Thilanka
Munasinghe

Thilanka Munasinghe is a lecturer at Information Technology and Web Science Program at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. ITWS with a focus on teaching areas related to Data Science, Data Analytics and Informatics. Prior to joining RPI, Thilanka was the CodeLab instructor at the West Virginia University’s LaunchLab, where he was instrumental in providing technical expertise and mentorship to student entrepreneurs of early-stage student-initiated start-ups. Thilanka has also contributed to large scale open source software projects such as MIT App Inventor. Thilanka received his BSc in Aerospace Engineering and MSc in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia University, and has conducted research on microgravity systems and genetic algorithms. Thilanka’s current research interests are on data-driven analytics using big data to address societal challenges in a diverse set of areas such as multi-disciplinary engineering applications, energy systems, urbanization, social networks, and health issues that impact society, by building novel early warning systems and Internet of Things applications.

Currently I teach the following courses (both graduate level and undergraduate level courses) at RPI:

  • Data Science (ITWS 6350, ITWS 4350, CSCI 6350, CSCI 4350, ERTH 6350, ERTH 4350)
  • Data Analytics (ITWS 6600, ITWS 4600, MATP 4450, BCBP 4600)
  • Xinformatics (ITWS 6400, ITWS 4400, ERTH 6400, ERTH 4400)
  • Web Systems (ITWS 2110)

Before joining RPI as a lecturer, I worked at the WVU LaunchLab as the CodeLab instructor where I taught the Android mobile app development class to novice programmers.


I have contributed to MIT App Inventor through Google Summer of Code (GSoC), in integrating Internet of Things through these two projects:

Publications

I have publisehd both journal and conference papers based on the research projects that I worked on.

journal Publications:

  • A Flexible Genetic Algorithm System for Multi UAV Surveillance: Algorithm and Flight Testing. Journal of Unmanned Systems. Marjorie Darrah, Jay Wilhelm, Thilanka Munasinghe, Mitch Wathen, Steve Yokum, Eric Sorton, Volume 03, Issue 01, pages: 49-62, January 2015.
  • Using Genetic Algorithms for Tasking Teams of Raven UAVs. Journal of Intelligent and Robotics Systems, Marjorie Darrah, Edgar Fuller, Thilanka Munasinghe, Kristin Duling, Mridul Gautam, Mitchell Wathen, Volume 70, Issue 1-4, pages: 361-371, April 2013.

Conference Publications:

