The Newspaper of The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka Vol. 47, No 06, June 2012

Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper No. QD/86 /NEWS/2011

ENGINEERING NEWSSRI LANKA

Established 1906

A man never knows howhowhowhowhow to say goodbye. A woman never knows whenwhenwhenwhenwhento say it (Helen Rowland). I feel

that half a century of puzzles is a good time

Contd. on page 5...

Techno 2012, NationalEngineering & Technology

Exhibition Launched.

Contd. on page 11...

Techno 2012, the 27th

consecutive NationalEngineering and

Technology Exhibitionorganized by the IESL sincethe inaugural event in 1985,was launched at aceremony held at the HotelGaladari on 19th June 2012in the presence of manyheads of organizations,sponsors, well-wishers andmembers of the IESL.Dr.Nalaka Godahewa,Chairman – Sri LankaTourism DevelopmentAuthority was the GuestSpeaker for the event.

SLEN will not publish any new puzzles with the pub-lication of the 50th puzzle in this issue. However, thepuzzle corner will continue until answers to all pre-vious puzzles are published. Given below is a mes-sage from Eng Sarath Chandrasiri, a.k.a. “PuzzleGuru”, bidding farewell to his fans. While thankingEng Sarath Chandrasiri for maintaining this very popu-lar column, so enthusiastically for so long, Editor In-vites feedbacks from readers on the conclusion of thePuzzle Corner.Lakshitha Weerasinghe - Editor.

Farewell fromPuzzle Guru

to retire. A score of 50 is a good time to retire even in cricket,especially if you know that you are going to be bowled outsoon, with new bowlers being called in to bowl. The problemis that I don’t know how to say good bye. But I will try. Butfirst let me deal with a little bit of history.

Back in June 2007 I sent a puzzle based on ElectromagneticTheory for publication in the SLEN. Recently, I found out thatthis puzzle was an invention of Late Professor Laithwaite ofUK. No one that I posed this puzzle to has found the correctsolution up to now. This was the case when it was publishedin the SLEN too. This fact exposes a weakness in engineeringeducation that existed then and continues to exist even now.In particular it is a good example of how magnetism hasbeen neglected in electrical engineering curricula comparedto the attention that is given to electrical theory.

The Editor of SLEN, Eng. Lakshitha Weerasinghe was veryenthusiastic about publishing the puzzle in SLEN. But at thesame time he had the vision to recognize the potential ofsuch puzzles in furthering the education of engineers. Hewanted to start a column called the Puzzle Corner in SLENand asked me whether I can take on the challenge by churningout a puzzle every month. I told myself, “You, a columnist for

IESL JIY Winners in yet anotherInternational Achievement!

The Sri Lankan flag was kept flying high for the 3rd consecutive year at the IntelInternational Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) 2012 held recently atPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. IESL, Junior Inventor of the Year (JIY) 2011

competition winners, Nipuna and Pipunika Silva went further to also clinch the IEEE Awardfor their joint project “NP Systen Computer Program for the Blind and Visually Impaired” atthe Intel ISEF 2012. This is the 3rd consecutive year student protégées from Sri Lanka havewon at the Intel ISEF succeeding at the 2nd and 3rd attempts in the past two years andrepeating it in their 4th attempt this year, since their first participation in 2009. The lastyear’s Intel ISEF winner (also the IESL JIY 2010 winner)had the unique honour of a newly discovered minor planetbeing named after him.

The brother and sister duo, Nipuna and Pipunika, from DeMazenod College, Kadana, were among inventors of threeprojects selected at the local level competition, Intel SriLanka Science and Engineering Fair (SLSEF), organizedjointly by the IESL, National Science Foundation. Ministryof Education and Intel Sri Lanka Liaison Office, held at theIESL headquarters in February 2012 to represent thecountry at this year’s Intel ISEF in the USA. First handaccount of this year’s Intel ISEF are carried in a separatearticle by Vidyajyothi Professor Rezvi Sheriff, SeniorProfessor of Medicine, who accompanied the Sri Lankanteam, elsewhere in this issue.

Welcoming the gathering,Eng. (Dr.) AnandaRanasinghe, President –IESL said that the IESL,being the leadingprofessional body for theengineering profession, iscommitted to uplift theprofession and thereby theliving standards of the people.He described Techno, theflagship event of the IESL, asthe only exhibition of its kindthat focuses much on

introduction and transfer oftechnologies, processesand best practices fromaround the world to thecountry’s industries anddevelopment. Therefore, hesaid, that the Techno is themost appropriate forum formanufacturers and theiragents as exhibitors to getexposure and mileage fortheir products. He informedthat of recent, Techno has

In this Issue

The Institution of EngineersSri Lanka

120/15, Wijerama Mawatha,Colombo 7, Sri Lanka.

Tel: 2685490, 2698426, 2699210

Fax: 2699202

E.mail: ed@sltnet.lk / iesl@slt.lk

Website: http://www.iesl.lk

Editorial.................................. 4Puzzle 50 - B ......................... 5

Sri Lanka Engineering News - June 2012IESL NEWS2

THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKA

NOTICE TO PAST MEMBERSREINSTATEMENT OF MEMBERSHIP

The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) has decided to offer anamnesty to its past members to reinstate their membership if it hasbeen lapsed due to nonpayment of subscription fees.

If you are a past member, you may reinstate your membership byproviding only the following:

• A formal request for Membership Reinstatement addressedto the Executive Secretary• Membership subscription fees of the current year plus anyarrears of subscription fees due in respect of the years2011, 2010 and 2009 calculated at this year’s subscriptionrates.

Since this procedure for reinstatement of membership will be in forceonly for a period of three months from July 1, 2012 you are requestedto make use of this opportunity at your earliest to enjoy the benefitsof membership at the IESL.

EXECUTIVE SECRETARYTHE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKA

120/15, Wijerama MawathaColombo 7.

ENGINEERINGENGINEERINGENGINEERINGENGINEERINGENGINEERINGEXEXEXEXEXCELLENCE ACELLENCE ACELLENCE ACELLENCE ACELLENCE AWWWWWARDS –ARDS –ARDS –ARDS –ARDS –

20122012201220122012

CALLINGFOR

NOMINATIONS/APPLICATIONS

The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, the apex body ofthe engineering profession in the country invites nominations/applications for the presentation of awards in recognitionof outstanding achievements and accomplishments relatedto engineering by its eminent, excellent and outstandingmembers and engineering enterprises who demonstrateprofessionalism and pursuit of excellence in the practice ofengineering in their own specialist areas.

