2nd International Research Symposium 2018
"Emerging Technologies for an Innovative Green Economy"
February 1,2 and 3, 2018
Uva Wellassa University (UWU), which has engraved unique features in Sri Lankan higher education sector, leads the theme of value addition to national resource base. Taking the pride in producing well rounded graduates to the nation, UWU has developed innovative solutions to bridge the gaps in the knowledge among undergraduates.
With the expectation of contributing to the country’s sustainable development, UWU opened its 2ndInternational Research Symposium under the theme of “Emerging Technologies for an Innovative Green Economy”, which was held in February 1-3 2018, at UWU premises, encouraging researchers to discuss, share and disseminate research findings in this high forum of intellectualities actively engaged in keeping footprints in the journey of Sri Lanka’s sustainable development and regaining economic prosperity.
Chief Guest
Hon. A. D. S. Premajayantha is a member of parliament of Sri Lanka representing Colombo District, graduated from University of Colombo receiving Bachelor of Law in 1982 and pledged as an Attorny at Law in 1984. He obtained Masters in Public Administration from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in 2004. As a politician, Mr Premajayantha has been presiding ministerial posts in education and technology related ministries since the beginning of his career as a member of parliament. For the first time when he was elected to the parliament in 2000 representing Gampaha District, he was offered the chair of Ministry of Education. Then he became theof Minister of Power and Energy in 2004 and followed by being the Minister of Petroleum Industries in 2010. Then Mr Premajayantha received as new ministry, which is still in technology related, he was appointed as the Minister of Environment and Renewable Energy in 2013. Since 2015, he has been the Minister of Technology and Research.
Guest of Honour
Prof. Ajith de Alwis completed his Ph.D. at University of Cambridge, UK post completing his B.Sc. (Eng) degree at the University of Moratuwa. He also has an MBA from Post Graduate Institute of Management (PIM) of University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He is the recipient of numerous awards in recognition of his work, most notable being the Senior Moulton Medal of Institution of Chemical Engineers (UK), Danckwerts-Maxwell Award from University of Cambridge for the best PhD Thesis, University of Moratuwa Research Awards from 1997 to 2007. He is a Professor at the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering at the University of Moratuwa and is also the Director of the University of Moratuwa-Cargills Food Process Development Incubator. Served as the Chairman of Engineering Research Unit (ERU) of Univ of Moratuwa from 2005-7. He was also the Science team leader for Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC) from its inception in 2008 to 2011, and Chairman of the National nanotechnology committee at NSF from 2011-2012. He is currently the Project Director of recently instituted Coordinating Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation (COSTI) Sri Lanka.
Keynote Speakers
Professor Liyanage C De Silva has received BSc Eng(Hons) degree from the University of Moratuwa Sri Lanka in 1985, MPhil degree from The Open University of Sri Lanka in 1989, MEng and PhD degrees from the University of Tokyo, Japan in 1992 and 1995 respectively. From April 1995 to March 1997 he pursued his postdoctoral research as a researcher at ATR (Advanced Telecommunication Research) Laboratories, Kyoto, Japan. Currently he is a Professor of Engineering and the Dean of the Faculty of Integrated Technologies (FIT) at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD).Liyanage’s current research interests are Internet of Things Neural Network Applications, Image and Speech Signal Processing Digital Communication, Information theory, Pattern recognition and understanding, Multimedia signal processing, and Smart Sensors. Liyanage has published over 170 technical papers in these areas in international conferences, journals and Japanese national conventions and jointly holds three US, one Brunei and one Japanese national patents. The Japanese national patent was successfully sold to Sony Corporation Japan for commercial utilization. Liyanage’s works have been cited as one of the pioneering work in the bimodal emotion recognition by many researchers. His papers so far have been cited by more than 2600 times.
Professor Girish Jha received his Ph.D. in Linguistics, specialized in Computational Morphology in 1998 from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is a Professor of Computational Linguistics, Special Center for Sanskrit Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) since 2014 and Chairs for the Special Center for Sanskrit Studies, JNU. Since 2016. In addition, Professor Girish Nath Jha has been holding many other positions in various European countries including Guest Professor of the University Of Wurzburg, Germany, under DAAD fellowship, Visiting Professor of University of Florence, Italy, Guest Lecturer under DAAD fellowship, at Digital Humanities Department of University of Wurzburg, Germany, 2014. His contribution as an eminent scholar in the Asian region includes Guest Lecturer of Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia. Professor Girish Nath Jha’s research interests include Indian languages corpora and standards, Sanskrit and Hindi linguistics, Science & Technology in Sanskrit texts, Computational Lexicography, Machine Translation, e-learning, web based technologies, RDBMS techniques, and software design and localization.
