April - August 2020 Vol 15 No 2 Inside this issue

Section A 01

Section C 01

Section E1 04

Section E2 04

Section F 05 SLAAS NEWS CPS 06 Newsletter of the Association for the EC 06 Advancement of Science GRC 07

Sectional Activities A Tribute to an Engineer 09

Section A

A live TV programme An article on on district-level activi- “Ayurveda inter- ties on COVID-19 con- ventions on pre- trol was broadcast on venting COVID-19” 1st June 2020, on was published on Ayubowan Suba the “RanaVaruna” Dawasak by the Sri magazine. Activity Lanka Rupavahini Cor- was conducted poration. The resource and coordinated persons were Dr by Dr Kaumadi Thilanga Ruwan- Karunagoda. pathirana and Dr Hemali Jayakodi of the Ministry of Health. The event was coordinated by Dr Hemali Jayakodi.

Section C A webinar on emerging challenges in the Sri Lankan power sector and future outlook was held on 17th July 2020. The lecture was conducted by Dr Tilak Siyam- balapitiya, Managing Director- Resource Management Associates (Pvt) Ltd. and Energy Sector Consultant. Dr Siyambalap- itiya presented an overview of the Sri Lankan electricity industry and the in- A webinar titled “Leadership in the New Normal- creasing importance of the renewable en- Mindset and Skill Set” was conducted on 9th July ergy in the fuel mix for electricity genera- 2020 by Dr (Eng.) Ranil Sugathadasa, Senior Lec- tion in the future was emphasized. The turer, , Management lecture was followed by a question and Consultant and Founder of The Motivator (Pvt) answer session for which many partici- Ltd. To survive and flourish in a new normal, pants actively contributed, which dis- leaders must be willing to change as the conven- played their interest in the power sector tional approaches and capabilities are unlikely to of Sri Lanka. The event was organized by be effective in uncertain and dynamic environ- SLAAS Section C and Department of Me- ments such as the post COVID- 19 environment. chanical Engineering, Open . Therefore, a change in the mindset as well as the skill set of the leaders has become essential. The lecture was followed bya question and answer session for which many participants actively engaged. The event was organized by SLAAS Section C and Staff Development Committee, Faculty of Engineering, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT).

A webinar titled “Air-borne transmission of COVID-19 virus on office workspaces: are you prepared for the next wave?” was con- ducted by Prof Mahesh Jayaweera, Environmental Engineer and Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratu- wa on 30th July 2020. Prof Jayaweera explained the modes of transmission of COVID-19 virus that are vital in indoor workspac- es, particularly when the ventilation systems are inadequate. The impact of different ventilation systems, namely air-conditioners, ceiling fans and natural ventilation on the transmission of COVID- 19 virus was evaluated. The effectiveness of the use of masks in confined environments was discussed. For different indoor settings, modeling of the infection risk from an asymptomatic pa- tient for other employees of the workspace was performed. The reproduction number for the indoor setting was estimated to pre- dict whether COVID-19 will pass on to the next generations. Final- ly, appropriate engineering interventions for the risk minimization were discussed. The lecture was followed by a discussion session in which a number of participants interacted by asking questions, which displayed their interest in the timely topic. The event was organized by Women Engineers’ Forum (WEF) of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) and Section C of SLAAS.

A webinar titled “Mobile Edge Computing: Enabling Future Smart Services” was conducted on 4th August 2020 by Dr Uth- pala Premarathne, Senior Lec- turer, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, the Open University of Sri Lanka. Dr Premarathne highlighted the increasing market opportunities for computing and IT industries with the current increased de- mand for online services and distance education. The lecture was followed by a question and answer session for which a num- ber of participants actively par- ticipated. The webinar was or- ganized by the General Research Committee and Section C of SLAAS.

