'Beyond the code : IT Entrepreneurship'

CSE marks yet another milestone... :

Mahatma Gandhi said "be the change you want to see in the world", and that is what exactly the Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) which is part of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Moratuwa has been doing since its inception in 1985.

The fast moving world is a maze of technology and computing has reached a topmost rung in the ladder of technologies. Sri Lanka is looking at new options to make an impact and be recognised globally, through innovation and performance.

According to the developments in IT sector of Sri Lanka in the recent past, it is showing bright prospects of a

 speedy journey towards challenging the IT giants of the world in a substantial way.

The Department of Computer Science & Engineering, which has made pioneering efforts to give life to new concepts which in turn would benefit the IT academia as well as the industry, made July 17, 2007 yet another memorable day in the IT calendar of Sri Lanka, Being the key institute of the country to produce the best Computer Science & Engineering graduates to the industry, the department has done an impressive service to the country at large.

This year the Department of Computer Science & Engineering along with the Computer Science & Engineering Society (CS&ES) executed the premier IT event of the year in grand style at the Galleface Hotel in the 'Beyond the code: IT Entrepreneurship ' Conference. This was followed by the CS&ES Annual General Meeting and the CSE get-together transforming July 17, 2007 into a day of conceptualization, excitement, innovation and fun.

The conference was driven with the motivation of spurring up the entrepreneurial skills of the future stakeholders of the IT industry. The theme of the conference, 'Beyond the code' itself highlights that the IT professionals can unleash their true potential by detaching themselves from the traditional 'developer' tag.

To brew up excitement about this topic, several veteran speakers and guests were invited, and the event was participated by more than five hundred participants from the industry as well as the academic community including students. The event started at 1.30 p.m. with a kick-off presentation and from that point onwards it was all 'beyond the code' and 'beyond the norm'.

There were two keynote speeches by Mr.Linson Joseph, Channel Platform Manager of South Asia for Intel and Mr.Stan Loh, International Team Leader, National Distance Education Network, Ministry of Higher Education on the topics 'Beyond Ghz' and 'From idea to product' respectively.

Mr.Joseph gave a comprehensive coverage on the development of processor designs and how it is expected to evolve in the future where the current trend of going in to multi-core from the race to increase Ghz will go into another paradigm.

Mr.Stan Loh who likes to call himself a 'technopeasant' enlightened the crowd on how to transform a simple idea which may come up anywhere at any time in to a commercially viable product and he delivered the message to "not to invent a need, but invent a solution for a need".

Thereafter, the programme was split in to two tracks, namely the Corporate Track and the Academic Track where three guest speakers for each track enlightened the gathering on various topics with relevance to the theme. The Speakers for the Corporate Track were Dr.Hans Wijayasuriya,CEO/Director, Dialog Telekom Ltd, Mr.Moksevi Prelis, CEO of DFCC Bank and Mr.Jayantha Fernando,Program Director, Legal Advisor of ICTA.

Dr.Hans gave insight to 'innovation in a competitive market' where he explained the inevitability to identify the proper options through innovation. Being a personality who has been in the business sector for many years, Mr.Prelis attracted the attention of the crowd towards the topic 'why don't IT professionals take the lead?'.

Legislations regarding Computer Crime, Intellectual Property Rights regarding software etc have started to emerge in the Sri Lankan IT arena. Mr. Jayantha Fernando enlightened the crowd on the important legal issues and the latest legislations with regard to IT.

The Academic Track which was for the academic community and the undergraduate student population in the field was addressed by Mr. Paul Fremantle, Vice President, Technical Sales of WSO2, Dr.Shahani Weerawarana, Chief Technology Officer , ICTA and Mr.Harshana Dassanayake, Assistant Manager, Human Resources Management & Development,?Dialog Telekom.

Mr.Fremantle did an impressive presentation on the topic 'From laptop to Lexus : a hitchhiker's guide to be an entrepreneur'. Dr.Shahani Weerawarana who has been a front runner in the Open Source community of the country explained the viability and significance of 'FOSS Entrepreneurship'.

Mr.Harshana Dassanayake gave insight to 'time management for a budding entrepreneur' which becomes one of the primary ingredients for one seeking corporate success.

Each presentation was followed by a Q&A session where the audience got any ambiguities clarified. A Press Briefing was arranged in another location of the premises where the local media got an insight to the Department of CSE as well as the programme, and this was conducted by the Head of Department, Mrs.Vishaka Nanayakkara along with four senior lecturers of the department - Dr.Gihan Dias, Dr.Chathura de Silva, Dr.Sanath Jayasena and Mr.Shantha Fernando.

With the conclusion of the conference inspiring many akin, the conference converged in to the CSE get-together and Annual General Meeting of the CS&ES which elected its board members for the upcoming year.

Prof.Malik Ranasinghe, Vice Chancellor, University of Moratuwa was the Chief Guest for the event and it was graced by many trailblazing professionals of the industry.

Going with the theme 'fire on ice', the event turned out to be a glamorous one with performances by students, multimedia presentations about the department and CS&ES, as well as a couple of fun activities to enhance the companionship of the gathering.

Eventually, all ended up as yet another victory of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, and surely it would be a day which is fondly remembered by all those who participated.

The Department of Computer Science & Engineering has kept a pledge of striving towards the growth of the IT field of the country, and through events like this, it has exposed new paradigms of the sector and will be keeping up the high-quality work in the years to come by.

University of Moratuwa

University of Moratuwa, located on the banks of the Bolgoda Lake is the prominent technical university in Sri Lanka, comprising of an Engineering Faculty, an Architecture Faculty and an Information Technology Faculty.

Since its inception in 1972, University of Moratuwa has produced world renowned academics, researchers and professionals in great numbers. It consists of nine engineering disciplines, each contributing to its own field immensely and forwards its services as a center of higher learning research & consultancy in engineering.

In keeping abreast with the latest technological advancements, the Engineering Faculty offers courses in a variety of technical spheres while encouraging the students to focus their imaginative ideas on constructive designs. The University of Moratuwa, works toward becoming a part of a long tradition of intellectual rigor and creative achievement while also developing the social and spiritual life of the students.

Department of Computer Science & Engineering

The Department of Computer Science and Engineering of University of Moratuwa has been a great contributor for the nation for almost two decades and continuing to do so in the years to come.

Since its birth in 1985 it has grown rapidly but vigorously to achieve its objectives. Computer Science & Engineering is a much sought after engineering discipline amongst the best students of the whole university. Equipped with the latest technologies the department boasts of having produced intellectuals and IT professionals of highest standards.

Its key to success is the dedicated panel of lecturers who are specialists in various areas of computing. Its uniqueness has created an indelible mark in the whole IT sector of the country.

This leading tertiary education center also offers MBA in Information Technology as well as Msc in Computer Science courses. The MSc in Computer Science which lets you specialize on either the fields of Computer Networks, Computer Architecture, Information Systems Security and IT Management is a challenging course which prepares the graduates to be sought after professionals of the industry and it also lays a solid foundation for further study at the doctoral level.

The department of CSE is looking forward to offer an MBA in e-Governance for public sector employees in the near future.

CS&ES (sub topic)

Computer Science and Engineering Society comprises of the alumni of the department during its two decades of existence. These individuals today are performing leading roles in their respective organizations, yet have time to give back to society that they serve.

The emerging shape of the 21st century demands all of us to be on par with the growing trends in the field of Information Technology. Since its inauguration in 1997, driven by the dedicated effort of its members, the CS & ES has contributed much towards the CSE as well as the industry. The society carries out many projects during the year with the help of the staff and the present students.

by Aravinda Dassanayake