Award Categories:1.Eminence in Engineering Award (Individual

Award)

2.Excellence in Engineering Awards forIndividuals – 8 Disciplines(Agriculture and Plantation Engineering, BuildingServices Engineering, Civil Engineering,Chemical Engineering, Electrical and ElectronicEngineering, IT and Communication, MechanicalEngineering, Any other fields of engineering notcovered in 1-7 above)

3.Excellence in Engineering Awards forOrganizations -5 Fields(Manufacturing (Large), Manufacturing(Medium), Infrastructure –Construction,Infrastructure – Services, Engineering Services)

4.Engineering Entrepreneur Award

5.Excellence in Journalism Award

6.Young Chartered Engineer Awards – 7 Fields(Agriculture and Plantation Engineering, BuildingServices Engineering, Civil Engineering,Chemical Engineering, Electrical and ElectronicEngineering, IT and Communication, MechanicalEngineering)

7.Chartered Engineer Awards -8 Fields(Agriculture and Plantation Engineering, BuildingServices Engineering, Civil Engineering,Chemical Engineering, Electrical and ElectronicEngineering, IT and Communication, MechanicalEngineering, Consultancy and/or providingengineering services)

8. Social Responsibilities and EnvironmentAward

9. Engineering Heritage Award

10. Outstanding Engineering Education Award

For Eligibility Criteria & Nominations Procedure:Call :2698426 EXT: 232, E-mail : dir.pub@iesl.lk,website -www.iesl.lk

CLOSING DATE FOR RECEIPT OFNOMINATIONS / APPLICATIONS

Monday, 16th July 2012

Nomination/Application forms with the name of theAward marked at the top left hand corner of theenvelope should be returned under sealed cover byregistered post to:

Executive SecretaryThe Institution Engineers, Sri Lanka

120/15, Wijerama MawathaColombo -07

Continuing Professional DevelopmentCommittee

The Continuing Professional Development Committee of the Institution provides a forumfor discussion of all matters relating to the provision of programmes of continuingprofessional development intended for both members of the Institution and non memberswho are engaged in the practice of engineering

The Committee has to comprise of 04 Fellows, 06 Members and 2 Associate Members.At present following vacancies exist in the Committee for the 2011 / 2012 Session.

Fellow - 01Member - 01Associate Members - 02

The Committee generally meets once a month, on a weekday at around at 5.15 p.m.Members interested in serving the Committee are kindly requested to intimate so tothe Director (Education, Examinations and Training) of the Institution on or before 27th

July 2012 via e-mail to deetiesl@sltnet.lk

Director (Education, Examinations and Training)

ADJUDICATORS & ARBITRATORSCorporate Members of the Institution (Chartered Engineers), having more than10 years of experience after obtaining Corporate Membership, are invited toapply for their names to be included in a supplement to the Directory ofAdjudicators/Arbitrators. (Members whose names have been registered inthe March 2012 Directory need not apply).

Applicants have to qualify themselves for getting their names included in thesupplement and hence, if they do not have the required qualifications, theywill be required to undergo a relevant training course organized by the IESLor by other pertinent Institutions to obtain suitable qualifications and experiencewith respect to adjudication/arbitration. Those who are currently engaged inwork involved with Adjudication and Arbitration are also requested to applyso that their names too may be included in the Directory.

A fee of Rs. 2500/- will be charged for each entry subject to the exception thatengineers listed both as an Adjudicator and an Arbitrator are reckoned as oneentry.

Application forms are available at the IESL, Finance Division. Also it could

be downloaded from the IESL website.

Completed forms addressed to the Deputy Executive Secretary, The

Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, 120/15, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo

7, should be submitted on or before July 31, 2012.

Sri Lanka Engineering News - June 2012IESL NEWS 3

First ever IEEE Student / GOLD / WIE Congress in Sri Lanka heldat University of Moratuwa.

Reported byPasan Pethiyagode,

Chairman, IEEE University of Moratuwa Student Branch

Lectures, practicals,a s s i g n m e n t s ,examinations and

many more academicactivities are there to betaken care of by a full timeengineering undergraduate inthe University of Moratuwa.But the value of anundergraduate should notsolely depend on academicactivities in a context wherepersonnel development andinnovation are key areas ofinterest in the industry. Theleadership skills he or shepossesses, team work,sound inter-personnelrelationships and many morehave to be gained to paveway to a successful career.IEEE University of MoratuwaStudent Branch comprises ofsuch a group ofundergraduates withdynamic capabilities.

The Institute of Electrical andElectronic Engineers (IEEE)is an internationalmovement, which is drivenunder the motto “Advancingtechnology for humanity”.IEEE UoM Student Branch isguided by the BranchCouncelor, Prof. SisilKumarawadu, and theStudent Advisor, Dr.RohanMunasinghe. We organize awide range of activitiesbeneficial to both theuniversity as well asoutsiders. We also offer ourhelping hand to organizeevents conducted by theuniversity. One such eventwas partnering theEngineering Research UnitSymposium, the officialsymposium organized by theEngineering Research Unitand the faculty ofengineering, whichcommenced on 22nd

December 2011.

The first ever IEEE Student/GOLD/WIE congress in SriLanka was held on 6th

January 2012, at theUniversity of Moratuwa.Thiswas a golden opportunity toform a network amongstudent branches in SriLanka while exploring theinternational giants’experience on IEEE and itsoperations. Apart from that,enhancing professionalism,leadership skills and teamspirit of students, drawingattention of memberstowards WIE (Women InEngineering) and GOLD(Graduated On Last Decade)affinity groups and givinglocal students the access tothe international arena werealso among our majorconcerns.

Number of guestsrepresenting R10 (Asia-Pacific region)graced theoccasion with their presence.Among them, wereDr.Takako Hashimoto - WIECoordinator of R10, Mr. AbyKurian - StudentRepresentative of R10 for2012, Mr. Rayees Nishad -South Asia GOLDCoordinator and Dr. ZiaAhamed - Editor, the IEEERegion 10 Newsletter. All ofthem shared their thoughtsand experience regardingIEEE activities.

Dr. Takako congratulated theWIE affinity group of theUniversity of Moratuwa,which is the first WIE groupin Sri Lanka. She pointed outthe importance of WIE inenhancing the quality offemales involved inengineering professions andthe ability to use WIE tosolve specific problemsrelated to women inengineering.Depending onthe facts discussed in thegroup discussion, a newproject will be launched toencourage female studentsin schools through increasedawareness.

Mr. Rayees Nishadpresented a comprehensiveintroduction to IEEE GOLDwhich was followed by agroup discussion. Dr. ZiaAhamed emphasized on theimportance of having anactive mentoring program,and also mentioned theenthusiasm of the seniormembers in helping out thefreshers. Mr. Om Prakashintroduced the STEPprogram for GOLD society

and its importance to a newlyfounded club.

Mr. Arjun R Pillai conductedthe GINI (Global IntegratedNetwork for IEEE)introduction and discussion,which was very beneficial toall student branches present.GINI concept was wellexplained and representativesfrom all student branches inSri Lanka agreed to use it asthe model to form a networkamong student branches inSri Lanka.

