Janaka Ekanayake was born in Matale, Sri Lanka, on October 9, 1964. He received the B.Sc degree in electrical engineering from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka and PhD from UMIST, UK. Currently, he is the Chair Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of the University of Peradeniya. He is also a visiting professor at Cardiff University, UK and an Honorary Professor of the University of Wollongong, Australia. He is a Fellow of IEEE (USA), IET (UK), and IESL, Sri Lanka. His main research interests include renewable energy generation and its integration and smart grid applications. Prof Ekanayake was recognised as the most outstanding Senior Researcher in the field of Engineering in the University system in Sri Lanka in 2018. He also obtained NSF Research Awards for Scientific Excellence in 2018, and Presidential Awards for Research in 2002, 2003, 2007, 2015, 2016 and 2017. His current research projects include “Artificial Intelligence framework for threat assessment and containment for COVID-19 and future epidemics while mitigating the socioeconomic impact to women, children, and underprivileged groups” funded by IDRC, Canda and “Designing, fabrication and testing a Smart Distribution Transformer for Voltage Regulation and Frequency Support” funded by the World Bank through Sri Lankan Government.