University of Cincinnati

04/22/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/22/2026 17:49

Engineering student embraces the Bearcat experience

Engineering student embraces the Bearcat experience

Thavishka Gamage earned both a bachelor's and master's at UC

8 minute read April 22, 2026 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Reddit Print Story Like

The University of Cincinnati stood out to Thavishka Gamage because of its top-ranked cooperative education (co-op) program and the vibrant Cincinnati community.

The student from Sri Lanka earned his bachelor's degree in computer science in 2025 and will earn his master of engineering degree in industrial and systems engineering this spring.

Thavishka Gamage earned his bachelor's degree from UC in 2025. Photo/Provided

Gamage arrived in the U.S. having never been here before and without knowing anyone. As his master's program comes to an end, he reflected on his years as a Bearcat and realized he has created a community of his own in Cincinnati.

"I first started looking at the best co-op schools in the country, and that's how I found UC," he said.

At the birthplace of co-op, UC engineering and applied science students alternate between semesters of classroom learning and paid, professional work experience, graduating with nearly a year and a half of full-time work experience.

As an undergraduate, Gamage worked as a co-op student at companies including Procter & Gamble, SHP, and was part of the CEAS Undergraduate Research Co-op Fellowship program. As a software engineer co-op at P&G, he collaborated with business units around the world to make real-time updates and improve usability and functionality of various interfaces - all while sharpening his programming skills. Through the Undergraduate Research Co-op Fellowship, he conducted topological data analysis research in a CEAS lab. He also worked as a business analyst at Insight. This interdisciplinary experience allowed him to explore the possibilities that awaited him with a computer science degree.

Gamage also took his technical skills beyond the classroom through entrepreneurship. In summer 2023, he co-led "Bye Bye Birdie," an AI-powered ultrasonic crop protection prototype developed through UC's Innovation Challenge. The team earned second place and a fellowship, and identified a $6.2 million market opportunity in the agricultural bird repellant industry.

My time at UC really helped make me a well-rounded person.

Thavishka Gamage Master of Engineering student

While at UC, he took full advantage of opportunities beyond the classroom and co-op. He served as an undergraduate research assistant with Enable Cincy, collaborating on the design and 3D printing of a custom prosthetic limb for a client with a brachial plexus nerve injury. As Public Relations Chair for the UC Chapter of Engineers Without Borders, he built the chapter's website and supported outreach and service projects. Through the Student Alumni Council, he helped plan major events including Homecoming and Giving Tuesday. He also was a Student Ambassador for the Warren Bennis Leadership Institute, facilitating leadership workshops. As a core member of Rallycats, UC's student spirit organization, he led cheers at home football games and helped organize tailgates. Additionally, as an analyst with Queen City Consulting, he supported projects for Kinetic Vision and Metro Cincinnati by translating data into growth road maps.

Through these involvements, Gamage found a passion for leadership and connection across the university. Each organization had a different culture and purpose, and he enjoyed connecting with all types of people with varying areas of interest. That combined record of leadership, academics, and service earned him a place in the Senior 100 Class of 2025, a recognition reserved for the top 100 seniors at UC.

"Navigating all of these organizations was quite the journey," he said. "My time at UC really helped make me a well-rounded person."

Thavishka Gamage transitioned his studies to industrial and systems engineering for his master's degree. From left to right: Tommaso Giovannelli, Thavishka Gamage, Karl Zimmer. Photo/Provided

Gamage's interest in applying AI to healthcare took shape during his undergraduate senior capstone, TheraThrive, which was presented at the CEAS EXPO. Working with a cross-disciplinary team of five students, he helped build an integrated therapy software that combines Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with social support through an AI-powered chatbot designed to support people managing major depressive disorder.

Coming in as an undergraduate student, he knew he wanted to pursue an advanced degree after his bachelor's. He wasn't quite ready to start a PhD program, so he opted to stay at UC and earn a master's degree. He also switched his field of study from computer science to industrial and systems engineering to expand his skillset.

In his bachelor's program, he focused his computer science studies on artificial intelligence and machine learning and wanted to use his master's program to explore these concepts in a new way.

"Industrial engineering seemed really interesting to me. I wanted to learn more than just theory, and this program is more applied knowledge, allowing me to work with optimization algorithms and how AI can play a role in it," Gamage said.

Launched in 2023, the College of Engineering and Applied Science's industrial engineering degrees have been growing steadily as more students gain an awareness of how industrial engineering can be applied.

The Master of Engineering (MEng) degree is an efficient master's degree that can be completed in as little as one year. Gamage selected the data science specialization within ISE, as the courses in cloud computing and deep learning aligned with his background in computer science and interest in AI. He is also participating in engineering research through the master's program.

The Master of Engineering program at UC was very attractive because you're able to get a master's degree fast and do research work.

Thavishka Gamage, UC College of Engineering and Applied Science

The MEng degree offers students the option to participate in an industry internship or to complete a research project. Because he planned to pursue a PhD in the future, Gamage opted to conduct a research project.

Under the guidance of Assistant Professor Tommaso Giovannelli, Gamage's research focuses on multi-agent large language model systems, specifically looking at how AI systems interact with one another.

His master's capstone project is a multi-agent AI system designed as an educational game to teach core concepts in health care operations decision-making and uncertainty. Players assume the role of hospital administrators, allocating limited resources without knowing future demand. The game guides players through five steps, from initial allocation to revisions based on optimization and LLM agent suggestions, and ending with player evaluation based on situational testing.

"In the game, we implement two health care scenarios: emergency department nurse scheduling and operating room block allocation," Gamage said.

Multiple LLM agents debate strategies and potential outcomes through gameplay, challenging players to weigh various points of view. Building on the long use of games and simulations in research, advances in LLM agents have expanded what's possible in this space. The Master of Engineering program has allowed Gamage to step into research in a new way, and he has plans to continue this path after graduation. He will be moving to Boston to begin his PhD in industrial engineering at Northeastern University this fall, focusing on the intersection of industrial engineering and AI/machine learning.

"The Master of Engineering program at UC was very attractive because you're able to get a master's degree fast and do research work," Gamage said.

Featured image at top: Thavishka Gamage earned both a bachelor's and master's degree at UC. Photo/Provided

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