2015/2016 MESC Report – ( November 2015 – February 2016 actuals)
This session, MESC activities are organized ( anything we do) under the brand / theme TIE.
T – Transport ( public )
I – Innovation (entrepreneurship )
E – Energy ( all energy types and focused on generation more than distribution)
Like last session, we have selected Project Leaders and Teams to carry out all the work with full autonomy and needed guidance from the Chair ( we want to build leaders and not just followers). These leaders have the full support of the Chair to carry out their projects.
MESC is fully run and managed on digital platforms. All our meeting minutes, events, news etc. can be accessed through our Membership Management Systems page given to MESC. Any current member can access.
Public Lectures:
Plan is to deliver 20 lectures during the session and take some of them outside Colombo and if in Colombo to take some of them to public forums. We are very focused in generating national enthusiasm to our theme and sharing knowledge among the public. For this we will need additional financial support from IESL budget that we have already submitted during the budget process. We requested around Rs. 1 million for this.
Accomplishments ( most of them had 60 minutes or more discussions as a practice and both aspects of the session were digitally recorded and live streamed )
13/11/2016 - Electrified Railways : Soon to be reality (Eng. B.D. Rampala memorial lecture)
Eng. Dr. ThilakSiyambalapitiya
IESL - Colombo
180 participants
21/01/2016 - Internet of Things
Eng. Indika Walpitage
IESL - Colombo
88 participants
05/02/2016 - Connectivity to the Expanding Internet as the Key to Realizing the network society
Prof. ThasNirmalathas
IESL - Colombo
32 participants
11/02/2016 - From a local engineering degree to globally recognized achievements- Is it difficult for a Sri Lankan engineer?
Eng. (Dr.) NihalKularatne
IESL - Colombo
31 participants
16/02/2016 - Practice vs. Theory - Why Professionals Often Do Not Apply Theory
Eng. (Dr.) D. Darshi De Saram
UoR - Galle
230 participants
24/02/2016 - Working With People – A Perspective Beyond Mathematics and Physics
Eng. (Dr.) D. Darshi De Saram
UoP - Peradeniya
240 participants
Continuing this year theme( TIE),, our future plans are to organize more public lectures outside Colombo. We will be focusing on following areas:
• Public Lectures on Rail & Public transport
• Panel discussion on Megapolis – Western province 30 year plan for the country
• Young engineering entrepreneurs’ symposium
Project Leaders: Engs. AsithaJayarathna, Mahesh Darmasena, DamithSenadheera
CSR Project:
Learning from our last session’s activities related to a CSR ( which is still in process due to lack of funds and longer duration required), this session we are focused on wrapping up a “high impact CSR” in 3 months and with less cost. Our project is below.
Low Cost Portable Paddy Dryer: The idea is to focus on an industry where around 47% of working population is involved and provide a means to a small farmer means of saving his/her crop during harvesting ( a major issue for small farmers who get caught in unpredictable weather patterns). The project output will be a portable dryer that can be built in a local fabrication shop ( kammala) and easily maintained by the farmer. We have finalized two design approaches and in the process of getting the detailed designs done for prototype building. Then we plan to test a machine in real conditions by traveling to few locations. We believe required financials are within our control. If needed we are confidant we can generate a small fund.
Project Leader: Eng. Parakrama Jayasinghe ( many senior engineers and junior engineers are working with him)
CPD Course for Mechanical Engineering Designs:( details are attached in separate documents -Round one lessons - as attached, Round two adjustments - as attached)
Round one status - 68 participated, 58 submitted design proposals & mentors allocated, 03 submitted design reports & evaluation in progress. We have given a deadline until March 31st to get things done. We are not going to give any certificates of “pass” unless the final design is approved by the independent panel we have already appointed. Such a “pass” fulfills the designs requirement for the PR. However, we have decided to give a letter of “participation” to all those who completed 13 modules of the course. We will not give any unnecessary flexibility in terms of time either. If a student is unable to complete on time ( which is plenty because courses were completed by early November and mentoring began during and after) they will have to use the knowledge gained to do the design in their own and take the normal route.
Round two status - advertised to start on the 13th March. We have done lots of content revisions, delivery revisions based on lessons learned from Round one.
Project Leaders: Engs. Parakrma Jayasinghe, Piyasiri Kalubowila, Gamini Kulatunga. ( and another 10 senior engineers in the development team)
CPD Course Coordinator: Eng. Piyasiri Kalubowila
Industry Visits: Will arrange aboutminimum 6 along the TIE theme.
Techno 2016: Based on our success ( Bronze Medal) last session, we plan to do better.Our current plans and activities are in the below project management screen shot. An important aspect for this year is the plan to conduct a Public Clinic on various mechanical engineering aspects that will be of use to our citizens. We will request half the size of space used by Civil Eng. Separated for us. We believe this would greatly promote Mechanical engineering in the public. We have not done good PR in the past. This will also benefit potential students. Also we plan to work very closely with the Mech. Dept. ofMechEng from Peradeniya and Ruhuna especially. Plans are on the way.
Project Leader: Eng. Thimira S. Godakumbura( and his team)
This report was prepared with direct input from project leaders who with their teams are leading the change for a better IESL and a Nation
Our members are heavily involved in the activities related to ETCA as well.
Respectfully
En. Arjuna Manamperi
Chair – MESC