Thilanka Munasinghe

Thilanka Munasinghe is the Lead Research Specialist at the Rensselaer Institute for Data Exploration and Applications (IDEA) within the Future of Computing Institute (FOCI) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). He holds a Ph.D. in Information Science from the University at Albany (SUNY), an M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, and a B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering from West Virginia University (WVU). His research focuses on classical and quantum machine learning (QML), quantum computing applications, and climate/weather analytics using Earth observation satellite data. He has collaborated with NASA centers (Goddard, Langley, Marshall, JPL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

Dr. Munasinghe’s interdisciplinary expertise bridges engineering, data science, and applied science. He previously served as a Lecturer and Senior Data Scientist in RPI’s Information Technology & Web Science (ITWS) program (2018–2024), designing and teaching courses in data science, analytics, and informatics. He led over 40 student-driven projects, resulting in peer-reviewed publications and industry partnerships. His open-source contributions include work with MIT App Inventor via Google Summer of Code and a visiting research role at MIT Media Lab (Human Dynamics and Connection Science groups).

Awards:

• Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award
• SUNY Chancellor’s Award
• University at Albany President’s Distinguished Scholar-Leader Award

Advising & Collaborations: His projects have involved NASA’s GES-DISC internship, where he developed quantum and classical ML applications for climate analytics. Earlier roles include CodeLab Instructor at WVU LaunchLab, supporting startups through mobile/IoT app development.

Labs & Teams: Active in IDEA, FOCI, and affiliated with MIT Media Lab and NASA collaborations.