Dr Imali Hettiarachchi

STAFF PROFILE

Position

Senior Research Fellow, Human Performance Modelling And Simulation

Faculty

Inst Intelligent Sys Res & Inn

Department

Inst Intelligent Sys Res & Inn

Campus

Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus

Qualifications

Doctor of Philosophy, Deakin University, 2013
Master of Philosophy, University of Moratuwa, 2009
Bachelor of Science, University of Moratuwa, 2004

Contact

Biography

Dr Hettiarachchi received a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering (First Class Honours) from the University of Moratuwa (UoM), Sri Lanka, in 2004. She obtained a MPhil in Electrical Engineering from UoM, Sri Lanka in 2009. From 2004, after receiving her undergraduate degree she has been engaged in numerous lecturing activities at UoM, Sri Lanka. Dr Hettiarachchi obtained her PhD degree in Engineering from the Deakin University, Australia in 2013, where she received a Deakin University international research scholarship (DUIRS).  She is currently a research fellow with the Institute of Intelligent Systems Research at Deakin University. Her key research area is in human performance modelling and assessment using physiological signals.

Read more on Imali's profile

Career highlights

2014 - present: Research Fellow, Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation, Deakin University

Research interests

Dr Hettiarachchi’s current research focus is in human performance (e.g. mental workload, fatigue, and situational awareness) analysis using multimodal physiological signals, including brain waves measured via electroencephalography (EEG), heart rate variability measured via electrocardiography (ECG), galvanic skin response (GSR) and eye-tracking. She has also contributed into brain-computer-interface (BCI) research working on analysis algorithms to improve BCI-accuracy.

  •  Human performance analysis in dynamic and complex environments
  • Multi-modal physiological signal analysis
  • Brain computer interface systems
  • Signal processing
  • Artificial Intelligence

Knowledge areas

  • Signal processing
  • Physilogical data (EEG, ECG and eye-tracking) collection and analysis
  • Agent-based modelling and Simulation

Media appearances

  • Digital mannequins win engineering gold for IISRI

https://www.deakin.edu.au/research/research-news/articles/digital-mannequins-win-engineering-gold-for-iisri

  • What can’t you do with an exoskeleton?

https://disruptr.deakin.edu.au/innovation/what-cant-you-do-with-an-exoskeleton/

Awards

  • Gold Medal: Ingress/Egress Ergonomic Assessment, Society of Automotive Engineering, SAE Australasia Mobility Engineering Excellence Awards, 2016.

Publications

Filter by

2023

Physiological Synchrony Predict Task Performance and Negative Emotional State during a Three-Member Collaborative Task

M Algumaei, I Hettiarachchi, R Veerabhadrappa, A Bhatti

(2023), Vol. 23, pp. 1-15, Sensors, Basel, Switzerland, C1

journal article

The Neuroscience of Team Dynamics: Exploring Neurophysiological Measures for Assessing Team Performance

Mohammed Algumaei, I Hettiarachchi, M Farghaly, A Bhatti

(2023), Vol. 11, pp. 1-22, IEEE Access, Piscataway, N.J., C1

journal article
2022

Predicting Cognitive Load of an Individual With Knowledge Gained From Others

Syed Salaken, Imali Hettiarachchi, Afsana Munia, Md Hasan, Abbas Khosravi, Shady Mohamed, Ashikur Rahman

(2022), Vol. 8, pp. 4-15, IEEE Systems Man and Cybernetics Magazine, Piscataway, N.J., C1

journal article

Evaluating Operator Training Performance Using Recurrence Quantification Analysis of Autocorrelation Transformed Eye Gaze Data

R Veerabhadrappa, I Hettiarachchi, S Hanoun, D Jia, S Hosking, A Bhatti

(2022), pp. 1-21, Human Factors, London, Eng., C1

journal article

Improving high value manufacturing with simulation-based Bayesian Optimisation

B Gunn, I Hettiarachchi, M Johnstone, V Le, D Creighton, L Preston

(2022), pp. 1-8, SysCon 2022 - Proceedings of the 16th Annual IEEE International Systems Conference, Montreal, Canada, E1

conference

Using Eye-tracking To Investigate The Effect of Gaze Co-occurrence and Distribution on Collaborative Performance

