Another success story of IIT from USA- Lakshani Bandara, Engineer, California
View(s):As the pioneer in providing UK degrees in Sri Lanka, the Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT-www.iit.ac.lk) has produced over 2500 graduates since its inception back in 1990. 
Renowned for its comprehensive, rounded education, IIT courses are geared to prepare students with practical knowhow and the skills necessary for their careers in the real world, be it in the fields of business or IT.
Among its many distinguished alumni is Lakshani Bandara who has today made a mark in her career in a highly reputed US firm. Currently working as an Engineer, Quality Assurance, for LPL Financial located in San Diego, California, is the largest independent broker-dealer in the nation , with a platform with proprietary technology serving more than 13,000 advisors in United States , she is a part of the organizations Trading Team that is involved in testing the trading platform to identify any bugs/issues and work collaboratively with the project/development team to resolve and enhance the system .Her main goal is to ensure the project is “Quality” driven and our advisors get the opportunity to use a high-quality product.
Looking back at her career path and distinct career growth Lakshani says “I completed my degree from IIT in BSc (Hons) Information Systems with Business Management and obtained a 1st Class Honors . I could say that overall I was highly satisfied with the courses that I enrolled with, as the content of those courses covered almost every aspect of business management and information systems. I also highly appreciated the support provided by IIT lecture panel specially as we were the first batch to enroll with the BSc (Hons) Information Systems with Business Management program. In addition, the course contents also extended from interpersonal skills to interactive marketing to information and database management which really helped me to excel in my day to day activities, as each of those aspects impact my job responsibilities. Therefore not only did I receive an academic education here but I also received practical training and skill development that equipped me to face the working world with confidence.. The Lab administrators and the library staff also supported the students at every turn and we had instances where the lab was opened for almost 24/7 and library was opened when students requested. I also really enjoyed the extracurricular activities such as stage craft that helped us further enhance our talents.
Lakshani also pointed out that the Industry Placement year during the third year of study gave her what she describes as the ability to apply the IT & Business Management modules to real life situations as well as gain an insight into organizational behavior and practical work experience. She stated that “Having lecturers who are themselves industry experts actively involved in the industry is of great advantage and motivation for the students. I completed my internship at Sampath Bank as a Business Analyst. During the time period, 
I was involved in analyzing and documenting business requirements for system enhancements and new products. The knowledge I gained during 1st & 2nd years was really helpful in completing internship, specially writing business requirements and drawing UML diagrams. Also, SQL lessons I received from 2nd year was very helpful when creating reports as and when requested by other departments. As a result I was able to exercise skills required to become a successful Business Analyst while working at Sampath Bank using the knowledge I gained. “
Speaking about her final year project Lakshani said “I completed a research project which discussed the challenges of online banking in the domestic banking industry. My main intention was to provide a marketing solution and a tool that can be used by any domestic bank to assess the competency level of the online banking tool(s) by identifying areas of improvement. The foundation for the project was laid out during my intern time period where I worked on a project which involved in enhancing online banking solution and I viewed customer feedbacks which motivated me to do a research.
The biggest advantage she gained over the other applicants at job interviews Lakshani pointed out that “I would say is basically the coverage of both management and basics of information technology which helped in developing an answer from a management and IT perspective. This really became a key advantage when I was interviewed by US companies. They were very happy to see me as a candidate with both management and IT understanding and having the ability to know how, you can be a part of a team and contribute towards the management by knowing information systems basics. So yes this added a huge advantage to my resume when I was been interviewed by different companies, especially organizations in the financial industry where you need to at least have basic understanding of management skills.
Outlining her ambition Lakshani said that “My ambition is to become a QA Lead and continue my higher education to enrol and obtain the Certified Software Quality Engineer (CSQE) qualification. I am hoping to continue to service towards LPL Financial California which I enjoy tremendously. I must also thank IIT in helping me complete the Bachelor program which I must say definitely added value to my career” Learning from the best certainly helped me be a success” she concluded. Web: www.iit.ac.lk, Email: admissions@iit.ac.lk,
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