Board of Directors

Dr. Ranjit Galappatti was a Member of the first Board of Directors of LHI at its inception in 1985, and visited LHI weekly to carry out the duties of General Manager (Engineering). In 1987 he resigned his professorship at the University of Peradeniya to work full time at LHI. In 1989 he joined Danish Hydraulic Institute (DHI) and worked on a Danida funded project to develop Numerical Modelling in the Bangladesh river systems until 1994. He was instrumental in creating the Surface Water Modelling Centre, which later became the Bangladesh Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) to institutionalise the skills and technologies developed by the modelling project over 10 years.
He returned to LHI in 1994 to resume work as General Manager.
He was appointed Managing Director of LHI from May 2000 to August 2003, later continued as Consultant-Director until 2004. He worked as an independent consultant for various international agencies and consulting companies from 2004 to 2009. He was also briefly Chairman of the Board at LHI from 2007 to 2009. Since then he has worked for DHI (Denmark), DHI (India) and SMEC on many donor funded projects in several Asian countries including India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Afghanistan and the Lower Mekong Basin countries. He continues to carry out these assignments up to today. Presently he is leading a team of experts from Denmark, the Netherlands, USA and Bangladesh carrying out a World Bank funded research study of the long term evolution of the Bangladesh Delta.
Dr. Galappatti is a Graduate of University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, and has received his doctorate from the University of Cambridge in the UK. He taught in Peradeniya from 1974 to 1987 with a brief period at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

Mr. Keerthi Bandara was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company in 2010, and functions as the Chairman of the Audit Committee of LHI. He was the CFO/Executive Director of Camso Loadstar (Pvt) Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Michelin, France. Also he was a Non-Executive Director of Camso GBS (Pvt) Ltd, Camso Trading (Pvt) Ltd in Sri Lanka, and Camso Enterprise Management (China) Co., Ltd in Shanghai, China. He served as a Director at Camso Ltd, Hong Kong during 2015-2017. He is also a Director at SAP Supermart (Pvt) since 2020. He counts over 30 years of experience in manufacturing and service sectors including Tiles, Apparel, Tyres and Tracks. He has held positions in the field of auditing, finance and also in operations.
He is a Fellow Member of CA Sri Lanka, fellow member of CMA Sri Lanka and holds an MBA from the University of Colombo.

Mr. Romesh Amarasinghe was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company in November 2015. He holds a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering (Hons) from the University of Northern Illinois, having completed his undergraduate studies in Electrical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He first entered the University of Moratuwa, to read for his Bachelor's Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering in 1986 prior to leaving to USA in 1988. Mr. Amarasinghe is the Executive Director and Chief Commercial Officer & Compliance Officer of Fairway Waste Management. He is also a founder Director of Sustainable Alternatives (Pvt) Ltd.
As a business professional, Mr. Romesh has 25 years of experience representing two leading Fortune 500 U.S. Multinationals in the Sri Lanka and Maldives Regional Market. He started his career as the Technical Services Engineering Manager of 3M from its inception in Sri Lanka, last holding the position of Head of Sales, Marketing and Business Development. Subsequently, Mr. Romesh took position as the Country Head of General Electric Company (GE) in Sri Lanka and Maldives. Mr. Amarasinghe currently holds position as the Managing Director at Sustainable Development Consultants (Private) Limited. He also serves as a Director/Shareholder of Fairway Colombo City Hotel. Mr. Romesh is a shareholder of Lanka Hydraulic Institute Limited since 2010 and has served the Company initially as a Trustee on the Board of Trustees since 2011, and the Board of Directors since 2015.

Mr. B R L Fernando was appointed to the Board of Directors of the company in 2016. Currently, he is the Chairman of Commercial Development Co PLC, Tropical Abundance (Pvt) Ltd, Tropibar (Pvt) Ltd, NEL Farms (Pvt) Ltd and Noorani Estates (Pvt) Ltd. He is also Non-Executive Director of First Guardian Equities (Pvt) Ltd, Ceylon Tea Brokers PLC and St. Nicholas Education Services Ltd. He was the former Deputy Chairman / Director of Commercial Bank PLC, and Non-Executive Chairman, CIC Holdings PLC and Chemanex PLC.
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka with considerable exposure to the banking, manufacturing, agricultural and trading sectors in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Ariyaseela De S Wickramanayake is the founder Chairman / Managing Director of Master Divers (Pvt) Ltd., which created a landmark area of activity in the shipping industry. He is the owner of Pelwatte Dairy Industries which produces a wide range of dairy products including milk powder and butter using locally produced fresh milk. He is Director to the Board of Aitken Spence Plantation Managements Limited, Director of Bogawantalawa Plantations Ltd and Pelwatte Sugar Colombo PLC, with a wide experience in the corporate sector. He is also the Chairman of Mawbima Lanka Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting Sri Lankan goods. In the state sector, his experience was sought by the Government to help to run the National Livestock Development Board and the State Engineering Corporation, where he served as Chairman of these two institutions, at different times.
Currently, Member of University Grants Commission Standing Committee on Agriculture, Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, Advisory Board Member of Sabaragamuwa University, Council Member of Ocean University, Faculty Representative for the Faculty of Technology, University of Colombo, former Council Member of Uva Wellassa University, and Council Member of National Institute of Fisheries and Nautical Engineering, former Member of the Council University of Ruhuna. Mr. Wickramanayake has published the book “WHY HAMBANTOTA” (regarding Port of Hambantota).
He was appointed to the Board of Directors of LHI in September 2016.

Prof. Charitha Pattiaratchi was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company in 2024. He currently serves as a Professor of Oceanography at the University of Western Australia (UWA), School of Engineering and the UWA Oceans Institute, with over three decades of expertise in the field. He has held various leadership roles, including Facility Leader for IMOS Ocean Gliders and Chair of the Physics of Estuaries and Coastal Seas (PECS) steering committee. From 1992 to date, Prof. Pattiaratchi has served as a visiting professor, senior lecturer, and lecturer at several renowned institutions worldwide, including Rutgers University and Swansea University. His research mainly focuses on coastal and estuarine processes, sea level variability, and the impact of climate change on coastal regions. He has received numerous accolades, including the 2024 Oceanography Society Award for Mentoring and the UWA Senior Research Award. His academic journey began with a BSc in Oceanography and Applied Mathematics, followed by an MSc and a PhD in Coastal Oceanography from the University of Wales. His leadership and research excellence continue to drive advancements in understanding and protecting our coastal environments.

Mr. Chandana Wasantha Kumara Dharmasena was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company in 2024. He holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies and Public Policy from the Open University of Sri Lanka, a Higher Diploma in International Relations from the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies, and a B.Sc. in Management (Public Administration) from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, earned in 2001. Prior to joining LHI, Mr. Dharmasena served as a Director/Treasury Representative for several government institutions and subsidiaries, including the Dangerous Drugs Control Board of Sri Lanka, the National Council for Road Safety, and Jaya Container Terminals (Pvt) Ltd. He currently holds the position of Director/Treasury Representative at the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka. He is an officer in the Sri Lanka Administrative Service, with over 23 years of experience in many public sector organizations.