Dr Dilum Dissanayake BSc, MEng, PhD, FHEA, MCIHT

• PhD (Transport Planning), Nagoya University, Japan (Thesis Title: Urban Transport Policy Analysis for Developing Countries Considering Household Choices of Modes, Trip-Chaining and Vehicle Ownership)
• MEng (Infrastructure Planning and Management), Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand (Thesis Title: Management of Routine and Periodic Maintenance for Highway Pavements)
• BSc (Hons) (Civil Engineering), University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka (Undergraduate Project: Productivity Study on Brickwork in Sri Lanka)
• Diploma in Programming, Ins. of Data Management Computer Studies, Sri Lanka 

Birmingham Campus

• 22035 – Sustainable Cities (PG module, 20 credits), Module Leader
• 33562 – Contemporary Human Geography B (UG module, 20 credits), Contributor
• 37527 – One-Planet Thinking, (UG module, 20 credits), Contributor
• 37526 – Developing Solutions (UG module, 20 credits), Contributor
• 37141 – Dissertation Labs for Human Geography and Planning (UG module), Contributor
• 07945 – MSc Dissertations (Urban and Regional Studies) (PG module), Contributor
• 38627 – UG Dissertations (Human Geography and Planning Research) (UG module), Contributor

Dubai Campus

• 37259 – Sustainable Cities (PG module, 20 credits), Contributor
• 37260 – The Planner in Contemporary Society (PG module, 20 credits), Contributor

My PhD students are working in the areas of travel demand modelling and forecasting, behavioural change, electric, autonomous and Hydrogen mobility and sustainable mobility (including walking and cycling). I supervise both quantitative and qualitative research leading to better policies and societal impacts. The students with background in Civil Engineering, Mathematics and Statistics, and Data Science are particularly welcome to join my research team. However, my PhD team is full at this stage. 

My research focuses on:

Travel behaviour analysis, Travel demand modelling and forecasting, Electric and Autonomus Vehicles, Investigating travel behaviour change, Value of travel time (VOTT) and its relationship with ICT use, Investigation of transport policies (transit subsidy, congestion pricing, telecommuting, land use planning), Infrastructure engineering and planning, Traffic incident management, Transport safety (valuation, child pedestrians, Willingness to pay), Transport and the environment, Transport and land use, Vehicle ownership modelling and forecasting, Developing country research (both safety, travel behaviour and tourism)

Methods and Models that I applied in my research:

• Discrete choice techniques
• Hazard-based duration models
• Statistical analysis (Data factoring, clustering, and multiple corresponding analysis, Generalised linear models, multiple regression)
• Theory of Planning Behaviour
• Theory of Diffusion of Innovation
• Natural Language Processing (NLP)
• Data mining and Machine learning

Funded Project (Current and Previous):

• EMBARK (2026-28) - Funded by MCSA fellowship scheme – £240k to University of Birmingham
• eMotorcycle Battery Swapping (2024-25) - Funded by Future Transport Visions Group (FTVG)  Rees Jeffreys Road Fund - with partners from Uganda
• CLEETS (2023-28) – Funded by NSF (USA) and UKRI (UK); Co Investigator (from University of Birmingham) – £10m; consortium covers the UK (University of Birmingham and Cardiff University), and the Discovery Partners Institute, part of the University of Illinois System. I lead Transport Demand Management theme. Home - CLEETS Global Center (cleets-global-center.org)
• Capitalisation (2021-23) – Funded by INTERREG North West Europe; Principal Investigator (from Newcastle University) – €392k; consortium covers the UK, Ireland, Netherlands and Belgium. I lead Transport Modelling Work Package. www.nweurope.eu/media/13359/list-of-approved-projects-2nd-call-for-cap.pdf
• eHUBS (2019-2022) – Funded by INTERREG North West Europe; Principal Investigator (from Newcastle University) – €412k ; eHUBS is focusing on Travel Behaviour Change with 92 physical eHUBS infrastructure in Europe - consortium covers Netherland (consortia lead), Germany, UK, Belgium, France. https://www.nweurope.eu/projects/project-search/ehubs-smart-shared-green-mobility-hubs/
• EPSRC DTC funding (2019-2023) – £57k – PhD studentship started in September 2019. The focus on the urban transport infrastructure focuses most conducive to electric Micro-mobility. This project is giving attention to COVID 19 impacts on cycling and how cycle flows changing before and during COVID-19 with particular attention to the UK government initiatives of introducing pop-up lanes. https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2281091
• Duo India Professor Fellowship to research with Professor Indrajit Ghosh at IIT Roorkee (2020-22) – Funded by DUO-India Fellowship Programme. This fellowship will explore the road user behaviour of pedestrians and cyclists with a particular focus to road safety. https://ir.iitr.ac.in/blog/posts/56/
• SPARC Project (2020-2022) – Road Tolling - Funded by SPARC Scheme (India); the consortia consist of BITS Pilani, Cardiff University and Newcastle University. https://www.bits-pilani.ac.in/hyderabad/prasantasahu/ProjectsandGrants
• Teaching Funding (2017) – Teaching and computer workshops for Stage 4 students at Durham University - £6k
• JSPS Bridge Fellowship (2013) – Funded by JSPS to carry out research with 4 Japanese Universities - £12k
• Research fund from Gateshead Council (2007-2008) – for a student project – £500
• Catherine Cookson Foundation (2005-2006) – £2.5K

