Pushpitha Kalutara

About Me

Dr Pushpitha Kalutara has over 17 years of post-graduate experience in the built environment area in particular within construction management, project management and facility management disciplines, both in academia and industry. He received his BEng in Civil Engineering from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka and completed his PhD at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. During his PhD, he was an active researcher of ARC linkage funded industrial research project in the School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering. He collaborated with six Victorian local councils and the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) to fulfil the targets of research which was to develop an integrated decision-making model for the sustainable management of community buildings in Australia. For this work, he received the post-graduate research award from Engineers Australia and National Asset Management Council in 2013. Before Joining CQU, he has worked as a sessional academic at QUT, post-doctoral research fellow/lecturer at RMIT University, a sessional lecturer and unit coordinator at Victoria University and sessional academic at Deakin University. He has already published research outcomes in a number of international journals and conferences and his current research interest areas include building information modelling, facility/asset management, lean procurement and construction and value management in construction. He is currently serving as a reviewer of international A* journal (Journal of Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management). During his over 7 years industry experience, he has engaged in a number of diverse civil engineering projects (construction of roads, a water treatment plant, primary electrical substations, telecommunication towers and new production line installation) and building projects.

General

Background

Civil engineering

Construction management

Project management

Asset/ Facility management

Universities Studied At

The University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Melbourne, Australia

Universities Worked At

Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Melbourne, Australia

Victoria University, Footscray, Australia

Deakin University, Geelong Waterfront Campus, Australia

Awards

Post Graduate Research Award by Engineers Australia and National Asset Management Council in 2013

Australian Postgraduate Award Industry (APAI) by Australian Research Council (ARC) Industry Linkage Scheme in 2010

Previous teaching

University	Role	Duration
		From		To
Deakin University Melbourne, Australia	Sessional Academic	July Nov Mar July	2016 2016 2017 2017	Nov Feb Jun Nov	2016 2017 2017 2017
Victoria University Melbourne, Australia	Unit Coordinator	Feb July	2016 2016	July Dec	2016 2016
RMIT University Melbourne, Australia	Assistant Lecturer	July Feb	2015 2016	Dec July	2015 2016
Queensland University of Technologies Brisbane, Australia	Sessional Academic	July	2009	Feb	2010

Professional Experience

Organisation	Role	Duration
		From		To
Hume City Council, Broadmeadows, Australia	Asset Engineer	Apr	2014	July	2014
Ipswich Water, Ipswich City Council, Ipswich, Australia	Engineer- water and Wastewater Operations	Feb	2009	July	2009
Hitachi Plant Technologies (Japan) Pty Ltd	Project Engineer	May	2008	Aug	2008
Huawei Technologies (China) Pty Ltd	Civil Engineer	Apr	2007	May	2008
Merbok MDF Lanka (Malaysia) Pty Ltd	Project Engineer	June	2003	Apr	2007
Engineering Enterprises (Sri Lanka) Pty Ltd	Site Engineer	July	2002	May	2003
Isuru Engineering (Sri Lanka) Pty Ltd	Trainee Civil Engineer	Nov	2000	Apr	2001

Professional Interests

Civil engineering

Construction management

Project management

Asset/facility management

Computer Software

Project Planning	: Microsoft project
Structural/Design	: SAP, Prokon, Mfeep, AutoCAD, Revit
Statistical/Analysis	: Minitab, SPSS, Matlab, Nvivo
General	: Microsoft Office Suite

Research Supervision

Accreditation

I am currently accredited for supervision in the following:

3302 Building
3901 Curriculum and Pedagogy
4005 Civil Engineering

Current Capacity

I am currently available to supervise more research candidates

Current Supervision

Master of Research

Starting suicide prevention from home by incorporating social, spatial and biophilic design aspects to house design along with value management quantification.

Principal Supervisor

Doctor of Philosophy

Developing a framework to reduce suicide in the Australian construction industry

Principal Supervisor

Doctor of Philosophy

Development of a Design Checklist for Critical Public Infrastructure Assets on Counterterrorism Measures

Associate Supervisor

Doctor of Philosophy (Industry)

The impact of artificial intelligence on project management in the road construction industry

Principal Supervisor