  • Data-driven Analysis of Remote Work in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Yufei Wu, Thilanka Munasinghe, Oshani Seneviratne, Lydia Manikonda. HICSS 2022 (Hawaii International Conference on System Science). (Accepted).
  • Sensing and Mapping for Better Roads: Initial Plan for Using Federated Learning and Implementing a Digital Twin to Identify the Road Conditions in a Developing Country – Sri Lanka, Thilanka Munasinghe, H.R Pasindu, ACM SIGKDD 2021 International Conference on Knowledge Discovery & Data Mining Workshop: Data-driven Humanitarian Mapping: Harnessing Human-Machine Intelligence for High-Stake Public Policy and Resiliency Planning, August 15th, 2021.
  • Engaging Students in Data Literacy: Lessons Learned from Data Intensive Classrooms, Thilanka Munasinghe, Amy Svirsky, Data Literacy Workshop, 13th ACM WebScience Conference, June 21st- 25th 2021.
  • Diabetes Tracker: An Information Systems to Assist and Track Nutritional Information, Vipula Rawte, Hongyi Huang, Michael Morrison, Janine Wu, Travis Peterson, Thilanka Munasinghe, Digital Capabilities Workshop, 13th ACM WebScience Conference, June 21st- 25th 2021.
  • Development of a Rapid Prototyping COVID-19 Geographic Information System and the Influence of Testing Centers on Data Visualization, 5th International Conference on Medical and Health Informatics (ICMHI 2021) Samantha Katcher, Josephine Lyons, Mia Price, Thilanka Munasinghe, May 2021
  • Personality Trait Analysis in Psychoactive Drug Abusers, 5th International Conference on Medical and Health Informatics (ICMHI 2021), Madison Chamberlain, Thilanka Munasinghe, May 2021.
  • Changes of Transport Mode Choice for Work Trips, School Trips and Other Trips Due to COVID 19 Pandemic in Sri Lanka, Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL) Conference, April 2021.
  • Socioeconomic and Geographic Variations that Impact the Spread of Malaria, AAAI Symposium on AI for Social Good, Thilanka Munasinghe, Aayush Maheshwarkar, Karan Bhanot, August 2020.
  • Dengue Spread Information System (DSIS), 4th International Conference on Medical and Health Informatics (ICMHI2020), Bhanot, Karan, Dominic Schroeder, Isaac Llewellyn, Nicholas Luczak, Thilanka Munasinghe, August 2020
  • A Two-Step Framework for Parkinson’s Disease Classification: using Multiple One-Way ANOVA on Speech Features and Decision Trees, AAAI Symposium on AI for Social Good, Gaurang Prasad, Thilanka Munasinghe, Oshani Seneviratne, August 2020.
  • Investigating the Relationship Between High-Latitude Dust and Precipitation, IEEE BigData Conference, Ariane Maharaj, Thilanka Munasinghe, December 2020. (Short Paper & Poster).
  • Clean Water: How the AI community can contribute to accessing water sources in developing countries, AAAI Symposium on AI for Social Good, Karthik Dusi, Thilanka Munasinghe, August 2020. (Short Paper & Poster).
  • Exploring Various Applicable Techniques to Detect Smoke on the Satellite Images, IEEE BigData Conference, Chu-Lin Huan, Thilanka Munasinghe, December 2020. (Short Paper & Poster).
  • Exploratory Data Analysis to Understand Social Determinants Important to Global Neonatal Mortality Rate, IEEE BigData Conference, Joshua Chuah, Thilanka Munasinghe, December 2020. (Short Paper & Poster).
  • IoT Application Development Using MIT App Inventor to Collect and Analyze Sensor Data, IEEE BigData Conference, Thilanka Munasinghe, Evan. W. Patton, Oshani Seneviratne, December 2019. (Short Paper & Poster).
  • Identifying the Relationship between Precipitation and Zika Outbreaks in Argentina, IEEE BigData Conference, Lilian Ngweta, Karan Bhanot, Ariane Maharaj, Ian Bogle, Thilanka Munasinghe, December 2019. (Short Paper & Poster).
  • Dynamic and Kinematic Characteristics of Bubble Flow Motion in Paramagnetic Liquid Under Microgravity Conditions. International Conference on Fluid Flow Dynamics (ICFD), Sendai, Japan, Thilanka Munasinghe, November 2009.
  • Investigating Bubble Expansion in Pool Boiling Under Influence of Magnetic Field in Microgravity Conditions. World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society, (WSEAS), Moscow, Russia, Thilanka Munasinghe, Sanket Joshi, August 2009.
  • Studying the Characteristics of Bubble Motion in Pool Boiling in Microgravity Conditions Under the Influence of a Magnetic Field, Recent Advances on Space Technology (RAST), IEEE – AIAA Joint Conference, Istanbul, Turkey. Thilanka Munasinghe, June 2009.
  • Investigating Bubble Behavior in Pool Boiling in Microgravity Conditions, World Congress on Engineering (WCE), International Association of Engineers (IAENG), Imperial College, London, UK, Thilanka Munasinghe, July 2008.