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A 14 hour online workshop titled “Discovering the world through GIS (with ArcGIS)” was con- ducted on 6th, 8th, 10th, 13th, 15th, 17th and 20th July 2020, which targeted academics, engi- neers, officials and students. The workshop was conducted by Mr Ramesh Ferdinando, Ms Samanmali Matharaachchi and Mr Supun Siri- wardane from GIS Solutions Pvt. Ltd. GIS can be identified as one of the most effective deci- sion support tools which reveals deeper in- sights into data by applying geographic sci- ence with the integration of IT.

It helps people to gain actionable intelligence from all types of data. The workshop was or- ganized by SLAAS Section C and Water Forum of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL) and coordinated by Dr Shiromi Karunaratne, President, Section C of SLAAS. The workshop included introduction to GIS and the power of decision supporting, understanding geo- spatial data, data collection methods of GIS, GIS technology, introduction to Web GIS and Web GIS applications.

A 15 hour online workshop “ANSYS for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)” was conducted on 8th,9th, 15th and 16th August 2020. The workshop was conducted by OREL Corporation (Pvt.) Ltd., the official ANSYS academic partner in Sri Lanka and the resource persons were Dr Tushar Shar- ma and Eng Lakshitha De Silva. ANSYS sim- ulation software enables predicting how products will operate in the real world. Thousands of universities around the world use ANSYS academic engineering simulation software to help undergraduate students to learn principles of physics and researchers to learn solving complex engi- neering problems. The workshop was or- ganized by SLAAS Section C and Water Fo- rum of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL) and coordinated by Dr Iresha Atthanayake, Secretary, Section C of SLAAS.

3 “Science for Quality Life” Section E1

A webinar on “Energy Harvesting Integrated Circuit Design and Implementation” by Mr Chamith Chandrarathna, Information and Communication System-on-Chip (SoC) Research Center, Kyung Hee University, South Korea was held on 29th July 2020, with the presence of around 50 participants.

Dr. Aruna Ranaweera, President/ Section E1, and Senior Lec- turer of the , conducted a webinar on “Wireless Power Transfer and its Applications”, jointly orga- nized by the Physic Society of University of Sri Jayewardenepu- ra and SLAAS Section E1.

Section E1 and Astronomy Division of the Arthur C Clarke Institute organized a series of webinars on Astronomy targeting the school students on the 24th, 25th, 26th, and 27th August 2020. The expertise of Prof ChandanaJ ayarathne, De- partment of Physics, , Mr Indika Meda- gangoda, Mr Janaka Adassuriya and Mr Mahesh Herath, re- search scientists at Arthur C Clarke Institute participated as resource personnel. The presenters addressed interesting top- ics on Astronomy including History of Astronomy and Path of Sri Lankan Astronomy, Mars Exploration & Solar system, Plan- ets beyond our Solar System and Celestial Sphere. More than 400 school students participated for the entire webinar.

www.accimt.ac.lk website provided registra- tion for this webinar.

Section E2

Section E2 designed a safety poster to be distributed among the science laboratories in schools. Dr Theshini Perera and Mr Vihanga Ambepitiya (Asst. lecturer, Dept. of Polymer Science and Technol- ogy, SJP) did the preliminary designing in English. The poster was translated to both Sinhala and Tamil languages. Dr L Hasini R Pere- ra translated the content to Sinhala and the content was moderat- ed by Dr Sashipraba M. Vithanarachchi and Prof D P Dissanayake. Dr Jeyasingam Jeyasugiththan (Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Nuclear Science, UOC) and Prof R Senthilnithy( Senior Lecturer, Depart- ment of Chemistry, OUSL) did the Tamil translation together with

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Dr Manuja Lamabadusuriya. Developments of the Sinhala and Tamil version posters were coordinated by Dr. Hasini Perera with the help of Mr T N Rangana de Silva (Asst. Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, UOC) and Ms Shalinia Thiruchittampalam (Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry, UOC).