Members from all active SBsin Sri Lanka were present atthe SLSGWC 2012. It was onthe spot light of the year’sevents and hosting the firstever SGW congress in SriLanka was a memorablemoment for our SB.

IEEEXtreme 5.0 – Aremarkable achievementof University of Moratuwa.One of the most remarkableevents organized by the IEEEstudent branch during theyear 2011 was IEEEXtreme5.0, the global programmingcompetition. This event wassignificant from the beginning

for several reasons.University of Moratuwa IEEEstudent branch had 100teams with over 300participants, which was thelargest ever contingent in theworld and out of them, 2teams took pride in being therunners up and 9th in theworld. We also had 10 teamsin the top 100 in the worldrankings and 30 teams in thetop 200 which of course is ahuge achievement.

After proving once again tothe world, the exceptionalintellectual capabilities of thestudents of the University ofMoratuwa by their brilliantperformance in IEEEXtreme5.0, 2011, our studentbranch decided to felicitatethose proud teams whobrought pride and glory to ourUniversity as well as ourcountry. It is with thisobjective in mind, weorganized the IEEE awardsceremony which was held on16th of November last year atHotel Renuka, Colombo 3.The team ‘CeylonSpiro’ whoemerged as the runners upwere the world champions in

Contd. on page 8...

Guests and participants of SLSGWC 2012

Undergraduate Inventor of the Year (UIY) Competition – 2012The IESL invites applications for the above competition from undergraduates of Universityof Moratuwa, University of Peradeniya, University of Ruhuna and The Open University ofSri Lanka as per guidelines posted in the IESL website www.iesl.lk.

Students must submit their inventions to the Deputy Executive Secretary IESL by 15thJuly 2012.

Sri Lanka Engineering News - June 2012IESL NEWS4

Sri LankaEngineering News

Lakshitha Weerasinghe, Editorlakshitha@ieee.org

Joint Activities ofJoint Activities ofJoint Activities ofJoint Activities ofJoint Activities of the Ag the Ag the Ag the Ag the Agriculturriculturriculturriculturriculturalalalalal& Planta& Planta& Planta& Planta& Plantation Engineering Sectionaltion Engineering Sectionaltion Engineering Sectionaltion Engineering Sectionaltion Engineering SectionalCommittee and the NorCommittee and the NorCommittee and the NorCommittee and the NorCommittee and the North Centrth Centrth Centrth Centrth Centralalalalal

PrPrPrPrProoooovincial Centrvincial Centrvincial Centrvincial Centrvincial Centreeeee

On 31st March 2012,members of theAgricultural and

Plantation EngineeringSectional Committee and theNorth Central ProvincialCentre of the IESL made ajoint visit to theMahaillupalama FarmMechanization ResearchCentre (FMRC). Welcomingthe visitors, the FMRCofficials explained that theprime objective of the Centreis to introduce effectiveagricultural mechanizationtechnologies compatible withsocio-economic and fieldconditions in the variousregions of the country. Theyexplained mechanization ofagricultural practices ascrucial to finding solution toproblems of labour scarcityfaced by the sector as wellas for increased productivity,quality, cropping intensityand water efficiency as arableland is limited. The missionof the Centre is developingand promoting cost effective,efficient and appropriateagricultural engineeringmethods and machineryamong stakeholders.Through mechanizationthere is reduction in thedrudgery of using age oldmethods and this should bean attraction of the youngergeneration to agriculture,they added. Thedemonstration of currentactivities of the centre withregard to efforts atintroducing machineries tothe farming communityhelped remove manymisconceptions the visitorshad before visiting the centre.This was particularly so with

regard to the use ofCombined HarvesterMachines.

The post lunch session sawthe visitors proceed to theInstitute of Post HarvestTechnology, Anuradhapura.The main activities of theinstitute are research,training, extension,consultancy /advisory andother developmentalactivities in post-harvesttechnology to enhance thecompetitiveness ofagribusiness sector throughdevelopment, disseminationand commercialization of

improved and appropriatepost-harvest technologyamong the relevant andinterested parties. SeniorMechanical Engineer, Eng.H.M.A.P. Ratnayake waskind enough to describe theactivities of the institution.

The visitors also visited theIrrigation Department – NorthCentral Province andparticipated in a seminarconducted at the auditoriumwhere the Director, IrrigationNorth Central Provinceexplained the ongoingprojects with specialemphasis on Yan Oya.

TO All CORPORATE MEMBERS ANDASSOCIATE MEMBERS OF THE

INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKA It has been decided to issue each Corporate Member and each Associate Member with acar sticker free of charge on a first come first served basis. The car sticker could becollected from our Reception Counter at the headquarters at 120/15, Wijerama Mawatha,Colombo 7 from Monday June 25, 2012 onwards during office hours on weekdays. If you are residing outside the Western Province and if you wish to collect your car stickerfrom your respective Provincial Centre, please indicate so by sending an email toopr.mgr@iesl.lk giving your name and Membership No. so that the relevant ProvincialCentre could be informed to issue you with the appropriate sticker.

The design of each of the two stickers is given below.

Executive Secretary/ IESL

Correction

Please note that Prof. Samantha Hettiarachchi,Professor – Department of Civil Engineering,University of Moratuwa, played the role of afacilitator at the panel discussion that wasreported in the SLEN – April 2012 in its leadarticle (front page) titled ‘IESL holds PanelDiscussion on “Approach to Coastal RailwayLine Evacuation Plan under a TsunamiWarning”’. His name and position wereinadvertently mentioned as Prof. T. Hettiarachi,Former Vice Chancellor – University ofColombo. We apologize for the lapse

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The Beginning of the Endof the Industrial Era?

We depend heavily on Supervisory Control andData Acquisition systems, known as SCADAsystems, for the centralized monitoring and

control of our vital industrial processes. ProgrammableLogic Controller units (PLC) installed at the process levelreceive control signals from SCADA systems viacommunication networks and execute them throughelectrical and mechanical actuators in order to maintainessential services such as electricity and water and tocarry out complicated industrial processes. With the helpof these industrial SCADA systems, PLCs, andcommunication networks, modern day engineers canmonitor and operate facilities remotely and much moreefficiently as compared to what their counterparts did inthe yesteryears.

However, our dependency on networked automation couldwell be the Achilles heel of our modern society. Thevulnerability of industrial automation came to light with thediscovery of the “Stuxnet” Computer worm in June 2010. Itwas created to attack exclusively the Siemens Industrialsoftware and equipment and is considered as the firstmalware discovered to spy on and subvert industrialsystems and the first ever such malware to contain aprogrammable logic controller (PLC) rootkit. It is believedthat the ultimate target of Stuxnet was the Uraniumenrichment facilities in Iran. Since it was first created,different variants of Stuxnet targeted successfully five Iranianorganizations. Sixty Percent (60%) of Stuxnet infectedcomputers were in Iran. The creators of the Worm hadtaken great care to ensure that it hits at only theirdesignated targets and that it becomes inert if Siemenssoftware could not be found on infected computers!

