 "Sri Lanka's fashion industry is still at an embryonic stage and I am so privileged to be able to create, re-define and formulate its very future with my contributions. It's like working on blank canvas. In 2000/2001, I founded the Academy of Design, a pioneering venture to provide undergraduate education in Design to young Sri Lankans. Since then I have been working on taking the Design industry forward through many projects. I set up 'Peshakala', a project to revive the use of indigenous/native textiles in Sri Lanka and engage young designers with craft communities in villages; this is ever so important in a country like ours where there is such economic disparity between the urban and the rural.
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Nilwala Shyamen Abeysekara-Somaratna spends hours looking at specimens under microscopes in laboratories. She studies genomics and bioinformatics, researching characteristics of disease-causing toxins in wheat. She didn't always want to be a scientist, though. She used to think about being a pilot in the Air Force or a doctor for the Army. She wants to make a difference in the world. 