Dr. Ashoka Karunarathne is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Mississippi. He is also a Senior Scientist I in the Jamie Whitten National Center for Physical Acoustics at UM.
Research Interests
Dr. Karunarathne is an experimental physicist working at the intersection of physical acoustics and materials science. His research focuses on the development of advanced non-destructive ultrasonic techniques for material characterization. He applies these methods to investigate the structural, mechanical, and thermodynamical properties of novel energy materials, composites, two-dimensional materials, and metamaterials under a wide range of physical conditions.
Biography
Dr. Karunarathne earned his B.S. in Physics from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, in 2015 and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Mississippi in 2020. He was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands, from 2020 to 2021; a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Science for Technology at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, from 2021 to 2022; and a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology from 2022 to 2026. In 2026, Dr. Karunarathne joined the University of Mississippi as an Assistant Professor.
Courses Taught
- Phys 319 Optics
- Phys 212 Physics for Science & Engineering II
Education
B.S. Physics, University of Peradeniya (2015)
Ph.D. Physics, University of Mississippi (2020)