R Veerabhadrappa, I Hettiarachchi, A Bhatti

(2022), pp. 1-8, SysCon 2022 : Proceedings of the 16th Annual IEEE International Systems Conference 2022, Montreal, Canada, E1

conference

Gaze Convergence Based Collaborative Performance Prediction in a 3-Member Joint Activity Setting

R Veerabhadrappa, I Hettiarachchi, A Bhatti

(2022), pp. 1-7, SysCon 2022 : Proceedings of the 16th Annual IEEE International Systems Conference 2022, Montreal, Canada, E1

conference

Physiological Compliance during a Three Member Collaborative Computer Task

M Algumaei, I Hettiarachchi, R Veerabhadrappa, A Bhatti

(2022), Vol. 2022-October, pp. 3348-3353, SMC 2022 : Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Prague, Czech Republic, E1

conference
2021

A Review of Individual Operational Cognitive Readiness: Theory Development and Future Directions

L Crameri, I Hettiarachchi, S Hanoun

(2021), Vol. 63, pp. 66-87, Human Factors, United States, C1

journal article

Effects of Dynamic Resilience on the Reactivity of Vagally Mediated Heart Rate Variability

L Crameri, I Hettiarachchi, S Hanoun

(2021), Vol. 11, Frontiers in Psychology, Switzerland, C1

journal article

Using Recurrence Quantification Analysis to Quantify the Physiological Synchrony in Dyadic ECG Data

Rakesh Veerabhadrappa, Imali Hettiarachchi, Asim Bhatti

(2021), pp. 1-8, SysCon 2021 : Proceedings of the 2021 IEEE International Systems Conference, Vancouver, Canada, E1

conference

Performance Quantification and Heart Rate Analysis in A Repeated-trial Simulation-based Training Task

Imali Hettiarachchi, Samer Hanoun, Rakesh Veerabhadrappa, Dawei Jia, Simon Hosking, Asim Bhatti

(2021), pp. 1-7, SysCon 2021 : Proceedings of the 2021 IEEE International Systems Conference, Vancouver, Canada, E1

conference

A Deep Convolutional Neural Network Model for Classification of Emotions from Electroencephalography Data

Rakesh Veerabhadrappa, Imali Hettiarachchi, My Algumaei, Asim Bhatti

(2021), pp. 1-6, SMC 2021 : Proceedings of the 2021 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Melbourne, Vic., E1

conference

Wavelet Packet Energy Features for EEG-Based Emotion Recognition

My Algumaei, Imali Hettiarachchi, Rakesh Veerabhadrappa, Asim Bhatti

(2021), pp. 1935-1940, SMC 2021 : Proceedings of the 2021 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Melbourne, Vic., E1

conference
2020

Quantifying Dynamic Resilience using First-process Autoregressive Modelling: An Empirical Study

Luke Crameri, Imali Hettiarachchi, Samer Hanoun

(2020), Vol. 64, pp. 770-774, Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, London, Eng., C1

journal article

Evaluation of classification techniques for identifying cognitive load levels using EEG signals

Syed Salaken, Imali Hettiarachchi, Luke Crameri, Samer Hanoun, Saeid Nahavandi, Thanh Nguyen

(2020), SYSCON2020 : Proceedings of the 14th Annual IEEE International Systems Conference, Virtual Conference, E1

conference

Feasibility Study of Skin Conductance Response for Quantifying Individual Dynamic Resilience

L Crameri, I Hettiarachchi, S Hanoun

(2020), Vol. 2020-October, pp. 1764-1771, IEEE 2020: Proceedings of the International Conference on Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems, Toronto, Canada, E1

conference
2019

Batch Mode Query by Committee for Motor Imagery-Based BCI

I Hossain, A Khosravi, I Hettiarachchi, S Nahavandi

(2019), Vol. 27, pp. 13-21, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, United States, C1

journal article

Validation of Polar OH1 optical heart rate sensor for moderate and high intensity physical activities

I Hettiarachchi, S Hanoun, D Nahavandi, S Nahavandi

(2019), Vol. 14, PLoS ONE, United States, C1

journal article

A frequency domain classifier of steady-state visual evoked potentials using deep separable convolutional neural networks

M Attia, I Hettiarachchi, S Mohamed, M Hossny, S Nahavandi

(2019), pp. 2134-2139, SMC 2018 : Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Miyazaki, Japan, E1

conference

Haptically-enabled VR-based immersive fire fighting training simulator

S Nahavandi, L Wei, J Mullins, M Fielding, S Deshpande, M Watson, S Korany, D Nahavandi, I Hettiarachchi, Z Najdovski, R Jones, A Mullins, A Carter

(2019), Vol. 997, pp. 11-21, CompCom 2019 : Intelligent Computing - Proceedings of the Computing Conference, London, England, E1

conference
2018

Multiclass Informative Instance Transfer Learning Framework for Motor Imagery-Based Brain-Computer Interface

I Hossain, A Khosravi, I Hettiarachchi, S Nahavandi

(2018), Vol. 2018, Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience, United States, C1

journal article

A fresh look at functional link neural network for motor imagery-based brain-computer interface

I Hettiarachchi, T Babaei, T Nguyen, C Lim, S Nahavandi

(2018), Vol. 305, pp. 28-35, Journal of Neuroscience Methods, Netherlands, C1-1

journal article

Classification of Multi-Class BCI Data by Common Spatial Pattern and Fuzzy System

T Nguyen, I Hettiarachchi, A Khatami, L Gordon-Brown, C Lim, S Nahavandi

(2018), Vol. 6, pp. 27873-27884, IEEE Access, C1-1

journal article

A time domain classification of steady-state visual evoked potentials using deep recurrent-convolutional neural networks

M Attia, I Hettiarachchi, M Hossny, S Nahavandi

(2018), pp. 766-769, ISBI 2018 : Proceedings of the International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging, Washington, D.C., E1

conference

Eye behaviour as a hazard perception measure

J Iskander, J Iskander, S Hanoun, S Hanoun, I Hettiarachchi, I Hettiarachchi, M Hossny, M Hossny, K Saleh, K Saleh, H Zhou, H Zhou, S Nahavandi, S Nahavandi, A Bhatti, A Bhatti

(2018), pp. 1-6, SysCon 2018 : Proceedings of the 12th Annual IEEE International Systems Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, E1

conference

A classifier approach to multi-screen switching based on low cost eye-trackers

J Iskander, J Iskander, I Hettiarachchi, I Hettiarachchi, S Hanoun, S Hanoun, M Hossny, M Hossny, S Nahavandi, S Nahavandi, A Bhatti, A Bhatti

(2018), pp. 1-6, SysCon 2018 : Proceedings of the 12th Annual IEEE International Systems Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, E1

conference

Calibration time reduction for motor imagery-based BCI using batch mode active learning

I Hossain, A Khosravi, I Hettiarachchi, S Nahavandi

(2018), pp. 1-8, IJCNN : Proceedings of the 2018 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, E1

conference

Percentile range around the mean of center distance based informative transfer for motor imagery brain-computer interface

I Hossain, A Khosravi, I Hettiarachchi, S Nahavandi

(2018), pp. 1-6, IJCNN 2018 : Proceedings of the 2018 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, E1

conference

Age-related effects of multi-screen setup on task performance and eye movement characteristics

J Iskander, D Jia, I Hettiarachchi, M Hossny, K Saleh, S Nahavandi, C Best, S Hosking, B Rice, A Bhatti, S Hanoun

(2018), pp. 3480-3485, SMC 2018 : The making of a human-centered cyber world : Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Miyazaki, Japan, E1

conference

Towards more accessible physiological data for assessment of cognitive load - a validation study

I Hettiarachchi, S Hanoun, D Nahavandi, J Iskander, M Hossny, S Nahavandi

(2018), pp. 3045-3050, SMC 2018 : The making of a human-centered cyber world : Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Miyazaki, Japan, E1

conference

Calibration time reduction using subjective features selection based transfer learning for Multiclass BCI

I Hossain, A Khosravi, I Hettiarachchi, S Nahavandi

(2018), pp. 491-498, SMC 2018 : The making of a human-centered cyber world : Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Miyazaki, Japan, E1

conference
2017

Synchronization criteria for delay coupled Izhikevich neurons

Imali Hettiarachchi, Lakshmanan Shanmugam, Asim Bhatti, Saeid Nahavandi

(2017), pp. 131-144, Emerging trends in neuro engineering and neural computation, Singapore, B1

book chapter

Multiclass EEG data classification using fuzzy systems

T Nguyen, I Hettiarachchi, A Khosravi, S Salaken, A Bhatti, S Nahavandi

(2017), pp. 1-6, FUZZ-IEEE 2017 : Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems, Naples, Italy, E1-1

conference

Informative instance transfer learning with subject specific frequency responses for motor imagery Brain Computer Interface

I Hossain, A Khosravi, I Hettiarachchi, S Nahavandhi

(2017), Vol. 2017-January, pp. 252-257, SMC2017 : Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Banff, Alberta, E1

conference
2016

Chaotic synchronization of time-delay coupled Hindmarsh-Rose neurons via nonlinear control

I Hettiarachchi, S Lakshmanan, A Bhatti, C Lim, M Prakash, P Balasubramaniam, S Nahavandi

(2016), Vol. 86, pp. 1249-1262, Nonlinear Dynamics, C1

journal article

Passive muscle force analysis during vehicle access: a gender comparison

D Nahavandi, I Hettiarachchi, M Hossny

(2016), pp. 1-5, WAC 2016 Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE World Automation Congress : Machine Learning, Autonomous Vehicle Modeling and Control, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, E1

conference
2015

Multivariate autoregressive-based neuronal network flow analysis for in-vitro recorded bursts

I Hettiarachchi, A Bhatti, P Adlard, S Nahavandi

(2015), Vol. 9492, pp. 324-331, ICONIP 2015 : Neural information processing : 22nd International Conference, ICONIP 2015, Istanbul, Turkey, November 9-12, 2015 : proceedings, Istanbul, Turkey, E1

conference

EEG signal analysis for BCI application using fuzzy system

T Nguyen, S Nahavandi, A Khosravi, D Creighton, I Hettiarachchi

(2015), Vol. 2015-September, pp. 1-8, IJCNN 2015: Proceedings of the 2015 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, Killarney, Ireland, E1

conference

Application of extended multivariate modeling for information flow analysis of event related responses

I Hettiarachchi, S Mohamed, S Nahavandi, S Nahavandi

(2015), pp. 1845-1851, SMC 2015 : Proceedings of 2015 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Hong Kong, China, E1

conference

Multivariate adaptive autoregressive modeling and kalman filtering for motor imagery BCI

I Hettiarachchi, T Nguyen, S Nahavandi

(2015), pp. 3164-3168, SMC 2015 : Big Data Analytics for Human-Centric Systems. Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Hong Kong, China, E1

conference
2014

Motor Imagery Data Classification for BCI Application Using Wavelet Packet Feature Extraction

I Hettiarachchi, T Nguyen, S Nahavandi

(2014), Vol. 8836, pp. 519-526, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Kuching, Malaysia, B1

book chapter

Adaptive-multi-reference least means squares filter

L Nyhof, I Hettiarachchi, S Mohammed, S Nahavandi

(2014), Vol. 8836, pp. 527-534, Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), Berlin, Germany, B1

book chapter

Classification of neural action potentials using mean shift clustering

T Nguyen, A Khosravi, I Hettiarachchi, D Creighton, S Nahavandi

(2014), pp. 1247-1252, SMC 2014 : Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, San Diego, California, E1

conference

Multivariate Adaptive Autoregressive Modeling and Kalman Filtering for Motor Imagery BCI

