Buddhi Ashan

Mallika Kankanamalage

Postdoctoral Researcher
The University of Texas at San Antonio

buddhiashan.mallikakankanamalage@utsa.edu

Resume

Biography

I am a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Texas, San Antonio, specializing in geometric intersection and approximate nearest neighbor similarity search within expansive geospatial polygonal datasets. Proficient in parallel and distributed computing, high-performance computing, GPU programming, and spatiotemporal data processing, my research focuses on exploiting parallel computing in heterogeneous and distributed platforms to enhance the performance and scalability of polygonal operations. My expertise lies in architecting efficient data structures and algorithms for multi-core and many-core systems, contributing nuanced insights at the confluence of computer science and geospatial data, addressing intricacies in geometric computations on large datasets.

Research Interests

Parallel and Distributed Computing
High Performance Computing
GPU Programming
Spatiotemporal data processing

Education

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Computer Science | Fall 2019 - Summer 2024
The University of Texas at San Antonio
Dissertation: Geometric intersection and approximate nearest neighbor similarity search over large geospatial polygonal datasets.
Advisor: Dr. Sushil K. Prasad, Co-advisor: Dr. Satish Puri
Master of Science (M.S.) in Computing and Information Science | Fall 2017 - Spring 2019
Sam Houston State University
Project: Performance evaluation of transfer learning for pornographic detection.
Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) (Special) in Computer Science | November 2011 - May 2016
University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
Dissertation: Recognition of vehicle license plates using MATLAB.

Work Experience

Postdoctoral Fellow | Oct. 2024 - Present
Department of Computer Science | ScooterLab
The University of Texas at San Antonio
Graduate Teaching | Research Assistant | Fall 2019 - Summer 2024
Department of Computer Science
The University of Texas at San Antonio
Graduate Assistant | Fall 2017 - Spring 2019
Department of Computer Science
Sam Houston State University
Temporary Lecturer | March 2017 - August 2017
Department of Software Engineering
University of Kelaniya
Temporary Demonstrator | February 2016 - February 2017
Department of Statistics and Computer Science
University of Kelaniya

Publications

Ashan, M. K. Buddhi, Satish Puri, and Sushil K. Prasad. "Quad tree-based polygon encoding for shape-based similarity over large datasets of exponential area variations." 2025 IEEE International Conference on Big Data (BigData). IEEE, 2025. (Acceptance rate 18.7%.)
Khan, U., Wijewickrama, R., Ashan, M. K. Buddhi, Sakib, A. H. M., Trinh, K., Duthie, C., Najafian, N., ... & Jadliwala, M. (2025). "ScooterLab: A Programmable and Participatory Sensing Research Testbed using Micromobility Vehicles." 2025 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications Workshops and other Affiliated Events (PerCom Workshops) (pp. 555-557). IEEE Computer Society.
Ashan, M. K. Buddhi, Satish Puri, and Sushil K. Prasad. "Extending segment tree for polygon clipping and parallelizing using OpenMP and OpenACC compiler directives." 53rd International Conference on Parallel Processing (ICPP). 2024.
Ashan, M. K. Buddhi, Satish Puri, and Sushil K. Prasad. "Efficient PRAM and Practical GPU Algorithms for Large Polygon Clipping with Degenerate Cases." 2023 IEEE/ACM 23rd International Symposium on Cluster, Cloud and Internet Computing (CCGrid). IEEE, 2023. (Acceptance rate 21%. Best paper finalist.)
Ashan, M. K. Buddhi, Hyuk Cho, and Qingzhong Liu. "Performance evaluation of transfer learning for pornographic detection." Advances in Natural Computation, Fuzzy Systems and Knowledge Discovery: Volume 2. Springer International Publishing, 2020.
Ashan, M. K. Buddhi, and N. G. J. Dias. "Recognition of Vehicle License Plates using MATLAB." European International Journal of Science and Technology 5.6, 2016.