Professor W. A. Wimalaweera assumed duties as the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Technology of the Open University (OUSL) in December 2009. He joined the Open University of Sri Lanka in 1998 where he served as a Senior Lecturer, and Professor and also worked as the Head, Department of Textile and Apparel Technology before becoming the Dean.

He had his school education at Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala and obtained his first degree (Diplom-Ingenieur) from the Technical University, Dresden, Germany in 1981. He then joined the Institute of Textile and Process Engineering (ITV), Denkendorf, Germany as a Research Officer and read for a PhD (Doktor-Ingenieur, Dr.-lng.) at the Stuttgart University. From September 1988 to February 1993, he worked as Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at the University of Moratuwa and later as Lecturer and Assistant Professor at the Institute of Textiles and Clothing of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.