Athula Attygalle

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Athula Buddhagosha Attygalle
Born1950 (age 73–74)
Galle, Sri Lanka
OccupationChemist
Academic background
EducationMahinda College, Galle
Keele University
Academic work
InstitutionsStevens Institute of Technology

Athula Buddhagosha Attygalle (Sinhala: අතුල ආටිගල) is a Sri Lankan scientist who works as a professor in the field of mass spectrometry in the United States. He was awarded the "Inventor of the Year" award in 2014 by the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame for his work in mass spectrometric analysis utilizing helium plasma and charge-exchange ionization techniques. In 2017 Attygalle won an Edison Patent Award from the Research and Development Council of New Jersey for his patented work in mass spectrometric analysis utilizing helium-plasma and charge-exchange ionization techniques,[1] and the Arnold Berliner Award in 2021.[2]

Education[edit]

Attygalle had his primary and secondary education at Mahinda College in Galle, Sri Lanka.[3] After his school education, he entered the University of Peradeniya and obtained a B.Sc in Chemistry in 1972. He then joined the University of Colombo and received a M.Sc in Bio chemistry in 1977. After obtaining a Post Graduate Diploma in Chemistry and Chemical engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, he obtained a PhD in Chemistry from Keele University in 1983.[4]

Career[edit]

After his doctorate, Attygalle was awarded a Fellowship by the Humboldt Foundation to conduct research at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) under late Prof, Hans Jürgen Bestmann, a pioneer in the field of insect pheromone synthesis. Four years at FAU, provided the impetus for Attygalle to become an expert in high-resolution mass spectrometry and micro-chemical techniques for structure elucidation of natural compounds at nanogram level. At FAU, Attygalle championed in the area of lepidopteran sex pheromone identification. Attygalle was a visiting professor at University of Houston, Texas and he has served as the Director of Mass Spectrometry facility at Cornell University. He has completed work there in GC-MS regarding insect substances and their identifications.[5] Currently Attygalle is attached to the Stevens Institute of Technology as a Research Professor in the Department of Chemistry and head of the mass spectrometry laboratory.[6]

Attygalle was the recipient of the 2014 ‘Inventor of the Year’ award presented by the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame for his patented work in Mass Spectrometric Analysis utilizing Helium Plasma and charge exchange ionization techniques.[7] Attygalle co-authored the 1999 article "Single-Site Catalysts for Ring-Opening Polymerization:  Synthesis of Heterotactic Poly(lactic acid) from rac-Lactide" in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, which has been widely cited.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "R&D Council Press Release" (PDF). R&D Council Press Release. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  2. ^ Waltert, Matthias (2021). "The Arnold Berliner Award 2021 honors research on bombardier beetles". The Science of Nature. 108 (6): 53. Bibcode:2021SciNa.108...53W. doi:10.1007/s00114-021-01765-7. PMC 8510909. PMID 34636947.
  3. ^ Me Mahinda Shasthra Shala Hewath Madutu Mahindaya (2nd ed.). Printhouse, Galle. 2014. p. 239.
  4. ^ "American Chemical Society". American Chemical Society. Archived from the original on 1 September 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  5. ^ Gehrke, C.W.; Wixom, R.L.; Bayer, E. (2001). Chromatography-A Century of Discovery 1900-2000.The Bridge to The Sciences/Technology. Journal of Chromatography Library. Elsevier Science. p. 420. ISBN 978-0-08-047650-6. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Athula B. Attygalle | Nexus Research News | Stevens Institute of Technology | Schaefer School of Engineering and Science". research.stevens.edu. Archived from the original on 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2017-07-22.
  7. ^ "Professor Athula Attygalle Receives New Jersey 2014 Inventor of the Year Award". Stevens Institute of Technology. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  8. ^ "Google Scholar search results for Athula B Attygalle". Retrieved 22 July 2017.

External links[edit]