In May 2012, another member joined the latest list of cyber-scares! A computer virus by the name “Flame” wasdiscovered a few months back. It is considered as themost sophisticated and complex malware ever found. Ithas been created to carry out cyber espionage in MiddleEastern countries.

Stuxnet and Flame viruses open our eyes to a new reality,i.e our vulnerability to cyber warfare.

Einstein once said that if ever there is going to be a thirdworld war, the forth will be fought with Clubs and stones.The great scientist must have thought that the WWIII wouldbe fought with nuclear weapons and that it would eliminatemodern civilization, compelling mankind to start from thebeginning. However, the discovery of Stuxnet and Flamemay compel us to think that, given our dependency oncomputers, even if the third world war is fought not withnuclear weapons but against each other’s computerinfrastructure, the fourth war would certainly be fought atleast with bows and arrows!

Sri Lanka Engineering News - June 2012IESL NEWS 5

Puzzle 50-B(The Encrypted

Message)

Back to Puzzle - 46

The wording of my write up on Puzzle – 46 in the May 2012issue of the SLEN may have given the wrong impressionthat the solution given there was sent by Associate MemberMenaka Devaraja, whereas, it was actually the correctsolution sent by Eng Ranil Senaratne who contributd thepuzzle. The solution sent by Menaka was somewhat differentfrom this and not the optimal solution. However, we thankher for her effort.

Puzzle Guru

In the last issue (May 2012) of SLEN, I presented a minipuzzle involving the following encrypted message: Isdeise eede astle uzzlepe atde ede uruge ise oinge ote ublishpe.

Ayhe avehe adhe enhe oufhe ofhe isde. Alfhe a enturyse isheorme ande enhe oufhe.

This is written in a language called ‘beggar language’ (Egarbelanguage to be precise), because those days it was used bybeggars all over the world. It was also used by BritishPrisoners of War when they wanted to converse with eachother in the presence of their captors. This way, they wereable to discuss even secret subjects, such as plans ofescape, right under the noses of the prison guards. We learntthis language, while we were still Junior School boys in the50’s.

The Sherlock Holmes mystery, ‘The Adventure of the DancingMen’, involves some mysterious messages, where theEnglish letters were replaced by skeletal figures of dancingmen in various poses. Sherlock Holmes finds out that theseare encrypted messages, where the encryption method wasa one to one substitution for alphabetic letters by the dancingfigures. He works out the encryption method using frequencyanalysis.

Coming back to Sri Lanka, Author W. A. de Silva’s 1950’snovel, ‘Hingana Kolla’ (Beggar Boy), revolves around a similarplot, where a rich man (formerly a beggar child), is confrontedwith encrypted threatening messages written on walls aroundhis house. It seems that, similar to their spoken language,Egarbe, the beggars also had a script, which only the beggarscould read and write.

To decrypt my message, let us consider the encryptionmethod. Take the word Uruge in Egarbe. This translates asGuru after decryption. The encryption method is based onphonetics, where you remove the initial phoneme (sound)Gu and add it at the end with the vowel u changed to an e.So Guru becomes Uruge.

It is a very simple method, but there are some complications.For example, for a long word such as Puzzleugru, we cannotdirectly use the method that was used in the previous casebecause the resulting word (Uzzlegurupe) becomes easilytranslatable by even those who are illiterate in Egarbe. Inthis case we break Puzzleguru in to two (Do I hearapplause?), not physically (so you guys can stop applauding),but as a word, to give Puzzle – Guru. Then you apply theoperation separately on them to get Uzzlepe Uruge, whichhopefully fools any eavesdropper to think that you are talkingabout the Adivasis and not plotting against the Puzzle guru.

Thus, the decrypted message is: This is the last puzzle thatthe Guru is going to publish. I have had enough of this. (Whatabout us readers? Do you think we have not had enough ofit?). Half a century is more than enough! (For us, a duckwould have been more than enough)!

With that we come to the end of this discourse. Hopefully,the end was worth all the trivia you have been reading inthis column since 2007 - as welcome as a Health Ministryannouncement that the Dengue Mosquito has been finallyeradicated.

Happy Puzzling to All!!!!

Uzzlepe Uruge Sarath Chandrasiri

Contd. from page 1....

Solution for Puzzle No. 47

By analyzing the solutions sent by our readers, it was apparent that some had fallen forwhat looked like “the obvious solution”. In fact, one reader was, if I may say so, boldenough to suggest that it was so trivial that the solution MUST be: “the fastest troop

being involved in all the journeys”. However, it is not the case. The solution is as follows:

1. Alpha travels with Beta (2 minutes)2. Alpha returns (1 minute)3. Charlie travels with Delta (8 minutes)4. Beta returns (2 minutes)5. Alpha travels with Beta (2 minutes)

So the total time taken is (2+1+8+2+2=15) 15 minutes.

As far as I know, there is no mathematical method to arrive at the solution. It has to come asa result of thinking. The following members sent solutions:

M.H.A.R.P. Appuhamy, Samiththamby Thileepan, Ranil Senaratna, Akila Chinthana RangeBandara. Out of them, the winner of Puzzle No. 47 is Samiththamby Thileepan (Membershipnumber AM 11574 / Date of birth 14.04.1985) who is the youngest member to send thecorrect solution.

By the way, I see another important point hidden inside this solution. When working in ateam, obviously all members are not equal in their capabilities. However, teamwork canaccount for this disparity. In a team, you can hide one weak member among other members.The result of this can be more efficient than involving your best member in all the work items.Food for thought, may be?

Happy Puzzling to All!!!!

Dewmini GamlathDewmini GamlathDewmini GamlathDewmini GamlathDewmini Gamlath(Civil Engineer, ATSL International (Pvt) Ltd (A member of Access Group)+94 777 40 50 31

Farewell.....

a professional periodical likethe SLEN? – Ha! Ha!?” Takingmy cue from Groucho Marx,I wanted to say “I refuse towrite for any journal thatwould have me as a columnist– thank you very much”.Although I had this phobia forwriting, I found it mentallystimulating. A good writeronce said that writing is likea puzzle that makes you thinkall the time that you areawake. Perhaps, that is whywriting puzzles made methink even when I wassleeping.

Planet X. Here we have atorroidal magnetic line offorce, which coils around acircular conductor over and

over again – forever, with theends never meeting. Finallyforming a closed surfacewoven like a cocoon.

The puzzle with the mostprofound scientific,philosophical as well asengineering implications isPuzzle 49 (The MagicBoxes of Planet X). So farthere has been no solutionsreceived for it. I urge thereaders, especially thosewho are conversant withstatistics to try it. There is aspecial prize of Rs 5,000 onit.

