Awareness programme on “Dreaming bigger dreams” for enticing school children and teachers of Western Province for Engineering organised by SLAAS-Section C
View(s):Eng. (Ms) Kumudu Amarawardhana, Rapporteur, Section C/SLAAS
Dr. (Ms) Buddhika Gunawardana, Secretary, Section C/SLAAS
An awareness programme on the theme “Dreaming bigger dreams” for enticing schoolchildren and teachers of Western Province for Engineering was conducted by the Section C of Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS) on 29th January 2019 at the Conference Hall, the Open University of Sri Lanka. This program was organised under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Research. The main objective of this awareness programme was to provide an opportunity to schoolchildren and teachers of the Western Province to enrich their knowledge on advancements and foreseeable future mindsets in the discipline of Engineering. The expected outcome of this programme was to stimulate the schoolchildren for enrollment in the A/L science and mathematics streams so that more students with a passion for new developments could be attracted.
Approximately 500 schoolchildren and about 100 Science teachers participated in the event. Ms. Hansani Peramunage, Deputy Director-Science, Western Province, and Mr. Vipula Kulathunga, Assistant Director of Education, Science branch of the Ministry of Education, addressed the audience, emphasising the importance of the programme. Dr. RMPS Bandara, President, Section C/SLAAS welcomed the audience while Dr. Bandunee Athapattu, Coordinator of the program explained the aim of the awareness programme. In the meantime, the event was graced by the General President of SLAAS, Senior Professor (Mrs) Preethi Udagama, addressed the gathering with a view to elaborating principles and advances of Biotechnology.
Dr. Ranil Sugathadasa, a professional motivator and a senior lecturer of University of Moratuwa conducted an interactive session under the theme “Dreaming Bigger Dreams: Aren’t they big enough?”. This motivational speech helped the schoolchildren reshape themselves from a different perspective with a positive mindset towards better learning in science and mathematics streams. The session was enriched with numerous interactions with the participants, which created a space for them to think out of the box for chasing behind bigger dreams of their future.
Professor Ruwan Gopura, Head/Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Moratuwa delivered a speech on “Biomedical Engineering: Advances in robotic prosthetic and orthotic devices” which inspired the audience for innovations for people deprived of movements in legs and arms and amputations. He inspired the students not only by demonstrating video displays of the existing marvels of Engineering products in the field world over but also by elaborating on the research work carried out by the undergraduates of the University of Moratuwa. Furthermore, some of those undergraduates displayed their outcomes of research work, such as exoskeleton devices, externally applied devices used to modify the structural and functional characteristics of the neuromuscular and skeletal system.
The audience was finally addressed by Professor Rohan Munasinghe, Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa on the theme “Drone technology for the 21st century: Making impossible possible”, elaborating the state-of-art developments in drone technology and their applications for beneficial uses. After introducing the basics of drone technology, Professor Munasinghe elaborated on different applications where the drone technology becomes useful in the context of Sri Lanka and further, demonstrated on some research outcomes of the university, including application of fertilizers effectively and safely in the agriculture industry and updating the Sri Lankan map precisely through the use of drone technology. The different types of drones, which were the products of the University of Moratuwa were displayed, which attracted the students in this specific field.
In addition, all the speakers shared their personal motives in stepping into Engineering and the motivation behind chasing their dreams. The programme was compered by Dr. (Ms) Buddhika Gunawardana, Secretary, Section C/SLAAS and the vote of thanks was delivered by Eng. (Ms) Kumudu Amarawardhana, Rapporteur, Section C/SLAAS.