QUT research is renowned for securing significant commercial and practical outcomes. Sri Lankan Information Technology PhD student Nimalaprakasan Skandhakumar is at the heart of QUT's latest high-flying airports project.

Nimalaprakasan's research into creating an authorisation system to accompany an Airport Information Model contributes to the Australian Research Council-funded Airports of the Future project, based at QUT. This project involves several industry partners, including Brisbane Airport Coorporation, and aims to improve airport effectiveness and cultivate flexibility for the sustained growth of airport operation.

Sri Lankan PhD Student Nimalaprakasan Skandhakumar at QUT

"The Airports of the Future Project is truly multi-disciplinary and it is very rewarding to work with researchers across fields like business, intelligence, modelling and systems to name a few," said Nimalaprakasan.

"I love that it gives me a wider knowledge of the project and challenges me in my research too."
The project is led by QUT's Professor Prasad Yarlagadda and aims to explore the complexity of modern airports, particularly addressing conflicts between aviation security and the passenger experience and provide potential solutions.

"QUT Airports of the Future research is world-leading in that it aims to balance the commercial interests of airports with the full range of government requirements, airline safety, shareholder interests and, most importantly, the satisfaction of air passengers," Professor Yarlagadda said.

Nimalaprakasan received his Bachelor's (Honours) degree in Computer Science and Engineering in 2009 at the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. After working for 12 months for a Software Engineering company on products and solutions for mobile telecommunication operators he decided to pursue more challenging study overseas, which led him to QUT.

"Brisbane is such a welcoming city and the supportive QUT community made it very easy to settle into a new lifestyle," he said. "I didn't know much about Brisbane, just Sydney and Melbourne where I have some family and friends, but Brisbane is a clean, safe and vibrant city - I really do consider it a second home now." Nimalaprakasan's passion for Brisbane was recognised earlier this year when he was appointed an official Brisbane International Student Ambassador, to increase awareness about Brisbane as an international student destination.

An initiative of Brisbane Marketing's Study Brisbane, the year-long programme, encourages ambassadors to communicate their personal Brisbane experiences to their family and friends in their home city, using various digital tools and participating in promotional events.

"The Study Brisbane Ambassador Programme has been a great opportunity to meet like-minded students and actively inform prospective students about the opportunities to live and learn in this great city."

To learn more about Nimalaprakasan's study experience so far, visit his blog at http://nimal.info/blog/ or for more information about QUT see www.qut.edu.au/international CRICOS No. 00213J.

Source: David Samuel, Business Development Manager Australian Trade Commission (Austrade), Colombo-Sri Lanka. E-mail: David.Samuel@austrade.gov.au