Professor Shireen Assem received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biotechnology in 1999 from The Faculty of Science, Cairo University. She specialized in Plant Genetic Engineering, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. Currently, she holds the positions of Director of AGERI and the Head of Research Scientist of The Plant Transformation and Biopharmaceuticals Lab.The Deputy Director for Training and Extension, AGERI (2010-2014), Head of the Plant Molecular Biology Department, AGERI (2007-2010), Senior Research Scientist, AGERI (2004-2010), Research Scientist, AGERI (1999-2004), Assistant Researcher, AGERI (1992-1999), and Research Assistant, AGERI (1986-1992) were previous positions. Additionally, Professor Assem has been a reviewer for many national and international funding schemes.
Symposium Themes and Award Winners
| Category | Presenter Name |
| Best Oral Presenter in Animal & Crop Production Technology under Animal Science Plenary | W.K.R. Nirmali |
| Animal & Crop Production Technology Plenary II- Oral Merit | M.A. Dishan |
| Animal & Crop Production Technology Plenary III- Oral Merit | N.M.C. Nayanakantha |
| Best Oral Presenter in Animal & Crop Production Technology under Crop Production Technology Plenaries | N.M.C. Nayanakantha |
| Best Poster Presenter in Animal & Crop Production Technology under Animal Science Plenary | A.G.M. Kalhara |
| Animal & Crop Production Technology Plenary II- Poster Merit | W.G.M. Dilani |
| Animal & Crop Production Technology Plenary III- Poster Merit | W.H.T.P. Weerapura |
| Best Poster Presenter in Animal & Crop Production Technology under Crop Production Technology Plenaries | W.G.M. Dilani |
| Best Oral Presenter in Aquaculture and Fisheries | T.N. Dharmakeerthi |
| Best Poster Presenter in Aquaculture and Fisheries | M.R. Mohamed Rashath |
| Best Oral Presenter in Biotechnology and Bioprocess Technology | W.L.H. Wijewickrama |
| Best Poster Presenter in Biotechnology and Bioprocess Technology | A.G.D.M. Perera |
| Best Oral Presenter in Computing and Information Sciences | D.C. Basnayake |
| Best Poster Presenter in Computing and Information Sciences | M.A.C.P. Gunawardana |
| Best Oral Presenter in Economics and Statistics | S. Niroshini |
| Best Poster Presenter in Economics and Statistics | H.R.A.C. Thilanka |
| Entrepreneurship and Management Plenary l- Oral Merit | H.M.T.D. Bandara |
| Entrepreneurship and Management Plenary II- Oral Merit | Y. Nanthagopan |
| Best Oral Presenter in Entrepreneurship and Management | H.M.T.D. Bandara |
| Best Poster Presenter in Entrepreneurship and Management | K.D.M. Priyadarshani |
| Environment Science Plenary I- Oral Merit | P.H. Tithira Lakkana |
| Environment Science Plenary II- Oral Merit | K.A.M. Kula rathne |
| Best Oral Presenter in Environment Science | P.H. Tithira Lakkana |
| Environment Science Plenary I- Poster Merit | H.M.C.R.K. Hennayake |
| Environment Science Plenary II- Poster Merit | S. Arangajanan |
| Best Poster Presenter in Environment Science | S. Arangajanan |
| Food Science and Technology Plenary I-Oral Merit | S. Dinesh Kumara |
| Food Science and Technology Plenary II-Oral Merit | J.M.N.H. Premerathne |
| Best Oral Presenter in Food Science and Technology | J.M.N.H. Premerathne |
| Food Science and Technology Plenary I-Poster Merit | M.R. Roshana |
| Food Science and Technology Plenary II-Poster Merit | W.M.M.H. Thilakarathne |
| Best Poster Presenter in Food Science and Technology | W.M.M.H. Thilakarathne |
| Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management Plenary I-Oral Merit | M.A.M. Raazim |
| Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management Plenary II-Oral Merit | K.LP.M. Perera |
| Best Oral Presenter in Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management | K.L.P.M. Perera |
| Best Poster Presenter in Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management | H.K.K. Milinda |
| Best Oral Presenter in Humanities and Social Sciences | D.M.R.S. Dissanayaka |
| Best Poster Presenter in Humanities and Social Sciences | K.G.S.P.D. Alwis |
| Best Oral Presenter in Material and Mineral Science | T. Kirushanthi |
| Best Poster Presenter in Material and Mineral Science | K.S. Perera |
| Best Oral Presenter in Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics | G.G.S. Udara |
| Best Poster Presenter in Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics | R.S.M.D.M. Chandrasekara |