If anyone is interested infollowing up my puzzlesfurther, I have started my ownweb site(www.puzzlegurulanka.com),which is non profit orientedand dedicated for Educationthrough Entertainmentand sponsored by aninnovative Sri Lankanengineering consultancy firmcalled Aryans. Valuableprizes will be offered fromtime to time to those whosend in solutions. Right nowthere are some interestingand informativepresentations that you maydownload from this site. Italso contains news about thePuzzle Guru fan clubs in theUS and articles on theconspiracies and intriguethat is going on against theGuru in these clubs.

A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s :Many contributed to thesuccess of the PuzzleCorner. Space limitationsprevent me from namingthem all. I thank those whogave new ideas, sent insolutions and contributedgood puzzles. There areothers who deserve specialmention:

• Physicist WasanthaMadanayake and Eng RanilSenaratne, who were like thebatsmen at the other endhelping me to reach my 50.Thank you for the inspiringdiscussions we had.

• Ms. Gayathri, thescorer, keeping track of theruns made (Over by over,puzzle by puzzle and Solutionby solution), and for beingpatient with my never endingcorrections.

• The Editor, the Captainand Umpire both rolled in toone. I am sure that you do notfit Adlai Stevenson’sdescription of an Editor assomeone who separates therice from the husk, throwsaway the rice, and publishesthe husk. Rather, you aremore like the person thatJackie Kennedy had in mind,when she said that an Editoris someone who gives supportand encouragement like amother. Though you were thecaptain, you never tried tocramp my style and allowedme to bat in my own way.Without that kind of support,I would have been out for aduck long ago. Thank you forthat.

SOME OFTHE EARLIESTPUZZLES (INCLUDINGPUZZLE No. 1) HAVE NOWBEEN UPLOADED TOpuzzlegurulanka WEB SITE. TOACCES THIS SITE GOOGLECHROME ISRECOMMENDED..

Don’t be dismayed byDon’t be dismayed byDon’t be dismayed byDon’t be dismayed byDon’t be dismayed byGood-byes. AGood-byes. AGood-byes. AGood-byes. AGood-byes. Afarewell is necessaryfarewell is necessaryfarewell is necessaryfarewell is necessaryfarewell is necessarybefore we can meetbefore we can meetbefore we can meetbefore we can meetbefore we can meetagain. (Richardagain. (Richardagain. (Richardagain. (Richardagain. (RichardBachBachBachBachBach).Puzzle Guru SarathPuzzle Guru SarathPuzzle Guru SarathPuzzle Guru SarathPuzzle Guru SarathChandrasiriChandrasiriChandrasiriChandrasiriChandrasiri

Satisfying the readers wasnot easy. There were so manydiverse ideas on what type ofpuzzle should be published.Sometimes, I felt like thefather and the son duo, whotook their donkey to themarket for selling. On theadvise given by differentpeople at different times theychange the way the donkeyis handled and finally end upcarrying it instead of riding it.At the end, all three of themfall off in to a river. Lesson: Itis impossible pleaseeveryone..

Out of the puzzles that werepublished, the most intriguingand beautiful one was the oneon the Magnetic Fun ride on

Sri Lanka Engineering News - June 2012IESL NEWS6

Date: - 24th May 2012Resource Person: - Eng. Franki Perera

Senior EngineerDept. of Irrigation - Kandy

Date: - 31st May 2012Resource Personnel: - Members of Toastmaster Club, Kandy

Date: - 02nd May 2012Resource Person: - Eng. J.A.D.R. Sujith Kumara

Deputy General Manager -CECB -Anuradhapura

Date: - 21st March 2012Resource Person: - Eng. S.N.B.M. Pathmasiri

District Factory Inspection Engineer,Dept. of Labor - Badulla

EVENT PHOTOS OF THE NORTH CENTRAL PROVINCIAL CENTRECPD Course on Arbitration &Adjudication

Technical Session on Construction Safety

Awareness Seminar – JIY Competition

Communication Skill Development through Toastmaster Club

Sri Lanka Engineering News - June 2012IESL NEWS 7

Sri Lanka Engineering News - June 2012IESL NEWS8

AN APPEAL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

TO THE

BENEVOLENT FUNDYesterday it was someone else. Today alsoYesterday it was someone else. Today alsoYesterday it was someone else. Today alsoYesterday it was someone else. Today alsoYesterday it was someone else. Today alsoit is someone else BUT tomorrow it couldit is someone else BUT tomorrow it couldit is someone else BUT tomorrow it couldit is someone else BUT tomorrow it couldit is someone else BUT tomorrow it could

be you or your dependentsbe you or your dependentsbe you or your dependentsbe you or your dependentsbe you or your dependents.....The IESL Benevolent Fund provides financial assistance to members or theirdependents in distress whether it is due to a sickness, a family bereavement or financialhardship.

Last year the fund provided assistance to the value of nearly Rs 480,000/= to a totalof eight members and to the wife of one deceased member.

This year we have made a contribution of Rs 60,000/= to a member whose son hadundergone a kidney transplant. The hospital cost of the patient itself has exceeded Rs700,000/= and the member concerned has to meet post operation costs on medicationas well.

Out of a total membership of almost 16000, so far only about 1500 members havecontributed to the fund. It is just about 10% of the total membership. Isn’t itquite disturbing? The total contributions received was only about Rs 300,000/=.

As you may know, the Benevolent Fund is maintained only with your own voluntarycontributions. We appeal to you this time to contribute to the fund when you payyour subscriptions, by contributing just Rs 200/= or more and make it richer so thatmore and more of our own colleagues in need could be provided with assistance intheir hours of need!

The Board of Management of the Fund has decided to increase to Rs 300.00 theminimum contribution expected from members next year. We also wish to appeal tothe members whose annual subscriptions are paid for by the relevant organizationswhere they are employed to be mindful of the Benevolent Fund and make a donation,if necessary from their own funds, to this social service carried out by the IESL.

Yes, your contribution may be only a small sum. Yet, when in distress, even this smallsum will mean very much to the person concerned who can even be you or me andit will also go quite a long way in relieving him/her somewhat of his/her distress.

On behalf of the Board of Management of the Benevolent Fund, let me make thisappeal to you to look forward to the future and contribute to the Benevolent Fundtoday itself!

THANK YOU!ENG. B R O FERNANDO

Five PeradeniyaStudents selected for

Google summer CodeFinals

sent by Eng. W R M U WickramasingheIESL Liaisons Officer

University of Peradeniya

Five students of Department of Computer Engineering havebeen selected for the Google Summer Code finals in thedepartment’s maiden attempt this year. This is a great

achievement for the department, and adds to the array of winsthe department has been achieving in their brief existence of10 years. The department has won almost all the internationalcompetitions surpassing all other state universities and privateinstitutions in the last few years. Last year, they won MotorolaEnterprise Mobility software competition and represented SriLanka in Microsoft Imagine Cups world finals. The Departmenthas now become yet another strong department of study to theFaculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya.