Professional Affiliations and Services:

• External Examiner for MSc in Transport Planning at University of Hertfordshire (2026-28)
• External Examiner for MSc in Transport and Planning at Cardiff University (2022-28)
• Academic Advisor to International Research Group (funded by Eastern Asian Society for Transportation Research) consisting of India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, and the UK (2024-)
• External Examiner for MSc in Urban Studies, University of Glasgow (2016-21)
• External Examiner for BEng & MEng in Civil Eng, London South Bank University (2015-20)
• Royal Statistical Society Future Leader Fellow, 2024
• DfT Shadow Joint Analysis Development Panel (SJADP), 2024-26
• Duo-India Professor fellowship (2020-22)
• Associate Editor of the IET ITS journal (2020-)
• Academic Editor of the Journal of Advanced Transportation (2020-)

Esteem Indicators, Scholastic Honours and Prizes:

• UTSG Best Paper Award (UTSG Chair’s Choice), 2025
• UTSG PhD best poster prize to my supervisee (Pound Meenapinunt), 2023
• Remarkable Women in Transport international award (TUMI), 2022
• Amey Prize 2019 to my dissertation supervisee (MSc Transport Modelling): Mr Mikael Xia)
• Jacobs Prize 2019 to my dissertation supervisee (MSc Transport Planning): Mr Swapnil Fulari)
• The COLAS CIHT Award to my MEng dissertation supervisee (Lindsey McConnell) (2015)
• JSPS Bridge Fellowship to pursue research in Japan (2012-13)
• The Newton Fund Travel Award (2013)

Current PhD Students:

• Ross Bangs (1st Year)
• Sampadha Bathula (1st Year)
• Zin Muhana (1st Year)
• Weijian (Raymond) Xu (2nd Year)
• Terence Johnson (2nd Year)
• Sanoji Rathnasekara (2nd Year)
• Adamu Salihu (3rd year)
• Shukurat Bankole (3rd year)

Completed PhD students:

• Janak Parmar (2024, 2nd supervisor), Electric Vehicle Sharing Systems
• Huseyin Ayan (2025, Main supervisor), Light Rail Transit
• Meenapinunt T. (2024, Main supervisor), Commuter Travel Behaviour in Developing Countries
• Burke M. (2024, Main supervisor), Analysing Active Travel and Vehicle Flow Profiles
• Chakravartty A. (2024, 2nd supervisor), Traffic Emissions
• Wang H. (2024, 2nd supervisor), Carbon Tax Management
• Bostaji A. (2023, 2nd supervisor), Transport and the environment
• Turner J. (2020, Main Supervisor), Trip sharing in rural communities
• Akgun N. (2019, Main Supervisor), Transport safety: cyclists’ safety in roundabouts
• Ali F. (2018, Main Supervisor), Travel Behaviour and Car User Attitudes to Climate Change
• Sykes P. (2018, 2nd Supervisor), Uncertainty in decision making
• Yosritzal (2014, Main Supervisor), Travel Behaviour and Value of time in rail journeys
• Alkaabi A. (2013, Main Supervisor), Traffic Incident Management
• Widyastuti H. (2011, Main supervisor), Transport Safety

PhD Examinations:

• Pooja Selena Rao (External Examiner – Imperial College, December 2025)
• Mansoor Umer (External Examiner – PolyU, HK, October 2025)
• Vikram Singh (External Examiner – IIT Roorkee, India, October 2025)
• Ioannis Kosmidis (External Examiner – University of Stavanger, February 2025)
• Xuehao Zhai (External Examiner – Imperial College, January 2025)
• Lawrence Alongu (External Examiner – ITS, University of Leeds, January 2025)  
• Trivedi P. (External Examiner – IITRAM, India, October 2024)
• Gupta N. (External Examiner – School of Plann. & Architecture, New Delhi, October 2023)
• Singha K. (External Examiner – School of Plann & Architecture, New Delhi, September 2023)
• Coenegrachts E. (External Examiner – University of Antwerp, July 2023)
• Faruque S. M. (External Examiner – Napier University, June 2023)
• AL Otaibi S.  (External Examiner – University of Loughborough, December 2021)
• Hutchinson L. (External Examiner – University of Southampton, September 2020)
• Watson I. (External Examiner – London South Bank University, February 2020) 
• Sam E. (External Examiner – Hasselt University, October 2019) 
• Ubaidillah N. (External Examiner – ITS, University of Leeds, September 2019)  
• Afghari A. P. (External Examiner – University of Queensland, October 2018)
• O’Brien J. (Internal Examiner, October 2017)
• Chen W. (Internal Examiner, April 2016)
• Dharmowijoyo D. (External Examiner – KTH Stockholm, January 2016)
• Narh A (Internal Examiner – October 2015)
• Park D. S. (External Examiner – University of Southampton, January 2015)
• Hamad M. (Internal Examiner –November 2014)
• Caygil M. (Internal Examiner –January 2014)
• Cairns J. (Internal Examiner –March 2013)
• Wedagama P. (Internal Examiner –June 2005)