A video tutorial on neutralization titration for Advanced level chem- istry students was prepared by Dr L Hasini R Perera, for the SLAAS you tube site. Demonstrations were done by Mr Kamindu Gayashan and Mr Sharada Kothalawala and the videography by Mr Nuwanga Amarasekara, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo.

As agreed by Dr C. Dilrukshi Wijayarathna at the meeting held on January 17, 2020 at the Ministry of Environment & Wildlife Re- sources with the GP/SLAAS, the following two (02) research projects are in progress. 1. Evaluation of biodegradability of approved (SLSI) bio-degradable lunch sheets

Analysis is carried out with the samples provided by the Central Environment Authority (CEA). Experiments are done by the undergraduate students of University of Colombo under the guidance of Prof R D Wijesekera, Dr S M Vithanarachchi and Dr L H R Perera. Coordinators for the above project are Dr C D Wijayarathna (SLAAS), Dr S M Vithanarachchi, Mr N S Gamage (Director/Investigation, CEA) & Ms Sujeewa Fernando (Ministry of Environment).

2. Development of low cost methodologies for waste treatment for industries

Analysis is carried out with the two samples provided by the CEA. Mr Madhawa Botheju (Senior Env. Officer Acting/ Western province, CEA) helped in water sampling. Experiments are done by the undergraduate students of University of Colombo under the guidance of Dr C D Wijayarathna. Coordinators for the project are Dr C D Wijayarathna (SLAAS), Dr G de Silva (SLAAS), Ms Manoja Priyadarshini (Deputy director/western province, CEA) & Ms Sujeewa Fernando (Ass. Director/ Env. pollution& chemical management, Ministry of Environment).

Section F

Section F brought to the notice of its membership the threatened livelihoods amid lockdown with public sector statistics and initiated a discussion and collecting information on sectors likely to be threatened during post-lockdown amidst the COVID 19 pnademic. The focus is on sectors in which a large labour force is employed; construction (0.46 Mn), wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (1.03 mn), accommodation, food & beverages serving activi- ties (0.15) transportation (0.4 Mn), manufacture of wearing apparel(0.43 Mn) and the migrant workers (1.7 mn).

Section F and GRC jointly organized an online course on time series modelling and forecasting fromst 21 August to 31st Au- gust. The main resource person was Prof Tilak Abeysinghe, Research Director of Gamani Corea Foundation and Visiting Pro- fessor of Singapore National University. Other resource persons were Dr Shiromani Jayawardena from Meteorology De- partment, Dr Kumari Fernando from KDU, Dr Gagath Rajapaksha from Ocean University and Dr Uthpala Premaratne from Open University. Dr Wasanthi Wickramasinghe and Prof Bandunee Liyanage coordinated the program. Around sixty partici- pants attended online.

5 “Science for Quality Life” Committee for the Popularization of Science

The CPS has planned to initiate two pro- grammes from September 2020, adhering to the safety precautions stipulated by the Min- istry of Health. The two programmes are, an “Oratorical Contest” and a “Poster Competi- tion”, among schools in the Kurunegala dis- trict with the objective of promoting interest in science and nurturing innate skills of school children. The initial round of the competitions would be conducted by the participating schools according to guidelines issued by the CPS and the final round would be held in a selected venue in the district and be judged by selected members of the SLAAS / CPS and the Department of Education.

The school / student placed first would re- ceive their certificates at the Annual Sessions of SLAAS while the other winners would re- ceive their certificates at the completion of the final round. The winning posters would be displayed at the Annual Sessions while the winners of the oratorical contest would also be given a slot to display their talents at the Annual Sessions.

The Vidu Jaya quiz program in the Vidusara paper was initiated in April 2020 and 3 quiz- zes were successfully completed. Ten stu- dents each from the first two quizzes are al- ready selected and their names were pub- lished in the paper as well. It was noticed that students from many districts in the country have participated in the quiz program and their enthusiasm in science can be considered as an achieved goal for CPS.