Book on IntellectualProperty

byDr. Manjula Sandirigama

sent by Eng. W R M U WickramasingheIESL Liaisons Officer

University of Peradeniya

Dr. Manjula Sandirigama’sbook on “IntellectualProperty: A Quick Guidefor Scientists andTechnologists” waspublished last month byScience Education Unit ofUniversity of Peradeniya. Thebook is a useful quickreference to all those whowish to get an idea on

patents, patentabilityrequirements, making localand foreign patent applications,and patent commercializationand legal implications. Thebook is based on the coursecontents,the author has beenteaching students onIntellectual Property (IP) for thelast few years. The Faculty ofEngineering, University ofPeradeniya is the first tointroduce formal IP educationfor science and technologyundergraduates in Sri Lanka.

The author holds a BSc Engdegree from University ofPeradeniya, MSc and PhDfrom University of Ehime andis an Attorney-at-Law (SriLanka). He is the current Headof the Dept. of ComputerEngineering at University ofPeradeniya.

2009 IEEEXtreme 3.0. Their team members were VarunaJayasiri, Chethiya Abeysinghe and Lilantha Polpitiya. Team‘Selachimorpha’ which was placed 9th in the world, comprisedof Kirthevasan Kandasamy, Manuranga Perera and MaleenAbeydeera who are also engineering undergraduates. The top10 teams from Sri Lanka, who were among the internationaltop 100, were felicitated with special awards for their honorableachievement in the competition.

The tremendous effort and dedicated work done by the peoplewho organized this event werealso praised during this awardsceremony because it was their smart effort thatmade the eventa huge success.

Special Guests of honour in this awards ceremony were Prof.Anurudda Puswewala (Dean, Faculty of Engineering), Prof.Asoka Karunananda (Dean, Faculty of Information Technology),Prof. Gihan Dias (IEEEXtreme Event Advisor), Prof. SisilKumarawadu (IEEE Student Branch Counselor, UoM).

The student branch will be moving forward with several newlyinitiated projects in the near future. If you are interested in joiningthe ventures of IEEE UoM by providing any assistance, pleasedrop a mail to pasan@ieee.org.Together we shall illuminateour ultimate objective of advancing technology for the bettermentof mankind.

Contd. from page 3... First ever.....

Sri Lanka Engineering News - June 2012IESL NEWS 9

THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKA

Continuing Professional Development Programme

MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT FOR ENGINEERSObjectives

To inculcate the importance of gaining knowledge, skills and experience in the non-technical areas like HRM, Finance, Project Management andProcurement etc in order to perform better in managerial role.To equip them with required knowledge required by a Professionally Qualified Engineer.To make them aware on the industry expectations.To improve the productivity of the engineers empowering them with aptitudes and attitudes in managerial skills.To extend more emphasis for the areas where the engineering curricula in universities etc. does not cater for their career prospects.

For whom: Practicing engineersCourse Content :• Role of an Engineer in Society• Communication Skills and Writing Skills• Positive thinking and Systematic thinking• Contract Administration• Organization behavior• International Economy• Ethics and values• Industrial relations• Supervisory management• Self Marketing and Personality Building & Attitudes• Project Cash Flow Management• Team building• Technical report writing

Resource Persons : Eminent Engineers, well experienced Professionals and Academics in the Public and Private Sectors.

Duration :Commencing on, 07 July 2012, will be conducted on 13 Saturday from 0900 - 1600 hrs. at IESL.

Course Fee : Rs.40,000/- for members of IESL and Rs.45,000/- for others (inclusive of Handouts, Lunch & Refreshments)

(Application forms could be obtained from the EE&T Division and the IESL Website.Duly filled “Application form” to be sent to us before June 30, 2012.)

For further details contactDIRECTOR

Education, Examinations & Training Division,Tel. : 011 2 698 426 Ext. 209/210/211,Fax : 011 2 699 202,E-mail : deetiesl@sltnet.lk

• Stress Management and Work life balances• Introduction to Finance Management & Financial Literacy• Interpreting Financial Statements and Decision Making• Project Management• Health & Safety management• Law of Contract• Applicability of Basic law in Engineering practices in Sri Lanka• Effective Speaking• Conducting Meeting• Effective Decision Making• Total Quality Concept• New Trend and Public Fund Management• Evaluation of the course

Sri Lanka Engineering News - June 2012IESL NEWS10

Study Program onSustainable BuiltEnvironment for

Engineering Students at theUniversity of Peradeniya

by Professor Ranjith Dissanayake,

Chairman, Education and Training of GBCSL

The Green Building Council of Sri Lanka (GBCSL)conducted a study program on Sustainable BuiltEnvironment for Engineering Students on 9th and

10th June 2012 at the Faculty of Engineering, Universityof Peradeniya. Those who successfully complete thestudy program will be awarded with a ‘CompetencyCertificate’ by the Green Building Council of Sri Lanka.GBCSL is planning to conduct a similar program all otherUniversities.

Encouraging Science Education in SriLanka…….Promoting Creativity and

Invention at School Level hoping to preparescience students Compete in International

Science Fairs…

by Vidyajyothi Professor Rezvi Sheriff,Senior Professor of Medicine, University of Colombo

I was prompted to writethis article to educatethe general public,

schooling community ofScience student andparents interested inscience and teachers inscience, due to a pleasantexperience I had with schoolscience projects in the lasttwo years.When I was the Director,Postgraduate Institute ofMedicine I had a visit bySenior Engineer JayavilalMeegoda in 2009/10requesting me to Chair theirScience Review Committeeto select 3 best projects outof selected 20 scienceprojects, the schoolsystems had produced intheir provincial science Fairsand JIY (Junior Inventor ofthe year) Fairs in 2010/11. Iagreed and helped them in2011 and again in 2012.

10 of these projects camefrom a JIY now in its 28th

year Junior Inventors of theyear Programme organizedby a subcommittee of theInstitute of Engineers of Sri

Lanka headed by EngJayavilal Meegoda inOctober each year. Thisprogramme has been goingon for over 25 years and weshould congratulate thisadult professionalassociation for theirthoughtful involvement inencouraging the younginventive minds who wouldin time become key playersin their profession. Hats offto Mr. Meegoda for keepingthat fire burning. This maybe an eye opener for otherprofessional associationslike the Sri Lanka MedicalAssociation; after allmedical science is animportant branch of science!And indeed many otherbranches of science.

The other 10 projects came froma Science Research ProjectCompetition (SRPC) held atprovincial levels in Novembereach year and the final 10chosen by the efforts of theNational Science Foundation

headed by Prof SirimaleeFernando. The Sciencepopularization section of theNational Science Foundationrepresented this year byAgriculture graduate andScientific Officer Ms NadeeraJayaweera played a key rolein this year’s programme.

