Pravin Maduwantha Gamage, a graduate student in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering, has received the Florida Stormwater Association Educational Foundation (FSAEF) Scholarship, which recognizes students dedicated to advancing the field of stormwater management.
The award was given to only four students in Florida and was presented during the Florida Stormwater Association’s winter conference, which was hosted in Kissimmee this past week. Gamage says this scholarship means a lot to him, both personally and professionally.
“It feels encouraging to know that the work I’m doing in stormwater and flood modeling is recognized by professionals in the field,” Gamage says. “It motivates me to keep improving my research and to continue contributing to projects that support communities facing flooding issues.”
The FSAEF Scholarship is worth up to $2,000 and supports graduate students at Florida colleges or universities who are pursuing studies in stormwater management, quality, infrastructure or finance. Gamage was the only recipient from UCF this year.
The scholarship winner says he chose to earn his graduate degree from UCF due to its strong reputation in coastal and water resources engineering. He works in the CoreLab, under the guidance of Associate Professor Thomas Wahl, an expert in coastal flooding and resilience. His current research focuses on theadvancement of current compound flood modeling approaches. He also works with the Megalopolitan Coastal Transformation Hub (MACH), an interdisciplinary collaboration among 12 institutions that aim to address coastal risks.
Growing up in Sri Lanka, Gamage often saw civil engineers working on large infrastructure projects. Those glimpses of engineers, paired with his love of the beach, led him to pursue a career in coastal research. After he graduates next year, he plans to return to UCF as a postdoctoral scholar before starting a career in academia or industry. His goal is to continue his work in flood risk modeling, climate resilience and infrastructure planning.
“I hope to continue developing scientific tools to assess compound flooding that can support decision-making for communities,” Gamage says. “I prefer academia or a research-driven engineering firm; however, I want to contribute to solutions that make coastal and inland communities safer and more resilient.”
- Written by Marisa Ramiccio