Prof. Buddhima Indraratna to deliver Olcott Oration 2023 on Saturday 

Prof. Buddhima Indraratna

Ananda College celebrates its 137th anniversary this year. One of the most important events in connection with the “Founders Day” celebrations is the Annual Olcott Memorial Oration.

This year, the Olcott Oration is scheduled to be held on 25 November at the Kularatne Auditorium, Ananda College at 4.00 p.m. 

The esteemed Olcott Oration of 2023 will be delivered by University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Australia Civil Engineering distinguished Professor and Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology Transport Research Centre Director Prof. Buddhima Indraratna.

He will deliver this year’s Oration on the topic “Advances in Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure.”  

Prof. Indraratna is a world authority on the application of fundamental and applied geotechnical research to the development of railway infrastructure and he is passionate about training young engineers to become masters of railroad design and construction. Buddhima’s research interests include soft soil engineering and ground improvement, transportation geomechanics, jointed rock engineering and dams and embankment engineering. He has consistently led numerous research projects worth millions of dollars and founded the Australian Research Council’s Industrial Transformation Training Centre, ITTC-Rail as its inaugural Director in 2018.

A consultant to various geotechnical and rail organisations around the world, he is also among the most highly cited researchers internationally. He has published over 850 papers, including 12 books and about 450 journal papers and has delivered over 70 invited keynote papers on all continents.

A distinguished Professor at UTS Buddhima’s pioneering contributions to geotechnical and railway engineering have been acknowledged through numerous national and international accolades, including the 1st Ralph Proctor Lecture and the 4th Louis Menard Lecture of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) and the pinnacle individual award for outstanding contributions to railways from the combined Engineers Australia and Railway Technical Society of Australia (RTSA), which he received at NSW Parliament House in 2015. 

His outstanding contributions to Australian Transport Geotechnics have been recognised by several prestigious awards, including the Business-Higher Education Round Table (BHIRT) award hosted by the Australian Commonwealth (2009), and the Engineers Australia Transport Medal (2011).  In 2009, he delivered the prestigious EH Davis Memorial Lecture of Australian Geomechanics Society for distinguished contributions to theory and practice of geomechanics.

As has been the case year-after-year, a full house is expected for this year’s Oration. The audience will comprise of the Old Boys of Ananda College, Principal and academic staff, distinguished invitees including eminent academics, scholars and professionals in various fields.