Irushi Abeysekera

• Designed and led a global initiative across US Cummins Technical Center (CTC) in Columbus, IN and China EA R&D Cummins Labs, to standardize and commonize Combustion & Aftertreatment Deposit Analysis for Soluble Organic Fraction testing.
• Provided Annual General EA R&D familiarization training sessions and internal marketing of Chemistry Lab capabilities, value, usefulness to engineering customers.
• Responsible for post-processing of results, analysis, report preparation, and dissemination of conclusions, recommendation, or data-based findings.
• Ownership of gas chromatography, FTIR, TGA, and DSC lab equipment, responsible for equipment condition, upgrades, calibration, maintenance, accuracy, standards, records, and documentation.
• Primary Engineer responsible for all analyses of lube oil, deposits and fuel samples for Cummins EAR&D.
• Supported major 2022 initiative to acquire ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation for all EA R&D Engineering Labs.
• Direct management of 3 lab technicians
• Remotely covered for CTC Combustion & Aftertreatment Deposit Analysis laboratory colleague, during her maternity leave, analyzing all experimental results, writing all reports and interfacing with US global customers to disseminate results.
• Responsible for Lab personnel training and knowledge sharing sessions.
• Technical support, issue resolution, and chemistry related guidance for customers

• Adhered to various Safety Management Protocol standards.
• Maintained all technology documentation, providing updates and addendums when required.
• Troubleshot complex issues within chemical processes, identifying root causes of problems and swiftly implementing effective resolutions.

• Part of team that conducted joint project funded by US Department of Defense (DoD) - Launched and recovered successful experiment in bone regrowth in low-gravity on live mouse models, to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX Falcon 9, Kennedy Space Center.
• Managed biomedical research projects, coordinating regulatory approvals and experimental protocols.
• Trained and supervised lab technicians and students in cell culture, imaging, and analytical techniques.
• Oversaw lab operations, inventory management, hazardous waste disposal, and safety compliance.
• Generated primary cells from mouse tissue that were used in in-vitro studies.

• Protein extraction from tumor tissue and cell lines.
• Molecular Biology & cell viability assays
• Proficient in Tissue Culture/ sterile techniques
• RNA Extraction/Quantification (NanoDrop)
• Transfection of exogenous DNA
• Western blot analysis – probing for multiple proteins of interest
• Viral transduction (shRNA constitutive hairpins and inducible systems)
• Stable cell line generation
• Data analysis
• Maintained high-quality records of experiments, ensuring accurate documentation for future reference and analysis.