University of Utah, US
Ph.D., Computer Science
Aug 2023 - Present
Wageesha Bangamuarachchi
I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science at the Kahlert School of Computing of University of Utah, with a research focus on Human-Centered Computing and Smart Hospital Technologies. I graduated with first-class honors in B.Sc. Engineering from the University of Moratuwa. Previously, I gained valuable experience as a Software Engineer at Sysco LABS Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd.
Education
University of Moratuwa, LK
BSc Engineering (Honours), Computer Science & Engineering
Sep 2017 - Aug 2022
Anula Vidyalaya, Nugegoda, LK
Physical Science Stream
May 2014 - Aug 2016
St. Paul's Girls' School, Milagiriya, LK
GCE Ordinary Level
Jan 2008 - Dec 2013
Experience
Graduate Researcher
University of Utah Aug. 2023 - Present
Advisor: Dr. Jason Wiese
Undergraduate Researcher
University of Moratuwa Apr. 2021 - Jun. 2022
Advisors: Prof. Indika Perera (University of Moratuwa, LK), Lakmal Meegahapola (EPFL, CH) and Prof. Daniel Gatica-Perez (EPFL, CH)
Software Engineer
Sysco LABS Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd. May 2022 - Aug 2023
Software Engineering Intern
Sysco LABS Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd. Oct. 2020 - Mar. 2021
Journal Publications
Sensing Eating Events in Context : A Smartphone-Only Approach
W. Bangamuarachchi*, A. Chamantha*, L. Meegahapola*, S. Ruiz-Correa, I. Perera, D. Gatica-Perez; Sensing Eating Events in Context: A Smartphone-Only Approach; IEEE Access, vol. 10, 2022. [Link]
Inferring Mood-While-Eating with Smartphone Sensing and Community-Based Model Personalization
W. Bangamuarachchi*, A. Chamantha*, L. Meegahapola*, H. Kim, S. Ruiz-Correa, I. Perera, D. Gatica-Perez; Inferring Mood-While-Eating with Smartphone Sensing and Community-Based Model Personalization; ACM Trans. Comput. Healthcare 6, 3, Article 35 (July 2025). [Link]
Hospital Administrator Perspectives on Integrating Novel Interactive Technology in the Hospital
W. Bangamuarachchi*, J. Dawson, J. Wiese; Hospital Administrator Perspectives on Integrating Novel Interactive Technology in the Hospital; ACM Trans. Comput. Healthcare [Under Review]
Research Projects
Sensing Eating Events in Context: A Smartphone Only Approach
Investigated and showed that passive smartphone sensing features such as accelerometer, location, app usage, screen usage and battery usage can be used to detect eating and non-eating events in real life situations with a F1-score of 85.2%.
Inferring Mood-While-Eating with Smartphone Sensing and Community-Based Model Personalization
Conducted research on inferring mood-while-eating using smartphone sensing and self-reports. Showed that reasonable F1-scores of the range 75\%-81\% can be achieved for the three-class mood inference task (positive, neutral, negative) by using a novel user-level-community personalization technique.
MSense Mobile Application - Sensing Eating Events in Context
Designed, developed and deployed a mobile application and ML models (General and personalized models) to detect eating events real-time by using users' behavior and context with the help of sensing features such as accelerometer, location, screen usage and battery usage. Collected real-world data from 12 participants during the pandemic period and observed the model performance.
MCollect Mobile Application
Designed and developed an android mobile application to be used as research data collection app with the features such as: customize app to suit different project requirements, collect different types of data, view and download data and can be used offline and online.
Call Detail Record (CDR) data analyzing library
Designed and developed a python library for CDR data analysis for call, message and antenna datasets. Functionalities: Data cleaning, data modeling and visualization.
Awards & Honours
GPA - 3.98/4.20
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Moratuwa, LK 2018 - 2022
Dean’s List - All the semesters
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Moratuwa, LK 2018 - 2022
IEEEXtreme 15.0 – Island Rank 18, World Rank 247
Programming competition organized by IEEE, competed against 2500+ teams 2021
MoraXtreme 6.0 – Island Rank 15
Programming competition organized by University of Moratuwa, LK, competed against 250+ teams 2021
IEEEXtreme 14.0 – Island Rank 26, World Rank 274
Programming competition organized by IEEE, competed against 3000+ teams 2020
MoraXtreme 5.0 – Island Rank 14
Programming competition organized by University of Moratuwa, LK, competed against 250+ team 2020
HomeAlone2020 Hackathon – Island Rank 3
72 hours Hackathon organized by the Students’ Union of Faculty of IT, University of Moratuwa, LK, competed against 450+ teams 2020
Google Hash Code - Island Rank 21
Programming competition organized by Google 2020
Code with WIE competition – Best Team Process Award
Hackathon organized by IEEE Women in Engineering, LK 2019
University of Moratuwa Colors Award
Awarded to appreciate non-academic related outstanding performance of the undergraduates of University of Moratuwa, LK 2019
IEEEXtreme 13.0 - Island Rank 27, World Rank 461
Programming competition organized by IEEE, competed against 3000+ teams 2019
MoraXtreme 4.0 – Island Rank 14
Programming competition organized by University of Moratuwa, LK, competed against 250+ teams 2019
IEEEXtreme 12.0 - Island Rank 36, World Rank 495
Programming competition organized by IEEE, competed against 3000+ team 2018
Mahapola Higher Education Scholarship
Programming competition organized by IEEE, competed against 3000+ team 2018
GCE Advanced Level – Island Rank 198 out of 30000+ candidates
Physical Science Stream. Department of Examinations of the Ministry of Education, LK. Z-Score 2.2617 2016
GCE Ordinary Level – Distinction
Department of Examinations of the Ministry of Education, LK. 470,000+ candidates 2013