IEEE Newsletter - University of Peradeniya Volume 2 (March 2019)

10) Comment on the demand for Nanotechnology in the world? What is the situation in Sri Lanka? I think in research and engineering there will be a big demand for those who are competent in nanotechnology. As an example, Intel is into manufacturing chips containing transistors below 10 nm technology, which means that has already come into manufacturing. For electrical electronic and computer engineers, there is a big demand for engineers having skills in Nanotechnology. Since there is not much of a technical based industry in Sri Lanka, I don't think there will be a big scope other than doing research. More 11) Apart from lecturing in our faculty, what is your relationship investments are needed in this area. with other Universities both local and international? How would you describe your relationship with the industry? For local private universi es, I only provide services such as programme evalua on, accredita on, etc., as teaching and research with them may give rise to a conﬂict of interest because we produce graduates to the same market. Interna onally, yes, I have connec ons with the Cambridge University regarding the area of Nanotechnology. Then with Cranﬁeld University, United Kingdom I spent my sabba cal leave from 2014-2015 where I worked with electric vehicles. It was a research consor um and it consisted of 7 universi es including Oxford, Imperial College, Loughborough University, etc. Since I have working experience with the 5 top er companies in Sri Lanka, while at SLINTEC, and later I was serving as the Director of the Engineering Design Centre for 2.5 years, I think I have a rela vely good rela onship with industries. 12) What is your view on the syllabus and the projects currently undergoing in our faculty? What are the improvements that need to be done? Personally, I believe we should go with the kind of courses that the other universi es around the world are doing. For example, what some of the universi es are doing is, they oﬀer a set of courses and if you want to graduate in electrical engineering, you should complete these courses no ma er when you are going to do it. If you let that freedom to be prac ced here, I think the students will be relieved from the stresses they are undergoing. Just imagine a ﬂower tree. If you disturb it too much it will not grow, but if you let the sun come and put some water, it will grow. Projects need to work with industry, otherwise they will end up in shelves. Because these are not a fundamental science projects, they should go to prac ce, otherwise people will not recognize us. If someone is funding, he/she is interested in the results. That is the mo va on for the project group to deliver with quality on me. If the project has done something great, then the funding body will take the ﬂag and run for you. You don't need to worry about the publicity, it will come automa cally. PAGE 16 IEEE Newsletter University of Peradeniya

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