Dimuthu joined LIRNEasia as a statistical analyst in February 2007, during the last stages of his degree in Statistics and Computer Science, at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He worked at LIRNEasia for two years until February 2009.
Dimuthu worked on the ‘Teleuse at the Bottom of the Pyramid’ project at LIRNEasia that examined how low income communities in Asian countries use the telephone for various purposes. He was also involved in consultancy projects undertaken by LIRNEasia’s consultancy arm, Connectasia. This involvement in consultancy assignments, says Dimuthu, has been the most useful aspect where his current work is concerned, “because it was then that I learned how to bid for consultancy assignments.”
As he had no prior experience working as a consultant, says Dimuthu, he did not know the process involved in procuring consultancy projects. “However, as part of my work, I was exposed to bidding, preparing project proposals, making presentations and report writing. I also became familiar with the management of consultancies and general processes and procedures associated with consultancy projects. This knowledge has been extremely useful in my current work,” explains Dimuthu.
LIRNEasia also influenced Dimuthu in other ways that he thinks contributed towards his personal development and career choice. “Dr Harsha de Silva in particular had a huge influence on my way of thinking as a young person straight out of university,” he says. The overall experience of working at LIRNEasia, says Dimuthu, changed his way of thinking and helped build self confidence to start his own venture.
During August 2013, Dimuthu left for Houston for his PhD in Finance being the first among the LIRNEasia alumni to complete his PhD in 2019. He is now on the tenure track at Louisiana State University. His current research, data-heavy as always, is on impacts of climate change on the poor, using evidence from post-Hurricane Katrina mortgage applications.