Keynote delivery at conferences/events:

• E-mobility hubs in the UK and Europe: Highlights of the research from my awesome research team, 17^th October 2025
• Shared eMobility System for Sustainable Transportation, A workshop organised by IIT Bombay, 23rd July 2025
• Have shared autonomous vehicles captured the public’s imagination? Unravelling the interrelationships and moderators that play a role in it, A workshop organised by IIT Hyderabad, 26th July 2025
• Intelligent Transportation Applications & Research, ITS Turkey Conference, 16^th April 2025

Other (Panelist):

• The launch of the WIPO Technology Trends (WITT) flagship report on the future of transportation, 6^th February 2025, Geneva, Switzerland
• The Royal geographic Society Panel on low-carbon transport options, sustainable tourism, and the role of geography in designing journeys that reduce environmental impact, 3^rd March 2026

Engagement with Industry:

TfWMs Rapid Evidence Assessment (REA) on Anti-Social Behaviour – Dissanayake D and Rathnasekara S. (PhD researcher) prepared the REA – February 2026

External Examination (Masters and Undergraduate Courses)

• University of Cardiff (MSc Transport and Planning, 2022-25)
• University of Glasgow (MSc in Urban Studies, 2016-20)
• London South Bank University (both BEng & MEng in Civil Engineering, 2015-20) 

PhD/MPhil Examination 

• Gupta N. (External Examiner – School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, October 2023)
• Singha K. (External Examiner – School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, September 2023)
• Coenegrachts E. (External Examiner – University of Antwerp, July 2023)
• Faruque S. M. (External Examiner – Napier University, June 2023)
• AL Otaibi S.  (External Examiner – University of Loughborough, December 2021)
• Hutchinson L. (External Examiner – University of Southampton, September 2020)
• Watson I. (External Examiner – London South Bank University, February 2020) 
• Sam E. (External Examiner – Hasselt University, October 2019) 
• Ubaidillah N. (External Examiner – ITS, University of Leeds, September 2019)  
• Afghari A. P. (External Examiner – University of Queensland, October 2018)
• O’Brien J. (Internal Examiner, October 2017)
• Chen W. (Internal Examiner, April 2016)
• Dharmowijoyo D. (External Examiner – KTH Stockholm, January 2016)
• Narh A (Internal Examiner – PhD Viva held in October 2015)
• Park D. S. (External Examiner – University of Southampton, January 2015)
• Hamad M. (Internal Examiner – PhD Viva held in November 2014)
• Caygil M. (Internal Examiner – PhD Viva held in January 2014)
• Cairns J. (Internal Examiner – PhD Viva held in March 2013)
• Wedagama P. (Internal Examiner – PhD Viva held in June 2005) 

Esteem indicators/other activities 

• Remarkable Women in Transport 2022 international award (Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative)
• Duo-India Professor fellowship (2020-22)
• Amey Prize 2019 to my dissertation supervisee (MSc Transport Modelling): Mr Mikael Xia)
• Jacobs Prize 2019 to my dissertation supervisee (MSc Transport Planning): Mr Swapnil Fulari)
• Academic Editor of the Journal of Advanced Transportation (2018-)
• JSPS Grant Evaluator for the Bridge Fellowship Programme (2018-)
• Associate Editor of the IET ITS journal (2017-)
• EPSRC Grant Evaluator: a member their peer-review college (2017-)
• Session Chair, UTSG 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2021, and 2022 Conferences, UK (2011-)
• External Grant Evaluator: MRC, British Academy, and ESRC schemes
• The COLAS CIHT Award to my MEng dissertation supervisee (Lindsey McConnell) (2015)
• The Newton Fund Travel Award (2013)
• JSPS Bridge Fellowship to pursue research in Japan (2012-13)
• Deputy Stage 4 Tutor, UG, SOE (CIVIL), Newcastle University (2009-17)
• Deputy Degree Programme Director, PGT, SOE (CIVIL), Newcastle University (2008-2014)
• Seminar Organiser, TORG, SOE (CIVIL), Newcastle University (2008-2016)