I was involved in selectingthe final 3 of the total of 20projects at the Sri LankaScience and EngineeringFair held in March 2012 asthe Chairman of theScience ReviewCommittee and the Panelof Judges. Other SeniorEngineers, ScienceTeachers and Scientistswere in the Panel ofJudges helping us with thefinal selection.

The general support for thisactivity comes from theMinistry of Education whohelped to give the authorityand direction to thePrincipals of Schools whohave participants at theseScience Fairs.The greater part of the finalstages especially fundingare handled by IntelCorporation. The SriLankan Intel Team come ina big way at the point ofthe 20 finalists Competitionheld at the Institute ofEngineers and help with the

Event Dates

♦♦♦♦♦Induction and Graduation Ceremony Saturday –August 18, 2012

♦♦♦♦♦Dr. Ray Wijeyewardene Memorial Monday - Lecture August 20, 2012♦♦♦♦♦E O E Pereira Memorial Lecture Thursday –

September 13,2012

♦♦♦♦♦D J Wimalasurendra Memorial Monday Lecture September 17,

2012♦♦♦♦♦Techno Exhibition Friday–Sunday

October12-14,2012

♦♦♦♦♦Inauguration of the Annual Sessions Friday –October 19, 2012

♦♦♦♦♦Annual Sessions Seminar Saturday –October 20,2012

♦♦♦♦♦Annual Field Visit Sunday –October 21, 2012

♦♦♦♦♦Presentation of Technical papers Monday-WednesdayOctober 22, 23 &24, 2012

♦♦♦♦♦Presentation of Technical Papers Thursday - by Young Members October 25, 2012

♦♦♦♦♦Dr. A N S Kulasinghe Thursday – Memorial Lecture October 25, 2012♦♦♦♦♦Annual General Meeting Saturday –

October 27, 2012♦♦♦♦♦Techno Awards Ceremony Friday –

November 02,2012

Note:

Associate Members who wish to apply for the ProfessionalReview, are strongly advised to attend all Memorial Lecturesand keep a record of the attendance for any future reference.

FORTHCOMINGANNUAL EVENTS CALENDAR

- 2012

Contd. on page 11...

Sri Lanka Engineering News - June 2012IESL NEWS 11

Contd. from page 10....

Encouraging Science...

Techno 2012, ....Contd. from page 1...

also got mentioned in international magazines.

Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, the guest speaker for the event, speaking on “ Technological innovation,professional excellence & Tourism Development” said that opportunities for innovation andprofessional excellence by engineers are immense in the provision of accommodation, transport,conservation, information etc. for the rapidly developing Tourism industry in the country. Hesaid that while the vision for Tourism Development under the Mahinda Chintana program ofH.E. The President is to achieve 2.5 million tourist arrivals by year 2016, there is potential forachievements way above this target if the country is correctly positioned for the tourismmarket considering that tourist arrivals in some countries are more than their population. Hepresened many innovative concepts he had come across in his travels to other countries. Hesaid that great diversity that Sri Lanka has in its food, people, culture, environment, etc.within a short geographical spread makes it easily marketable as a tourist destination.

Eng. Tilak De Silva, President Elect – IESL and Chairman – Techno Committee in his addresssaid that the IESL being the only institution in Sri Lanka which can award Chartered Engineerstatus have more than 4000 Chartered Engineers holding positions from Engineer to CEO inalmost all engineering organizations in Sri Lanka. They are the people in the forefront, practicingengineering using new technologies, new tools, new processes etc., he stressed. Technowhich gives exhibitors the best exposure to a large cross section of engineers who decide theappropriateness of new technologies and products to our country is the most appropriateplatform for their market debut.

The exchange of sponsorship tokens took place thereafter with Mr. MangalaYapa, Chairman- Dockyard General Engineering Services (Pvt) Ltd for the Platinum, Mr.Kennedy Joseph,Senior Vice President - Brown & Company PLC for the Gold and Mr. Shevantha Mendis,Director, Business Development - Access Engineering for the Silver sponsorship. Dr. PriyathWickrema, Chairman – Sri Lanka Ports Authority was handed over the token for the Co-sponsorship.

The vote of thanks was delivered by Eng. Wimalasena Gamage, Vice President- IESL before

the gathering proceeded for cocktails.

Sri Lanka Engineering andScience Fair and fund the 3project Finalists andAccompanying Team to theInternational Engineering andScience Fair held usually ina US City. This year it washeld in the historic city ofPittsburg in Pennsylvania,USA. The local competitionis also held similar to thestandards maintained in theUSA competition which isalso sponsored by IntelCorporation worldwide. Mr.Priyantha Weerabahu of SriLanka Intel was most helpfulwith all coordination. Theinternational opportunity isavailable since 2007 and heldin May each year.

The Hon Minister ofEducation and PresidentialAdditional Secretary Mr.Anura Dissanake and myselfand Sri Lanka Intel chiefIndika de Soyza addressedthe Sri Lankan Team toencourage them in theMinistry prior to theirdeparture.

The picture top left (eg Multifunctional shoe) show howthe exhibits are displayedand nearly 1400 of them fromover 70 countries andmajority from schools fromright round USA. The Societyfor Science and the Public(SSP) conduct this IntelInternational Science andEngineering Fair.

Several Category sectionsdisplay exhibits egMechanical/Engineering,Computer science,Mathematics, Chemistry,Bacteriology, Earth Science,Biology, Biochemistry, CellBiology, Molecular Medicine,Planetary Sciences etc.there were many judginggroups who went round theexhibits as a closed dooroperation with only thecompetitors and prearrangedofficial translators. Therewas a huge organizationworking round the clock tosmoothen operations whichwas par excellence.

There was a parallel“Educator Academy” for theofficials with seminars onScience teaching, Inquirybased teaching techniques,Talkshops, informative Talksby Nobel Laureates and othertop US personalitiesincluding Astronauts!

This was my first experiencein a school science effort atinternational level and it wasa different experience ratherlike a baseball match in theUSA when prize winners’names were announced atthe Final Awards Ceremony.There were huge cheeringsquads in a large hall withnearly 5000 persons

witnessing. We almost felloff from our seats when twoof our Sri Lankans won aproject prize awarded by TheInternational Electronic andElectrical EngineersFoundation (IEEEFoundation Award).

