Amila Madiligama

Amila Madiligama
Associate Teaching Professor, Physics
[email protected]
(814) 375-4740
Swift Building, Room 243
1 College Place
DuBois, PA 15801

Dr. Madiligama joined Penn State DuBois in Fall 2018 as an assistant teaching professor of Physics. He pursued his Ph.D. in Physics from Western Michigan University in 2016 and then worked as visiting assistant professor of physics at liberal arts colleges, Albion College, MI, and Kalamazoo College, MI. Dr. Madiligama teaches the introductory physics courses offered by Penn State DuBois, including PHYS 150/250 and PHYS 212 in fall semesters and PHYS 151/251, PHYS 211, PHYS 213, and PHYS 214 in spring semesters. 

Dr. Madiligama’s research focuses on the Heusler alloys, which demonstrate versatile, functional properties due to the intrinsic correlation between their crystalline and magnetic structures. Some of these alloys demonstrate a giant magnetocaloric effect, making them excellent materials for magnetic cooling technology. Dr. Madiligama has his research expertise in numerous diffraction techniques such as X-ray, synchrotron, and neutron diffractions, crystallography and several crystallographic data analysis systems, Ion beam analysis, and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry. 

In addition to teaching and research, he loves stargazing and astrophotography, and he serves as the co-advisor of the astronomy club. 
 

•    Shape memory and magnetic shape memory alloys for magnetic cooling and other applications
•    Electro pulsing and related annealing techniques for PM 
•    Magnetic devices from PM ferromagnetic materials

  • Ari-Gur, P., Madiligama, A., Bhale, P., Ren, Y., Noebe, R.D., Vogel, S.C., Koledov, V.V. and Shavrov, V.G., 2024. The use of diffraction techniques for understanding structure–property relationships in Heusler alloys. Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, p.171809. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmmm.2024.171809 

  • Ari-Gur, P., Madiligama, A, Bhale, P, Ren, Noebe, RD, and Vogel, SC., Koledov, VV. and Shavrov, VG, Understanding Heusler Alloys for Magnetocaloric Applications Using Diffraction Techniques. 2023. Available at SSRN: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4563194

  • Bhale, P.; Ari-Gur, P.; Noebe, R.D.; Ren, Y.; Madiligama, A.; Devaraj, R.; Cook, M. Effect of Melt-Spinning Parameters on the Structure and Properties Ni55.5Mn18.8Ga24Si1.7 Heusler Alloy Ribbons. Materials 2023, 16(19), 6590; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16196590  

  • P. Ari-Gur, A. Madiligama, I. Felner, M. I. Tsindlekht, Y. Ren, D. W. Brown, V. Shavrov, V. Koledov, A. Mashirov, A. Kayani, The Nature of the metamagnetic transition in Heusler alloy Ni44.9Mn43In12.1 studied for magnetic refrigeration application, Mater. Sci. Eng. B (In press) 2022. 
  • A. Madiligama, P. Ari-Gur, Y. Ren, V. G. Shavrov, Y. Ge, J. George, I. Musabirov, and V. V. Koledov, Martensitic and inter-martensitic transformations in magnetocaloric Ni2.15Mn0.85Ga Heusler alloy, IEEE Trans. Magn. (Early Access), (2021) 1-6
  • A. Madiligama, P. Ari-Gur, Y. Ren, V. V. Koledov, E. T. Dilmieva, A. P. Kamantsev, A. V. Mashirov, V. G. Shavrov, L. Gonzalez-Legarreta, B. H. Grande, Thermal and magnetic hysteresis associated with martensitic and magnetic phase transformations in Ni52Mn25In16Co7 Heusler Alloy, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 442 (2017) 25-35
  • A. Madiligama, P.  Ari-Gur, V. G. Shavrov, V. V. Koledov, S. Calder, A. V. Mashirov, A. P. Kamantsev, E. T. Dilmieva, L. González-Legarreta, B. H. Grande, V. V. Vega, and A. Kayani, Crystalline structure and magnetic behavior of the Ni41Mn39In12Co8 alloy demonstrating the giant magnetocaloric effect, Smart. Mater. Struct. 25 (2016) 085013.
  • P. Ari-Gur, A. Madiligama, S. G. Watza, A. V. Shelyakov, D. Kuchin, V. V.  Koledov, W. Gao, X-Ray studies of nanostructured Ti2NiCu shape memory alloy, J. Alloys Compd. S 469-S471 (2014) 586 
  • Madiligama, P. Ari-Gur, V. Shavrov, V. Koledov, Y. Ren, S. Calder, & A. Kayani (2014) Effects of Cobalt on the Crystalline Structures of the Ni-Mn-In Giant Magnetocaloric Heusler Alloys. In Oral A. Y. et al. (Ed.) 2nd International Congress on Energy Efficiency and Energy-Related Materials-2014 (pp. 507-514), Springer Proceedings in Energy. 
  • P. Ari-Gur, V. O. Garlea, A. Coke, Y. L. Ge, I. Aaltio, S. P. Hannula, H.  B.  Cao, A. Madiligama, V. V. Koledov, Neutron Diffraction Study of a Non-Stoichiometric Ni-Mn-Ga MSM Alloy, Mater. Forum 738-739 (2013) 103-107. 
  • Irzhak, A., Zakharov, D., Lebedev, D., Tabachkova, N., Koledov, K., Mashirov, A., Afonina, V., Kalashnikov, V., Shavrov, V., Zikharev, A., Shelyakov, A., Sitnikov, N., Amila Madiligama, and Ari-Gur, P., SMA-based nanotweezers controlled by semiconductor laser beam, Advanced laser applications conference (ALAC) 2013, www.alac-iluc.org, Chicago, Illinois, USA. August 21-22, (2013).
     

BS, Special Degree in Science in Physics (honors) - University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka 

MA, Physics - Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI

PhD, Physics - Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI