Professor Mendis studied at Royal College, Colombo and then graduated from The University of Moratuwa. He received his PhD from the Monash University in Australia in 1987 and worked as a Structural Engineer at Connell Wagner (now Aurecon) for 5 years before joining the University of Melbourne as an academic. He is a well-respected academic with a solid background of working as a Structural Engineer at Connell Wagner for 5 years, designing a number of skyscrapers in the Melbourne city skyline. He is both a Chartered Engineer (Fellow of Engineers Australia since 1994) and an academic professor which is a feat achieved by only a handful in both the engineering and academic community. He is a Professor of Civil Engineering in the Department of Infrastructure Engineering at the University of Melbourne and the Leader of the world recognised Advanced Protective Technology of Engineering Structures (APTES) Group. He was also the Convener of the Australian Research Council’s (ARC) Research Network for a Secure Australia (RNSA) from 2004 to 2011. He is presently the Director of the ARC Centre for Advanced Manufacturing of Prefabricated Housing (CAMP.H) which is providing the leadership to the Australian construction industry to use advanced manufacturing and construction techniques to build modular and prefabricated buildings. Having authored and co-authored more than 450 journal papers, conference papers and technical reports on high-strength and high-performance concrete, tall buildings, wind and earthquake engineering, fire performance of tall buildings and facades, explosion effects on buildings, design and analysis of concrete structures and bridges, and sustainable materials, Professor Mendis possesses one of the most colourful academic profiles of any Australian or world expert. He has also published the book titled ‘Design of High-strength Concrete Members: State-of-the art’ which is a heavily used guide by the structural engineers who are designing tall buildings using high strength and high-performance concrete. The Electronic Journal of Structural Engineering (EJSE) was his brainchild and is a heavily referenced journal among engineers worldwide. Professor Mendis is the editor-in-chief for this journal which provides open-access to any viewer. Professor Mendis has previously been awarded the Eureka Prize which is the leading award in Australia for the best science-based research in Safeguarding Australia in 2013 and award for recognition of service to Protective Technology at the Safeguarding Australia Conference in 2006/2007.   In 2017 Professor Mendis was presented with the highest accolade given to an engineer for his service to the concrete industry in Australia. He was awarded the Honorary Lifetime Membership of the Concrete Institute of Australia.  

Prof Mendis has also offered his services to his motherland and he is no stranger to both the Sri Lankan construction industry and academia. He provided the visionary leadership in establishing Green Building Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL) in 2009 and the founder Chairman of GBCSL. His expertise in high-performance concrete and design of tall buildings has been sourced for a number of iconic buildings around the world including Australia’s tallest building and South Asia’s tallest tower, Lotus Tower. He has also delivered many keynote speeches and special lectures in Australia and overseas over the years sharing his expertise of many fields. Moreover, he has supervised more than 45 students to obtain their PhDs at the University of Melbourne.