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| Sunday,13 November 2005 |
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New start
for aspiring young computer scientists
The exhibition to commemorate 20 years of the Computer Science and Engineering Department of the University of Moratuwa was held at the University premises on November 04 and 05, inaugurated by Chancellor Vidyajothi Ray Wijewardene and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Prof. Ananda Jayawardene. The event was graced by Industrial representatives such as Microsoft Sri Lanka Country Manager and other noteworthy dignitaries. by Ranga Kamaladasa
Though the Exhibition hosted technology like new web policies from Apache Axis Team, etc. The main tone of the exhibition was not a technical one but an educational one to promote computer science among school children. "We had an exhibition in July which was targeted at the IT professionals," says Vishaka Nanayakkara, one of the chief organisers of the exhibition. "But we realised that we also have a duty to educate the younger generation, so we felt we should share our knowledge with school children as well, that's what the undergraduates are doing here today." A special section was dedicated for E-learning software tailor-made for local A/L and O/L syllabuses and also a section for the computer artifacts from the different ages of computing like the earliest punch-cards to magnetic disks. Various schools ranging from Matara Rahula to Sewamuktha Kandavura M. V. Polonnaruwa hosted their exhibits alongside the graduate and undergraduate exhibits. From Final-year projects to June-term projects, the undergraduates had compiled a wide array of interesting computing applications that are attractive as well as comprehensible to the common crowd; some of them had been awarded medals in the National Best Software Awards by the BCS.
There were intelligent software that could animate body movements, bar-code identifiers, mobile RSS feed readers, Mine-detectors that use animal brain signals to detect TNT, as well as wireless data transfer systems where students had experimented with FM transmitters to transfer data from computer to computer. Some even had a mechatronic touch like the tic-tac-toe machine which used a computer brain to process its next move from the programmed algorithm and a mechanical arm to place the appropriate piece afterwards. There were also some highly innovative concepts like the mobile cab service database, where the students had envisioned a mobile software built into mobile phones of cab drivers and normal citizens, along with using Dialogs location finder to pinpoint and to get the nearest available cab to come to you by just an SMS. A technology incubator was also created on this occasion to facilitate the new entrepreneurs of the University to kick start their dreams into an industrial reality. "What we have realised is that in this large corporate world if the graduates want to start something new, it's hard to really start from scratch," says Visaka. "The incubator will guide them, provide them with infrastructure and maybe even the human resources out of the competent undergraduates who'd like to work part time." The Department of Computer Science and Engineering collaborating with Microsoft Sri Lanka also established a Mobile Technology Lab where extensive research will be done in the development of the mobile field. |
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