Hansika I. Sirikumara Ph.D.

Biography

Hansika Sirikumara, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Physics and Engineering at Marian University, E. S. Witchger School of Engineering. She completed her MS and PhD degrees from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Her research work is mainly focused on two areas, (a) designing novel materials for electronic and energy applications using ab-initio Density Functional Theory (DFT) which is implemented using Quantum espresso package (b). Designing computational tools for engineering education using Python/Matlab. Materials with their native properties sometimes cannot be used for device applications; such materials can be engineered by various ways such as interface modifications, intercalation and doping. With this approach, she has investigated several stable layered 2D materials (InSe, Graphene, SnSe etc) with exotic electronic, thermal and mechanical properties.

Education

• Ph.D., Applied Physics, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
• M.S., Applied Physics, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
  

Research Interests and Expertise

Computational material modeling, nanostructure, 2D materials, semiconductor devices, ab-initio and density functional theory (DFT), electronic structure calculation, phonon dispersion, thermoelectric and mechanical properties, thermal transport, computational methods for STEM education.

Selected Papers

• Sirikumara H.I, “Introducing Active Learning in Semiconductor Device Course”, Electrical and Computer Engineering Division, ASEE 2022 Annual Conference. 2022.
• Rob H. Mason, Sirikumara H.I, and Thushari Jayasekera, “A Path to Computational Thinking and Computer Programming through Disciplinary-Based Problems” Computers in Education Division (CoED), ASEE 2022 Annual Conference. 2022.
• Sirikumara H.I, Morshed M, Jameson C, Jayasekera T. Dopant-induced indirect direct transition and semiconductor-semimetal transition of bilayer SnSe. Journal of Applied Physics. 2019.
• Aiswarya Pradeepkumar, Mojtaba Amjadi Pour, Neeraj Mishra, Chang Liu, Michael SFuhrer, Avi Bendavid, Fabio Isa, Marcin Zielinski, Sirikumara H. I., Thushari Jayasekara,D. K Gaskill, Francesca Iacopi , p-type Epitaxial Graphene on Cubic Silicon Carbide on Silicon ACS Applied Nano Materials 2019.
• Wasala, M., Sirikumara, H.I., Sapkota, Y.R., Hofer, S., Mazumdar, D., Jayasekera, T. andTalapatra, S., Recent advances in investigations of the electronic and optoelectronicproperties of group III, IV, and V selenide based binary layered compounds. Journal of Materials Chemistry C.2017.

Professional Activities 

• American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) - Member
• Journal of Applied Physics - Reviewer
• Innovation Through Engineering Summer Camp - Assistant Camp Director