Overview
Bio
Dr. Eranda Perera is currently leading the Ventilation and Explosion Prevention Team, at CDC NIOSH Pittsburgh Research Division. Dr. Perera started her federal service in 2009 with the CDC Fires Team conducting research on smoke and carbon monoxide sensors for early detection of fires within underground coal mines. Then, she was the principal investigator of the project titled “Certification Test Protocol Development and Treated Rock Dust Deployment Strategies” (FY15-FY20). She has contributed to several significant findings such as: the specificity of the minimum surface area of rock dust required to prevent a coal dust explosion propagation, designed and developed a method to determine the dispersibility of rock dust and developed an anti-caking rock dust to prevent rock dust from caking. She has received many awards including the Robert C. William Engineering Literacy Award by US Public Health and Services in 2017, and CDC Bullard Shepard award for Research to Practice, in 2022.
Dr. Perera obtained a BSc in Physical Chemistry from the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka. In 2008, she received her PhD in Chemistry from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh PA. During her tenure at CDC, Dr. Perera has authored and coauthored over 40 journal articles, trade publications and conference proceedings.
Company/Organization
CDC-NIOSH
Current Position
Supervisory Team Leader
Country
United States (Pennsylvania)