Imali Hettiarachchi, Thi Thanh, Saeid Nahavandi

(2014), pp. 3164-3168, 2014 IEEE GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE (GLOBECOM 2014), Austin, TX, E1-1

conference
2013

An extended multivariate autoregressive framework for EEG-based information flow analysis of a brain network

I Hettiarachchi, S Mohamed, L Nyhof, S Nahavandi

(2013), pp. 3945-3948, EMBC 2013 : Proceedings of the 35th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, Osaka, Japan, E1

conference
2012

A marginalised Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach for model based analysis of EEG data

I Hettiarachchi, S Mohamed, S Nahavandi

(2012), pp. 1539-1542, ISBI 2012 : From Nano to Macro : Proceedings of the 9th IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging, Barcelona, Spain, E1

conference

Identification of nonlinear fMRI models using Auxiliary Particle Filter and kernel smoothing method

I Hettiarachchi, S Mohamed, S Nahavandi

(2012), pp. 4212-4216, EMBC 2012 : Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, San Diego, California, E1

conference
2010

A state space based approach in non-linear hemodynamic response modeling with fMRI data

I Hettiarachchi, P Pathirana, P Brotchie

(2010), pp. 2391-2394, EMBC 2010 : Proceedings of the 32nd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society “Merging Medical Humanism and Technology”, Buenos Aires, Argentina, E1

conference

Funded Projects at Deakin

Other Public Sector Funding

Instructor-Student Gaze Coupling in Air-Battle Management Training.

Prof Asim Bhatti, Dr Imali Hettiarachchi, A/Prof Samer Hanoun, Prof Saeid Nahavandi

DSTO Grant - Research - Defence Science & Technology Organisation

  • 2019: $99,923

Multimodal Quantification of Operator State through Adaptive Team Training in Command and Control.

Prof Asim Bhatti, Dr Imali Hettiarachchi, A/Prof Samer Hanoun, Prof Saeid Nahavandi

DSTO Grant - Research - Defence Science & Technology Organisation

  • 2020: $54,445
  • 2019: $20,000

Creating effective teams through physiological and behavioural quantification.

Prof Asim Bhatti, Dr Imali Hettiarachchi

Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transports and Resources

  • 2021: $15,000

Industry and Other Funding

Discrete-Event Simulation and Evaluation of Manufacturing Industry 5.0 Mega-line.

Mr Bruce Gunn, Dr Imali Hettiarachchi, A/Prof Michael Johnstone, Dr Vu Le, Prof Douglas Creighton

Carbon Revolution Operations Pty Ltd

  • 2022: $58,395

Modelling and Simulation for Component Manufacturing.

Prof Douglas Creighton, Mr Bruce Gunn, Dr Vu Le, Dr Imali Hettiarachchi, A/Prof Michael Johnstone

Boeing Aerostructures Australia Pty Ltd

  • 2023: $100,800

Other Funding Sources

Ingress/Egress Ergonomic Assessment: Automating Posture Modification

Prof Saeid Nahavandi, Prof Douglas Creighton, Dr Mohammed Hossny, A/Prof Shady Mohamed, Prof Asim Bhatti, Dr Lei Wei, Dr Imali Hettiarachchi, Prof Abbas Khosravi

AutoCRC Ltd

  • 2017: $525,600

Quickstep Aero-line Future Factory simulation.

Mr Bruce Gunn, Dr Vu Le, Dr Imali Hettiarachchi, A/Prof Michael Johnstone

Sovereign Manufacturing Automation for Composites CRC Ltd (SoMAC CRC)

  • 2024: $129,700
  • 2023: $259,400

Supervisions

Associate Supervisor
2022

Rakesh Veerabhadrappa

Thesis entitled: Applied Multimodal Framework for Evaluating and Forecasting Team Performance

Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering), Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation

2021

Luke Crameri

Thesis entitled: Operational Cognitive Readiness Augmented with Novel Cognitive and Physiological Measures

Doctor of Philosophy (Information Technology), Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation

2018

Ibrahim Hossain

Thesis entitled: Informative Transfer by Active Learning for Calibration Time Reduction of Brain Computer Interface

Doctor of Philosophy (Information Technology), Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation