One of the responsibilities of the department chair is to introduce new colleagues at the first faculty meeting of the new academic year. So I just wrote one-minute introductions for my new colleagues, Sachintha Pitigala and Richard Torres Molina. I thought I’d share them here:

Sachintha Pitigala joins us this year from Sri Lanka, where he is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Kelaniya. Sachintha is not a stranger to the United States, however, as he earned his PhD in Computational Science at Middle Tennessee State University. His dissertation focused on “Developing a personalized article retrieval system for PubMed.” At Whitman, Sachintha will draw on his depth of experience to teach our introductory course, CS 167, as well as a course on Machine Learning or Artificial Intelligence this spring. His most recent research applies machine learning techniques to simulating drone dynamics.

Richard Torres Molina joins us from Virginia Tech, where he just completed a Masters degree in Computer Science and Applications. Richard, too, is a global citizen. After earning a bachelors degree in Information Technology in his home country of Ecuador, Richard went on to earn a further certificate in Information Technology in Shenzhen, China, a certificate in Chinese Language and Culture in Beijing, and a Masters degree in Advanced Systems Dependability jointly from the University of St Andrews and the University of Lorraine. At Whitman, Richard will be teaching a special topics course on Intelligent Systems for Sustainable Development Goals, as well as our regular courses on Data Structures and Software Design.

Watch here for the ongoing saga of course registration for the fall 2024 semester. In the meantime, please join me in welcoming Sachintha and Richard!