Hi, I'm Thakshila, a PhD candidate from Memorial University of Newfoundland Canada.

I am currently pursuing a PhD in Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland, working within the Intelligent Systems Lab (ISL) and contributing as a graduate teaching assistant. I graduated with First Class Honors in B.Sc. Engineering, specializing in Mechatronics, from the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) in 2019. Prior to my PhD, I gained valuable experience as an assistant lecturer at SLIIT while working toward my MPhil degree. My research there focused on Deep Reinforcement Learning for optimizing household electricity consumption and developing artificial intelligence techniques for energy disaggregation. My current PhD research centers on generative artificial intelligence, radar perception, and navigation. At ISL, we develop multi-sensory navigation and perception solutions for Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) vehicles, with my primary focus being radar perception for all-weather, robust navigation of VTOL drones.