Vindula Jayawardana

Email : vindula [AT] mit [DOT] edu

I am a first year PhD student in Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. I am advised by Prof. Cathy Wu in the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS). Earlier, I completed my bachelors at University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka.

Before graduate school, I was a part of Mobility, Algorithms, and Society Lab at Cornell University and Data Science, Engineering & Analytics Research Hub of University of Moratuwa. I have also spent time at WSO2, Autochatic, PickMe, and Trancite24.

My research interests lie in the intersection of machine learning, intelligent transportation systems, and optimizations. I am particularly interested in studying gradual and complex integration of automation and AI into existing systems specifically in the mobility sphere.

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• September 2019 : I joined MIT as a PhD student in EECS
• November 2018 : Talk on Ride Sharing in Mobility on Demand Systems : Opportunities, Challenges and Future at Trace Expert City, Colombo, Sri Lanka
• October 2018 : Graduated with First Class Honors BSc Eng. (Hons) Specialized in Computer Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa.
• July 2018 : I am honored to receive Migara Rathnatunga Trust Award Certificate for Industrial Training for University Undergraduates–2017/2018

A methodology to derive a representative vector for ontology classes whose instances were converted to the vector space.

A semi-supervised ontology population through word embeddings as the basis.

A domain specific semantic similarity measure that was created by the synergistic union of word2vec.

A semi-supervised ontology population through word embeddings and domain specific semantic similarity as the basis.

Domain specific information retrieval for legal domain.

Study the generation of training sets and test sets via a trained neural network model, building a validation model, and building an accuracy measuring system for legal information retrieval.

Analysis on SCIM, an open standard for making identity provisioning in cloud-based applications and services easier, cheaper, and faster.

An analysis on ride sharing and public transit integration

• 1.041: Transportation Systems Modeling
Teaching Assistant, MIT, Fall 2019.


• CS2022: Data Structures and Algorithms
Instructor, UoM, Spring 2019.


• CS3042: Database Systems
Teaching Assistant, UoM, Fall 2018.


• CS2052: Computer Architecture
Teaching Assistant, UoM, Fall 2018.


• CS2062: Object Oriented Software Development
Teaching Assistant, UoM, Spring 2018.


• CS2963: Presentation Skills
Teaching Assistant, UoM, Fall 2017.


• CS3962: Research and Report Writing
Teaching Assistant, UoM, Spring 2018.


• CS4052: Professional Practice
Teaching Assistant, UoM, Fall 2018.

• Digital Mobility Solutions Lanka Scholarship 2018
University of Moratuwa


• Migara Ranathunga Trust Award 2018
National Awards for University Undergraduates in Sri Lanka


• Gold Award at National Best Quality ICT Awards 2017
Best ICT student technology project of the year


• Global Finalist in NASA International Space Apps 2017


• Silver Medalist in Junior Science Olympiad Competition, Sri Lanka 2009

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems
77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 32-D631
Cambridge, MA 02139
vindula [AT] mit [DOT] edu

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Last Updated on 10/10/2019