushara Subasinghe, senior lecturer in Department of Chemical and Process Engineering visited Dr. Bo Bao's microfluidics laboratory in East China University of science and technology, Shanghai in June 2019 to initiate the research collaborations. Dr. Thushara and Dr. Bo

The First ever National Conference on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), organized by the National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC-SL) was held on 30^th May 2019, at Renuka City Hotel, Colombo 03 with many participants representing academia, government

At Dr. Sanja Gunawardena’s invitation Dr. Mayuri Wijayasundara visited the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering (DCPE) on 12^th June 2019 to participate with “Katha- Baha” program. Dr.

Prof. Ajith De Alwis was appointed as a Commission member of the Intellectual Property Advisory Commission of the Ministry of Science

A presentation by Prof. Ajith De Alwis was made to the University Grants Commission’s Standing committee on Research and Postgraduate Studies on Creative Destruction:  Need of the hour for growth, on 15^th February

Prof. Ajith De Alwis made a presentation to the University of Kelaniya Research Council on Contemporary Research and Role of COSTI in research promotion on 14th

As another milestone of ‘Katha-Baha’ session organized by Department of Chemical and Process Engineering (DCPE), University of Moratuwa, an interactive lecture was conducted by Mr. Ramesh Nanayakkara who is an operations manager in Ceylon Tobacco Company (a subsidiary

 As another milestone of monthly ‘Katha-Baha’ session organized by Department of Chemical and Process Engineering (DCPE), University of Moratuwa, a public seminar on upstream oil and gas exploration and production industry under the topic ‘Oil and Gas Industry Value

Award Winning projects

Hydrolysis of ethyl acetate using low cost heterogeneous catalysts ;M.K.S.Fernando, U.B.D. Rajapaksha;

Stability of UASB reactor under shock loads ;K.S. Eranga, Fernando G.V.D.L.

Hot water washing of rice husk for ash removal ; Y.W. Bandara*,H.G.P.P

Prof.

Prof.

One day workshop titled “Microalgae: Sustainable Cellular Factories”, conducted by the Departments of Chemical and Process Engineering and Mechanical Engineering of University of Moratuwa, was held on the 13^th

The Department Industry Consultative Board (DICB) Meeting for the year 2018 was held on 14^th of December 2018 with the participation of representatives from the industry, officials from the training division of

Project is funded by the Nanyang Environmental and Water Resources Institute (NEWRI), Singapore. Sri Lankan partners are DCPE, UOM lead by Dr. Sanja Gunawardena and Prof. P.G. Rathnasiri and Dr. Sudarshana Fernando from International Water Management Institute

The ceremonial inauguration of the 112^th Annual Sessions of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) was held on Tuesday, 16^th October 2018, at the Main Hall, BMICH. Eng (Dr). Deshai Botheju and Eng (Prof). P.G. Rathnasiri won the E

The Annual Get Together of the Chemical and Process Engineering family, University of Moratuwa was successfully held at Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on 9th of October 2018.

“COMPASS” is the annual symposium organized by the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Moratuwa to address the current industrial issues while enhancing the collaboration of Chemical and Process Engineering undergraduates with

MPhil student registered at UOM is currently conducting his experiment under internship offered by INRA. This student is jointly supervised by Dr. Michel Torrijos (Senior Research Engineer-INRA) and Dr. P.G. Rathnasiri from Department of Chemical and Process Engineering.  Research title is

Professor Caroline Baille, Project Manager of “Australian-Sri Lankan University Partnerships to Develop Community-Based Waste Recycling Businesses” and Dr. Lee Patridge have

Prof. NG Wun Jern  from Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute visited Department of Chemical and Process Engineering on 21 June 2017 to initiate research collaboration and projects related in wastewater/solid waste treatment.

Prof. NG Wun who is the director of NEWRI from

“Yaya Padhura” is a musical evening organized by the Chemical and Process Engineering Department