Role at ANSTO
Dr Ruwini Ekanayake is a Beamline Scientist for the Micro-Computed Tomography (MCT) beamline at the Australian Synchrotron. MCT is one of the first beamlines constructed as a part of the BRIGHT program.
Ruwini’s expertise is in X-ray physics. Her postdoctoral research focused on the technical upgrading and commissioning of multi-crystal X-ray emission spectroscopy at the Actinide radionuclide beamline (ACT beamline) of the KIT Light Source in Germany. She investigated structural information and electrical properties of highly radioactive materials including spent nuclear fuel, actinide/lanthanide (An/Ln) based multi-metallic clusters, and organic compounds with An/Ln using both soft and hard X-ray techniques. Her PhD research focused on determining nanostructure of metals and metal binding sites in biological peptides using X-ray absorption fine structure. Additionally, she investigated and quantified X-ray experimental systematics to determine high-accuracy mass attenuation coefficients of metals, particularly zinc. Her experience in instrumentation physics, designing experiments for diverse samples under varying conditions, advanced X-ray data analysis and collaboration with a wide range of users is valuable to the Australian Synchrotron in her role as a beamline scientist.
Expertise
X-ray Physics, Synchrotron Science, X-ray data analysis, X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy (XAS, XES), X-ray diffraction and Electrochemistry.
Qualifications
- Postdoctoral researcher/Beamline Scientist, Actinide radionuclide beamline (ACT beamline), KIT Light Source, Karlsruhe, Germany (2023-2024)
- President’s Awards for Scientific Research-Patent, National Research Council, Sri Lanka (2023)
- PhD in Physics, University of Melbourne (2022)
- IUCr Maslen Scholarship and UoM Science Abroad Travelling Scholarships to attend conferences (2017)
- Laby Foundation Scholarship, A A H Pierce Scholarship and Melbourne Research Scholarship to support PhD research (2016-2019)
- The Women in Physics Award, School of Physics, University of Melbourne (2016)
- Research Scientist, SLINTEC, Sri Lanka (2014)
- University Awards for the Academic Excellence (2013)
- BSc (Hons), Department of Physics, University of Peradeniya (2013)
Committees, Affiliations & memberships
- Member of Society of Crystallography in Australia and New Zealand (SCANZ) (since 2017)
- Committee member of Sri Lankan Graduate Society, University of Melbourne (2019)