| | | | | | Samson Hettiarachchi, Ph.D. joins QSI as Scientific Advisor
Dr. Hettiarachchi has 33 years of experience as a college lecturer, researcher, innovator and a technologist. He has held a variety of technical positions at GE Nuclear Energy during the period 1991 to 2009, as Chief Engineer/Physical Sciences, Chief Technologist/Chemistry, Engineering Fellow and Principal Engineer. Prior to joining GE, he held the position of Electrochemist/Senior Electrochemist at SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute) from 1984 to 1991, and the position of Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka during the period 1975 to 1983. He also conducted electrochemical research at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, during the 1979 to 1980 time period.
Dr. Hettiarachchi has a long history of generating innovative ideas some of which have been widely commercialized. He is the inventor of electrical injection of corrosion inhibitors for concrete rehabilitation, which is listed as one of SRI International’s 60 years of world changing innovations. Two of Dr. Hettiarachchi’s innovations at GE Nuclear Energy, NobleChemTM and On-Line NobleChemTM are widely used in the nuclear industry to extend the life of Boiling Water Nuclear Reactors. Currently these technologies are used in the US, Japan, Spain, and Switzerland. These two technologies have generated a multi-hundred million-dollar business, and are still rapidly growing.
Dr. Hettiarachchi’s research experiences include Physical Chemistry, Electrochemistry, Surface Chemistry, Catalysis, Corrosion and Mitigation of materials, Battery Technology, Sensor Technology, and In-situ Generation of Nano-particles. He also has extensive experience in New Product Introduction, Marketing and Sales experiences in the US, Japan, Taiwan, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, and Sweden. He has over 100 publications in international journals and conference proceedings. He also holds 27 issued US patents.
Dr. Hettiarachchi has won many awards at GE Nuclear Energy, including the Value Award (2006), Edison Award (2005), Outstanding Technical Contribution Award (1997), Business Contribution Award (1996), and the General Manager’s Award (1994). He has also been a German Academic Exchange Scholar (1979) and a British Council Scholar (1972).
Dr. Hettiarachchi has earned the Bachelor of Science Degree B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1970, and a Ph.D. degree in Electrochemistry from the University of Cambridge, England in 1976.
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