Dr. Gemunu S. Happawana is professor in the department of mechanical engineering at
California State University, Fresno. He served as the mechanical engineering department
chair for eight years. Dr. Happawana holds a Ph.D. (1994) in mechanical engineering
and Master of Science degree (1988) in mathematics from Purdue University, and Bachelor
of Science degree (1984) with honors in mathematics from University of Colombo, Sri-Lanka.
His work lies in the areas of photonics in biomedical applications, autonomous ground
vehicles, dynamics and controls, mechanical vibration, and applied mechanics. He
has been performing research in linear and nonlinear mathematical modeling of physical
systems, analytical techniques, computer simulations and measurement. He also performed
research on vertical axis wind turbines in collaboration with UC Berkley, Tashjian
Towers, and Empire Magnetics. He has developed a laboratory at California State University,
Fresno that comprises vibration research modal testing. Dr. Happawana serves as advisor
to Mini-Baja and Formula SAE student competitions. Dr. Happawana was a consultant
to the high-tech photonics company, Photodigm, Inc., Dallas, Texas, since 2000. He
was a Co-PI to the Edwards Air Force Base funded, interdisciplinary engineering project
that includes the student design of an unmanned aerial vehicle. He was named Patton
Industry Faculty Fellow. He holds certification to evaluate and analyze automotive
electrical/electronic systems and engine performance. He has worked on converting
gasoline engines to run on ethanol, natural-gas, or kerosene. He has more than fifty
journal and conference papers, one book and two patents. He was part of over $2M in
research funding related to his areas of expertise in both industry and academe. He
has graduated four Ph.D. students and served on over twenty Ph.D. and MS committees.
Affiliations: SAE (member), ASME (member), OSA (member).
