Dr. Ray Fernando is the director of California Polytechnic State University’s Kenneth N Edwards Western Coatings Technology Center (WCTC). He has also been the occupant of Cal Poly’s Arthur C. Edwards Endowed Chair in Coatings Technology and Ecology at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo since 2002.  Through WCTC, Ray coordinates and conducts coatings research and testing services for industry and run intensive training courses for coatings professionals. Throughout his nearly four decades of career in the coatings field, Ray has served as a consultant for many companies around the globe, including providing customized on-site training for industry professionals.  Ray retired from full-time employment in 2022, but continues to serve as the WCTC director and teach and conduct research at Cal Poly on a part-time basis.

 

Ray received his Chemistry B.Sc. degree in 1979 in Sri Lanka and his Polymers and Coatings Ph.D. in 1986 from North Dakota State University.  He has fifteen years of industrial R&D experience in coatings, 3-years at Air Products and Chemicals and 12-years at Armstrong World Industries.

 

Ray has many publications and patents, and has been a presenter of numerous lectures, seminars, workshops, and short courses related to coatings science and technology. He has served in and chaired various technical committees of the American Coatings Association and the Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology (FSCT). He received FSCT’s President’s Award in 2005.  In 2017, Ray received Cal Poly Provost’s Leadership Award for Partnership in Philanthropy.  Ray received the American Coatings Association’s Joseph J Mattiello Award in 2018 and American Chemical Society’s Roy W Tess Award in 2019.  Professor Fernando received Western Coatings Societies’ Samson-Adler award for 2020 in recognition of his service to coatings industry.