Professor Saman J. Bandara is a senior academic, transport specialist, and policy advisor with over four decades of experience in transportation engineering, logistics management, research, and higher education development.

He holds a Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering from the University of Calgary, Canada, specialising in Airport Planning, and a B.Sc. (Honours) in Civil Engineering from the University of Moratuwa. Over his academic career, Professor Bandara has held several senior leadership positions at the University of Moratuwa, including Founding Head of the Department of Transport and Logistics Management, Head of the Department of Civil Engineering, First Director of Undergraduate Studies, Faculty of Engineering, and Director of the Centre for Intelligent Transport Systems.

At the national level, Professor Bandara has made significant contributions to transport policy and infrastructure development in Sri Lanka. He has served as Chairman of the Road Development Authority and as a board member of key national transport institutions, contributing to strategic initiatives in road development, public transport, logistics, and sustainable mobility.

Professor Bandara is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. He has provided professional leadership as Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (Sri Lanka) and has served as President of the Sri Lanka Evaluation Association and the Highway Engineering Society. He has also contributed to numerous expert committees on transport planning, road safety, airport development, and infrastructure evaluation.

His research interests include traffic engineering, public and freight transport, intelligent transport systems, airport and road planning, monitoring & evaluation and environmental impact assessment. He is a co-developer of the UniRoad Traffic Signal System.