Submitted Papers to conferences:

  • Scraping Unstructured Data to Explore the Relationship between Rainfall Anomalies and Vector-Borne Disease Outbreaks, Ethan Joseph, Thilanka Munasinghe. IEEE BigData 2021 Conference (Submitted).
  • Effects of Precipitation on Healthcare Facility Vulnerability, Karan Bhanot, Thilanka Munasinghe. IEEE BigData 2021 Conference (Submitted).
  • Analysis of Preprocessing Techniques, Keras Tuner and Transfer Learning on Cloud Street Image Data, Sharmad Joshi, Shlok Shah, Jessie Ann Owens, Thilanka Munasinghe. IEEE BigData 2021 Conference (Submitted).
  • Hidden Workforce: Analysis on Recognizing Unpaid Domestic Work Through Social Determinants, James Hicks, Thilanka Munasinghe. IEEE BigData 2021 Conference (Submitted).
  • Chronic Respiratory Disease Risk: Modeling Potential and Limitations, Alex He, Thilanka Munasinghe. IEEE BigData 2021 Conference (Submitted).

WORKING-IN PROGRESS PAPERS CURRENTLY AT RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE (RPI):

  • COVID19 Vaccine Ranking System, Lucas Standaert, Dongyoung Jang, Catherine Tate, Sean Lossef, Wilson Wong, Thilanka Munasinghe.
  • Effect of Dependent Factors on Global Child Mortality, Mukesh Mohanty, Chirag Sahni, Shlok Shah, Himanshu Dey, Deepanshu Dey, Devanshoo Jain, Thilanka Munasinghe.
  • Robust Classification of “Cloud Streets” for Meteorological Advancement using Deep Learning, Jiarui Jiang, Thilanka Munasinghe.
  • Identifying Desirable NYC Schools, Dominic Schroeder, Thilanka Munasinghe.
  • COVID-19 and Water Quality: Public Beaches and Lakes Water Quality Data Assessment During the Pandemic, Dominic Schroeder, Thilanka Munasinghe.
  • COVID-19 Vaccination Cases Information System. Liangbin Zhu, Kai Liang, Kehan Shen, Sijiang Chen, Shuang Qiu, Weiyi Xia, Thilanka Munasinghe.

Poster Presentations:

  • Efficient Path Planning Algorithms for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, Google Research Labs Conference, June 2014.
  • Transformation Mapping of Bubbles’ 2-D Circular Shape to an Elliptical Shape Under Influence of a Magnetic Field in Pool Boiling in Microgravity Conditions, Thilanka Munasinghe, 5th MIT Conference on Computational Fluid and Solid Mechanics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, Thilanka Munasinghe, June 2009. (Abstract & Poster).
  • Laminar to Turbulent Transition in Fluid Flow in Boiling, AIAA Young Professional and Student Education Conference, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, November 2008.
  • Pool Boling in Microgravity Environment; AIAA Student Conference, University of Maryland, College Park, April 2008.
  • Pool Boiling: Heat Transfer Application; Research Day at WV-Capitol, Charleston, West Virginia, January 2008.

Research Projects

Here is a cross section of some of the ongoing projects and the projects I have done in the past.

Click on each tag cloud / project to learn more about the work I did, as well as the research publications and the awards I have received for some of the projects.

Teaching

I enjoy teaching. Currently, I teach data-intensive courses such as Data Science, Data Analytics, and Informatics course at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Before joining RPI, I had many opportunities to teach at WVU, where I taught Introduction to Engineering courses and Mobile App development courses and tutoring math, physics, and MatLab learning sessions at Engineering Learning Center at WVU. Also, I was the Java, C++, and android programming instructor at WVU Launch Lab.

Click on the images below to learn more about courses that I teach at RPI (Data Science, Data Analytics and Informatics) and the lessons I have conducted for Mathematics and Mobile App Development using MIT App Inventor at WVU and other general teaching-related tutorials.


Teaching at RPI and WVU

Lecturing at RPI & CodeLab Sessions at WVU

Teaching Data Science, Data Analytics & Informatics courses at RPI and instructing students groups at WVU CodeLabs on hands-on experiance on learning the IoT fundamentals and programming concepts.

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Teaching Data Science course at RPI
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"Teaching Data Science course at RPI"
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Teaching Data Analytics course at RPI
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CodeLab sessions at West Virginia University

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Miscellaneous

Here are some of the experimental things I have done in the past or I am currently carrying out.