Nihal Kularatna

Nihal Kularatna is a Sri Lankan electronics engineer. He serves as professor at University of Waikato. He has over four and a half decades of contributions to both electronics research. In 2014 he was appointed the Vice Chair of the IEEE DC Energy Efficiency Committee. His research output includes over 160 refereed papers published in esteemed journals and presented at international conferences.

Education
He holds a Doctor of Science (DSc) degree from the University of Waikato, and a Bachelor of Science in engineering (Honors) from the University of Ceylon.

Career
During the period spanning 1985 to 2002, Kularatna joined the Arthur C Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies, he engaged in industrial research and spearheaded the development of continuous professional development training programs tailored for practicing engineers and also held the position of CEO within the organization.

In addition to his institutional roles, Kularatna served as a consultant for various US companies, including the Gartner Group and Technology Dynamics, NJ. In 2002, he moved to New Zealand, accepting a senior lecturer position at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Auckland. Subsequently, in 2006, he transitioned to the University of Waikato.

His research output includes over 160 refereed papers published in journals and presented at international conferences.

He was awarded with the UoW Postgraduate Research Supervision Excellence Award in 2021. He won the New Zealand Engineering Innovator of the year 2013.

Currently serving as an associate professor at the University of Waikato, School of Engineering Teaching and Research, Kularatna's research interests include electronic engineering, surge protection, power electronics, sensors and supercapacitors. He is a Contributing Editor (Book reviews) for IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine.