Hi everyone! I'm Yehalah and I'm a '26 coming all the way from Colombo, Sri Lanka. My academic passions lie in Energy Engineering and sustainability. I am a first-generation and low-income student, actively involved with the community. I love to paint and read during my free time. I'm excited that you're here, and I hope you enjoy this account of my life at Dartmouth!
Taking an art class has long been a dream of mine. Drawing 1 with Professor Enrico Riley exceeded my expectations greatly! He is an inspiring instructor who allowed us creative freedom, while guiding us in the right direction. We drew in different forms of charcoal, with colour introduced towards the end of the term. I loved my experience and I cannot wait to take another Studio Art class!
The sequel to Drawing 1 with Professor Enrico Riley! We worked in oil paint, which I was completely new to and admittedly afraid to use. I ended up falling in love with the medium and the flexibility it gave me to adjust and refine my paintings at any point in the process. I am sad to finish this class and I hope I get to take another Studio Art class in the future!
Moving to America was a drastic adjustment, especially considering the difference in perception of race and ethnicity. This class gave me a insight into past and current American oppression against Black and Indigenous communities. I loved how much I learnt through this class, which was also my First Year Seminar requirement.
My first language class at Dartmouth! Taking German was intimidating, especially because of the fast-paced and rigorous learning method that Dartmouth uses. It was so interesting to learn the different grammar and rules used in the German language. I cannot wait to use my Beginner German skills in Berlin next Spring!
The Sacred Architecture of Asia is one of the most incredible courses I have taken at Dartmouth! The course is primarily discussion-based, with Professor Seher explaining and initiating conversation about the course material. The material assigned was incredibly inspiring and taught me so much about South Asian religions and their beginnings. Everywhere I travel now, I think about the lessons I have learnt in this class and I am truly grateful to Professor Seher for facilitating an incredible learning experience!
Learning about German history in Berlin was a great way to explore the city and culture! The class had weekly excursions where we visited important sites in Berlin, which was so informative and helpful. Overall, I learnt so many new aspects of Germany and the people who played a significant role in German history.
SummerPerrysburg, Ohio
Interning at First Solar, a solar panel manufacturing company! I work on the Application Engineering team under Product Management, developing ways to better serve our clients and enhance our products. It has been an amazing experience so far, I have learnt so much and I am so grateful for this opportunity!
Solid mechanics is a class all about stress, strain and structure. My favorite part about this class was getting to design, 3D model and construct a wooden bridge from scratch! Using SOLIDWORKS to perform FEA analysis and a laser-cutting machine, my group and I put together a model bridge that held four times more that the desired weight! It was an awesome experience to put our classroom theory into practice. This has been the most exciting engineering class I have taken so far!
Taken for my language requirement, this class involved translating multiple documents from my native language (Sinhala) to English! I loved getting to know more about ancient texts in Sri Lanka, and finding out about words I had no idea existed. My final project was translating some scenes from the movie Gamperaliya (ගම්පෙරළිය), analyzing the language forms, and presenting them to the class!
Focused on Computer-Aided Design (CAD), this class took me from a beginner in SOLIDWORKS to passing the SOLIDWORKS Certified Associate test with a perfect score! We learnt about master modelling, kinematics and how to think about mechanical design. For our final project of making a walking dinosaur, I designed a pterodactyl!
I had the best time exploring art history in the center of the (European) art world: Paris! For 3 weeks, I bounced between Parisian museums such as the Louvre, Musée Condé, Musée d'Orsay, Palace of Versailles, and many more. For our final paper, I picked Imaginary View of the Grande Gallery in the Louvre in Ruins by Hubert Robert, with which I spent hours looking at, in an attempt to decipher its meaning and intent! I cannot emphasize how much I learnt about art history through this program and the guidance of Professor Katie Hornstein.
What is research? Most would say an endless search for answers to solving the world's biggest problems. First-year me would have shrugged and said "I have no idea" because I had absolutely no idea. As a first generation student at Dartmouth, the word "research" was entirely foreign to me. I did not know what it was, if I would like it, and what a career in it would look like. This all changed within my first year at Dartmouth.
My very first foray into research was the First Year Research in Engineering Program, which opens application during the first year fall term. Students interview at research labs and conduct fully-funded research for their first-year winter and spring terms! I was accepted to the Lee Lynd lab, where I worked on the process of protein-engineering the bacterium Clostridium thermocellum, to produce higher concentrations of ethanol from cellulose. I started to understand what research was all about through this experience. I presented my two-term research at the Irving Institute Climate and Energy Week, earning the award of Best Oral Presentation (see image above from the Irving Institute website)!
To further build up my research experience, I applied for funding from Undergraduate Research Assistantships at Dartmouth (URAD), continuing to think critically about what fields I may want to pursue research in. In my sophomore year, I got accepted into the E.E. Just Undergraduate Fellowship Program! This program, targeting underrepresented groups in STEM, provides research funding for junior and senior years, both part time during on terms and full time during off terms.
I was thrilled to join the Offshore Wind Lab for my junior year at Dartmouth, researching the socio-economic and political intersection of offshore wind setbacks. I conducted an extensive literature review on offshore wind policy, expanding my knowledge of the renewable energy industry.
After a year of work, and after careful consideration, I decided to pivot to more hands-on research at theLi Lab! I wanted to gain exposure to material science investigation, under Professor Li and her brilliant students, where we are currently working on the optimization of thermoelectric materials for waste heat recovery. As I approach my last few terms at Dartmouth, I will be pursuing an honors thesis with the Li Lab! I am truly excited to see where my investigations take me.
My journey with research has been supported by so many different departments and individuals at Dartmouth. I have only scratched the surface of opportunities that Dartmouth offers for research and I know these opportunities will only expand and grow!
Curious about how declaring a major works at Dartmouth? Concerned about getting trapped studying something you don't like? No need to worry. Come explore with me how majors and minors work at Dartmouth!
Learn about my first internship at Dartmouth, DSCI's ImpACT Winterim Initiative, and more about internship opportunities, DCSI, and pursuing hands-on experiences at Dartmouth!
My final week in Saigon was nothing short of adventure. Bittersweet, but still jam-packed with activities, come with me as I conclude my time in Vietnam
This past summer, I was a Dartmouth Bound Leader with Admissions and a leader for Strengthening Educational Access with Dartmouth (SEAD) with the Center for Social Impact. With my rural, low-income background, I found it fulfilling to be a mentor.
