
Dr Ruchira Ranaweera
Grant Funded Researcher (LevelA)
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology
I am a Postdoctoral researcher at The University of Adelaide working in the International Flavour Research Centre, Adelaide. I have completed my Bachelor’s and Masters degree in Food Science and Technology specilised in food quality management. I worked in the food industry for 5+ years in quality assuarance. My PhD at the University of Adelaide investigated a rapid method for authentication of Australian red wines using fluorescence spectroscopy and machine learning classification.
Currently, I am involved in flavour research project of plant based meat products in colaboration with V2 Foods, in understanding the dynamics of different meat preparation methods vs plant based products using advanced analytical techniques.
As a rapid, straightforward, selective, and sensitive method that yields a molecular fingerprint of wine, fluorescence spectroscopy was identified as a promising method to investigate wine authentication. Several original research studies were subsequently performed with the aim of understanding the potential of applying fluorescence spectroscopy in combination with multivariate data analysis and machine learning for wine authentication.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2022 - ongoing Grant Funded Researcher (LevelA) University of Adelaide 2017 - 2017 Quality Assurance The Mitolo Group 2015 - 2017 Quality Assurance Coordinator Baiada Poultry -
Awards and Achievements
Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount 2023 Award 2022 University of Adelaide Doctoral Medal University of Adelaide Australia - 2022 Award 2022 Harold Woolhouse Prize University of Adelaide Australia - 2022 Award Dean’s Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence. University of Adelaide Australia - 2021 Award K.P. Barley Prize University of Adelaide Australia - 2021 Award Best Wine Student Wine Communicators of Australia Australia - -
Language Competencies
Language Competency English Can read, write, speak and understand spoken Sinhala; Sinhalese Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2018 - 2021 University of Adelaide Australia PhD 2010 - 2011 Cardiff Metropolitan University United Kingdom MSc 2005 - 2010 University of Sri Jayewardenepura Sri Lanka BSc (Sp) -
Certifications
Date Title Institution name Country 2021 Project Management Fundamentals Australian Institute of Management Australia 2021 Statistical Methods in MATLAB MathWorks (United States) United States -
Research Interests
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Journals
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Book Chapters
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Conference Papers
Research Training Program Scholarship
Wine Australia supplementary scholarship
Connect With Me
External Profiles