The International Award wasfor a creative project byPipunika and Nipuna fromDe Mazenod CollegeKandana Physics class,where elder sister Pipunikaand younger brother Nipuntogether worked on aprogramme to give relief tothe visually handicapped bycreating a braile keyboardlinked to specific softwareprogramme which the two ofthem wrote and tested outon visually handicappedpersons with the use ofvoice output of a webcamera recognized visualinputs. Thus it was possiblefor a blind person to hold apicture to a computercamera and get a voiceoutput in Sinhala on thecolour or shapes in thepicture. The idea was thatof the kids and they hadadvice and the researchassistance given by theirscience master Mr Nonis.The final touches to makethe posters and update allsupporting documents werehelped by IESL and NSFand coaching in English tohelp when the internationaljudges come round wasgiven between March andMay 2012 before they wentto USA. The two studentswere excellent in theirunderstanding of the projectand impressed the foreignjudges on their creativity,industriousness, sincererity,hard work and accuracy ofnotes maintained andmethodology etc. The prizemoney was worth USD 800between the two in thisgroup project. Winning forthe country was morevaluable that the prizemoney.

Another student Samanfrom Pinnawela CentralCollege had an interestingElectricity producing joggingshoe this generatedelectricity and a light at thetip of the shoe and an USBcharging port for a mobilephone or any device. Weexpected this to be pickedup for a prize but he was notlucky as there were moresophisticated mechanicaland engineering projects.Saman had come first in theJunior Inventor of the YearAward in Sri Lanka.Another Student Maleenfrom Maliyadeva ,Kurunegala had aninteresting project onweather forecasting usingplanetary angles he hadworked out. He had acorrelation of 80+% using

his method for the last fouryears compared to 60+%based on actuals usingsatellite predictions inColombo, Kandy andPittsburg…data obtainedfrom those Observatories.This project also failed toattract attention amongstthe 1400 projects.

I am taking pains to detailthis process as this iswithin the reach of manykids and science teachersin this country. I was notsure how much theinformation on advertisingscience fairs in Sri Lankapenetrates down to schoolsand how many teachers ofscience encourage theirstudents especially thecreative children to moveforwards. I am sure evenprivate schools andinternational schools cantake part. The Ministry ofEducation amongst thegreat many things theyhave to do, I suggest theytake special Interest inpromoting science in SriLanka in this way.Promoting scientificthought and culture willultimately reap great benefitto the country not only inname and fame but lead toeconomic development.Even politicians must takenote as we have talent tobe harnessed as what Ihave personally witnessed.This is an annual event andwe must make the besteffortI am aware that Sri Lankanchildren in the past had hadwon even a grand award in2009 -2010. Even at this2012 event a Sri LankanChild now a USA Citizen

won a second Prize GrandAward in a biology category.Chireen Kurukulasuriya acitizen from a Pittsburg school.She had worked part time on aproject with a UniversityProfessor.

This brings me to anothersuggestion. Most projects ofUSA school children were veryhigh flown and beyond thescope of many of our childrenor schools to be undertaken intheir laboratories. This isbecause as a nation USA hasa science promoting culture.University Professors, PhDworkers take on interestedschool kids to do side projectsusing their labs and theythemselves get involved in thoseprojects and promote the kidsto think and do things under thegeneral control of the schoolscience master…This makesthem present themselves to behigh achievers.

We can also do this withoutmuch expenditure. We need tothink a little out of the box. Wecan recommend to our Ministryof Higher Education andthrough them to ViceChancellors and Deans andUGC that in order to helpdevelop creative minds inscience in the country thatthey should ask their UniversityScience Staff to offer even flexitime attachments to somecreative school sciencestudents to work with them. Iam suggesting one or twostudents per year per universityscience don. Even 1 or 2school students (Year 10/11/12….pre A/ Level exam year)in a university department,mentoring some schoolscience projects would be agreat help to the students, the

school and the country. Thiswould make them morecompetitive and help to raisethe general standards ofscience education in SriLanka. Project basedscience education will bringin sound teaching practice inour schools preparingstudents for a 21st centuryinnovation economy.

In our own medical faculties,we can encourage schoolstudents who are creativeand selected by the schoolto work on biochemistry,bacteriology, etc. They needto be bright, creative; selfmotivated, disciplined andwork under the direction ofschool and faculty mentor tobecome competitive locallyand internationally.

This will help our studentswith effective use oftechnology, promotingproblem solving, criticalthinking and collaborationskills.

I hope in the next few yearswe will have morecompetitive and creativeschool science projectsreaching the top twenty andfinally go for internationalcompetition. It is a great featfor the country to take parteven if we can’t win. We areso grateful to the IntelCorporation, MOE, IESL,NSF and the ScienceTeacher community,supporting parents for theirenormous input to put oursmall country on aninternational stage.Congratulations Pipunikaand Nipun and De MazenodKandana, the whole countryis very proud of you.

Sri Lanka Engineering News - June 2012IESL NEWS12

Printed by Karunaratne & Sons (Pvt) Ltd., No. 67, UDA Industrial Estate, Katuwana Road, Homagama

TECHNICAL SESSION ON “DAM SAFETYMEASURES AND THE BREACH OF

KANTALE DAM IN 1986” &”LEARNINGAND MEMORY”

Resource Persons : - Eng. (Mrs).B.KamaladasaDirector - Asset Management CentralIrrigation, Colombo & Eng.N.KamaladasaChief Executive Officer , Distance LearningCentre Ltd

Venue : - Regional Director of Irrigation Office, Kallady, Batticaloa.Date : - 07.04.2012

Eng. S.Mohanrajah, Chairman of I.E.S.L.(East) addresses the gathering and intro-

duces resource persons.

Eng.N.Kamaladasa explains about Leftbrain and Right brain.

Eng. B.Kamaladasa is seen at the sessionon “Dam safety measures and the breach

of Kantale Dam in 1986”

Eng.M.Ramanasundaran, Secretary ofI.E.S.L. (East) delivers Vote of thanks.

TECHNICAL SESSION ON “PUBLIC SERVICESMINUTES AND CLAIMS MANAGEMENT –FIDIC”

Resource Person : - Dr.K.M.P.S.Bandara,Director – Engineering Services & Mr.Michel Valbuena Team Leader –AFD Projects, Egis Bceom, FranceVenue : - Hotel Bridge View Inn, Kallady, Batticaloa.Date : - 17.03.2012Sponsors : - Swisstek and Lanka Tiles

Dr.K.M.P.S.Bandara (Director – Engineering Services) ,Chiefguest and Resource person is introduced by Chairman.

TECHNICAL SESSION ON“EXTERNAL INFLUENCES IN DESIGN

AND FUTURE CHALLENGES TOENGINEERS”

Resource Person : - Eng.S.MohanarajahRegional Director of IrrigationCentral Irrigation, Batticaloa range

Venue : - Hotel Bridge View Inn, Kallady, Batticaloa.Date : - 19.05.2012Sponsor : - Holcim Lanka Ltd

Technical Support Engineer of Holcim Lanka explains theirproducts.

Eng. S.Mohanrajah, Chairman of I.E.S.L. (East) addressesthe gathering.

Mr.Michel Valbuena is seen during his session on “ClaimsManagement-FIDIC “.

EVENT PHOTOS OF THE EASTERNPROVINCIAL CENTRE