CPS is also paving its path to initiate a new Teacher Training Program. It came out as a request from teachers from many districts. It will be focusing on training them to conduct science practical with available resources within the schools in remote areas.

Environmental Committee

The public webinar titled "Ecological rehabilitation of urban streams, rivers and canals with special emphasis on Colombo Dutch canals" was conducted by Dr Ayantha Gomes (member SLAAS EC Committee) on 30th June 2020, which also included a discussion time. Total number of logins were 35, and in some cases the presentation was attended as groups.

Webinar on “Application of Solar Energy as a Renewable Energy alternative” by Prof J K D S Jayanetti, Dean, Faculty of Tech- nology, University of Colombo was conducted on 23rd July 2020. The webinar was well attended with 263 participants. Dr Chamini Hemachandra (member SLAAS EC Committee) coordinated the webinar.

“Science for Quality Life” 6 General Research Committee

The GRC supported to overcome the problems related with online teaching through a workshop series on “Preparing school online video lessons and uploading to social media” targeting school science directors and science teachers in the Negombo Zonal Educational Department. The resource person for this series of online workshops, Dr M N Kaumal, ex- plained how to prepare an online video inclusive of video clips and sounds and how to upload them to social media. The workshop was conducted from 1st -31st of May. The first series of workshops via zoom were conducted only for science teachers. However, upon suggestions of zonal directors of other subjects, workshops were thereafter conducted to teach- ers from other disciplines such as Mathematics, Social Studies, Music etc. The series of workshops were coordinated by Prof Bandunee Athapattu and Prof Chamari Hettiarachchi, and the Zonal Science Director, Mrs Nayana Udugampola.

An online Scientific Writing Workshop for special and postgraduate students from all fields of sciences was conducted on June 25th 2020 to provide guidance on dissemina- tion of research findings. The resource persons were Prof Preethi Udagama, Prof Meththtika Vithanage and Dr M N Kaumal. This very successful workshop was coordi- nated by Prof Chamari Hettiarachchi and Prof Bandunee Athapattu .

Webinar on “Living with Covid 19: Is everything back to normal?” organized by Prof. Carukshi Arambepola and Dr Mayuri Thammitiyagoda was a great success. Recording of the webinar is yet to be received from IESL. The panelists expressed their apprecia- tion and were pleased to have this type of webinar being organized and commended the efforts of the organizing committee.

Panel discussion on the research meet up titled,“ Battle against Covid-19: The role of data science” was held on 18th July 2020 in collaboration with Section E3. GRC is happy to note that it was a successful event with great positive feedback.

A successful online discussion was held on 29th of July with the Director and Deputy Director of Science Branch, Ministry of Education on online training for Field Centre Mangers on preparation of - e learning resources such as, video clips to promote innovations among school children. Prof Bandunee Athapattu, Chairperson and Dr M.N. Kaumal participated for this online dis- cussion.

An online workshop on ‘How to identify an Innovation” was conducted by Dr M N Kaumal on 12th August 2020 from 9.00 am- 12.00 for the field center managers of Innovative Centers attached to the Science Branch of Ministry of Gen- eral Education. The program was coordinated by Prof Bandunee Athapattu. This was the second workshop out of series of webinars.

“Science for Quality Life” 7 A fruitful five day online workshop on Time Series Modeling was organized by the General Research Committee. It was conducted on 21st, 25th, 26th, 29th and 31st August 2020 with over 65 registered participants. The content delivered dur- ing the initial sessions were conducted by Prof. Tilak Abeysinghe on theory and modeling aspects. Latter ses- sions focused on several specific applications areas includ- ing, climate and rainfall forecasting, fishing grounds fore- casting and network traffic- self similarity forecasting. The participants included undergraduate students, graduate students, academics and researchers. Great interest was shown by the participants with overwhelming requests to schedule another session. The efforts and the knowledge shared by the resource persons were greatly appreciated.

GRC has initiated to publish a series of books for guiding beginners in research with respect to several disciplines.  GRC Publication– