Sri Lankan Engineer living in Australia awarded prestigious award

28 May 2024 08:01 am Views - 1092

Vice-President of Spain and Minister of Ecological  Transition, Teresa Ribera, presenting the award to Distinguished  Professor Buddhima Indraratna on the 20th of May in Madrid, Spain at a  special ceremony hosted by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM).        


Distinguished  Professor Buddhima Indraratna (Director of Transport Research Centre,  University of Technology Sydney, Australia) was honoured with the  prestigious José Entrecanales Ibarra Foundation’s International Civil  Engineer Award for 2024. Considered as the Nobel equivalent in the field  of Civil Engineering, the award was presented by the Vice-President of  Spain, Teresa Ribera, during a formal ceremony in Madrid.  

The José Entrecanales Ibarra Foundation’s event for Civil  Engineering awards for the 2024 International Civil Engineer and the  Most Impactful Civil Engineering Project, was attended by nearly 400  invited people, both from Industry and academia. The guests of honour  included the Vice-President of Spain, Teresa Ribera, the  Australian Ambassador to Spain, Sophie McIntyre,  Chancellors of Universities and CEOs of multinational companies.  

Prof. Indraratna was the first Australian to receive this  prestigious accolade, awarded every 3–4 years. Since its inception in the late 1990s, the past five winners were Structural Engineers (USA and Europe)  and a water resources engineer from Japan.  

Selection panel members represented various major cities  and institutions from all continents, including Boston (MIT), Madrid,  Paris, Sydney, Shanghai, Cairo, Sao Paolo etc., plus representatives  from leading multinational Civil Engineering companies. The José Entrecanales Ibarra Award from Spain for  Distinguished Professor Buddhima Indraratna is a remarkable  international recognition, honouring his eminent contributions to the  field of Civil Engineering with global impact, especially in advancing  transportation infrastructure through geotechnical expertise.