About me
Prof. Dr. N. Athula Kulatunga is an Electrical Engineering Technology (EET) professor at Purdue University Northwest (PNW) and served as department head from 2015 to 2022. Previously, he taught and conducted research for 15 years at Purdue University in West Lafayette, where he was named the George McNelly Professor of Technology. A Certified Energy Manager (CEM) since 1998, he received the “Legends in Energy” award from the Association of Energy Engineers (USA) in 2008. He founded and directed two industry-sponsored applied research facilities at Purdue University: The Power Electronics Development and Applications Lab (PEDAL) and the Smart Meter Integration Lab (SMIL). Since 2014, he has been principal investigator of the Consortium for Rapid Smart Grid Impact (CRSGI), a Global Innovation Initiative project funded by the U.S. Department of State. His research focuses on energy efficiency, smart grids, power electronics-based hardware, e-mobility charging infrastructure, and electronics manufacturing. He is the past chair of the U.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology Department Heads Association and a member of the IEEE University Resource Committee (URC). He leads electronics manufacturing workforce development efforts at PNW.
