Rushdi

Mostly quiet but full of new ideas, Rushdi enjoys long walks by himself. Currently he works in Edinburgh but he was born and brought up in Sri Lanka. Grey Edinburgh is in stark contrast to the tropical hues of his homeland, yet he enjoys the heritage of the city. Read about what Rushdi has to say about himself and his work. 

Moving to Athens of the North, or what is known as Beautiful Edinburgh is one of the most daring and challenging steps I have yet pursued in my career. I am Rushdi … I moved to Scotland last year as a PhD Candidate at Heriot Watt University.

Good old days….

I grew up in beautiful Sri Lanka, where I obtained my Bachelor’s in chemistry at Institute of Chemistry Ceylon and Masters in Material Physics at University of Peradeniya.

After working as a teaching assistant, with the recognition of my passion towards quantifying and unfolding scientific problems, I managed to enroll as a volunteer research assistant with the photochemistry group at National Institute of Fundamental Studies in Sri Lanka. Here I worked on Semiconductor Photocatalytic systems and solar cells.

Then I turned towards the industry as a technology entrepreneur and chemist at the Department of Research and Innovation – MAS Linea aqua, where I was exposed to Plasma Polymerization methods and Stimuli-responsive material systems.

 

Current research…..

My Research is a part of an innovative training within the European Union under the euroPAH network and it connects with understanding the Chemical and Physical processes that involved in, interactions of Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons with Interstellar icy silicate grain analogues.

The topic itself has an integration with many disciplines and have gained the interest of many fields due to its potential of probing into depths of fundamentals. My supervisor is Professor Martin McCoustra.

Network has an amazing training plan for the candidates which will ultimately help to reach the research objectives and resolve future challenges. Multicultural nature of the network makes it more innovative and vibrant.

Passion….

Curiosity, pursuing for intellectual fit is in the pinnacle of my comfort zone and love to connect everything.

Occasionally I do try to tame acoustic waves with guitar and enjoy the technicality and the collective consciousness of sports. Following the passion, constantly daydreaming, optimizing a given opportunity to reach that and inspiring people to do their best while rediscovering themselves, are my natural instincts.

Big fan of philosophies and artificial intelligence. Love to explore these stuff over a cold beer.

Always enjoy food when it’s having complex tastes and love to explore the evolution of authentic dishes in any country. Prefer to eat anything that my mum cooks…she can talk to my taste buds..

Edinburgh is a beautiful, vibrant and multi-cultural city. Love the way Scottish bend words with their dialects-it’s like singing. Scottish Single Malts are capable of narrating a story which might have happened in a  summer or in a christmas, a decade ago.

Admirer of the quote by da Vinci-‘Study the Art of Science and Study the Science of Art’.