World renowned professionals due here to attend 'Chemtech' confab

by Gamini Warushamana

World renowned professionals in chemistry will be in Colombo next month to attend the "Chemtech" international conference organised by the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon (ICC). The theme of the conference is Chemistry, technology and innovation for greater safety and economic growth.

Prof. Raymond Fernando	Prof. R.M.G. Rajapakse	Prof. Gehan Amaratunga	Prof. Ravi Silva	Prof. Eugene de Silva

The conference will be inaugurated on June 20 at the BMICH and will conclude on June 23. Technical sessions will be held from June 21-23 with the participation of over 20 internationally recognised professionals including reputed expatriate Sri Lankan experts.

The theme for the first day technical session is chemistry as a contributor to sustainable economic growth. The second day sessions will focus on "Nano technology and chemical synthesis and the third day sessions will focus on "chemistry and technology for greater safety and economic growth".

ICC President Mevan Pieris said that with this conference ICC will start to develop a research and development culture in chemistry in Sri Lanka. ICC promotes chemistry education in Sri Lanka and offers degrees and diplomas in chemistry. The following Sri Lankan professionals are scheduled to address the conference.

Prof. Leslie Gunatilake

"Chemistry for the Post - Genomic Era - New Directions in Natural Products Chemistry for the 21st Century".

He is the Director of SW Centre for natural products research and commercialisation, of the University of Arizona. Prof. Gunatilake graduated from the University of Peradeniya with a degree in special chemistry and obtained his PhD from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London, UK.

Prof. Lakshman Andrady

"Solar UV - Induced Damage and its control in common polymers". Graduated from the University of Sri Jayawardenepura, Sri Lanka with First Class honours in Chemistry and obtained his PhD from the University of North London, in the area of physical organic chemistry of polymers.

He is now the Programme Manager of the Department of Polymer Science, Chemistry and Life Division of the Research Triangle Institute, North Carolina, USA.

Prof. Veranja Karunaratne

"Harnessing tropical lichens for important bio active compounds"

Prof. Veranja Karunaratne graduated with First Class honours from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1978 and obtained his PhD in chemistry from the University of British Columbia, Canada. He is Professor and Head of the Department of Chemistry of the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and is an outstanding researcher in the area of plant chemistry with numerous scholastic and academic awards to his credit.

Prof. A. P. Silva

"Molecular Information Handling, design, implementation and application".

Prof. de Silva graduated in 1975 from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, with a first class Honours degree in chemistry and obtained his PhD in Organic photochemistry from the Queens University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1980. He is a leading researcher of international repute in photochemistry and is Professor of Chemistry at Queens University of Belfast, Ireland.

Prof. Gehan Amaratunga

"Nanotubes and Nanowires for Electronics"

Prof. Gehan Amaratunga graduated with first class honours in Engineering from the University of Wales and thereafter obtained his PhD in Electronic Engineering from the University of Cambridge.

Prof. Amaratunga has carried out pioneering research in the study and application of carbon as an electronic material and is a leading researcher in the area of nano structured carbon thin films, carbon nanotubes and polymer nanotube composites for devices including cold cathode based microwave amplifiers, solar cells and nanotransistors.

Prof. S. Ravi P. Silva

"Large Area lighting and Photovoltaic Devices using nano - engineered Organic nanotube composites".

Prof. Ravi Silva obtained his BA (Honours) in Electrical and Information Sciences Tripos from the University of Cambridge in 1990 and his PhD in solid-state electronics from the same university.

In 2003 he was awarded one of eight portfolio partnership awards in "integrated electronics" for all engineering and physical sciences in the UK to a value of 6.15 Mn pounds, and in the same year he was awarded the UNESCO Albert Einstein Silver medal and the Javed Husain Young Scientist award for contributions to 'Electronic devices and materials contributions on a national and international scale'.

He is currently the Director of the Advanced Technology Institute (ATE) with over 160 research scientists and Head of the nano - electronics centre of ATI of the University of Surrey. Prof. Ravi Silva has more than 200 research publications in prestigious international journals and 15 patents to his credit.

Prof. R.M.G. Rajapakse

"Versatility of Clay and Clay - Polymer nanocomposites"

Prof. Gamini Rajapakse graduated in Chemistry from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka with First Class honours in 1983 and obtained his PhD in Photoelectro chemistry from the Imperial College of Science and Technology and Medicine of University of London, UK in 1988.

He is currently fulltime Professor of Chemistry at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka and visiting Research Prof. of the University of Texas, USA.

Prof. Raymond Fernando

"Nanotechnology applications in Polymer coatings"

Prof. Ray Fernando graduated in Chemistry from the University of Sri Jayawardenepura in 1979 having obtained his PhD in Polymer Coatings from North Dakota State University, USA.

He has considerable industrial R & D experience and is currently Director of polymers and coating program within the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at California Polytechnic State University, USA, and occupies the Arthur C. Edwards chair.

Prof. Eugene de Silva

"Applied Research in Chemistry and changing trends in teaching"

Prof. de Silva graduated in chemistry from the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon in 1989 and thereafter obtained his MSc degree in Applied Chemical Analysis from the Metropolitan University of Manchester.

He obtained a PhD in Chemistry from the Knightsbridge University, UK, in 1997 and a second PhD in Plasma Physics in 1999 from the Manchester Metropolitan University.

He is currently Director of the Virginia Research Institute, USA and President, International University for specialised education and research, Louisiana, USA.

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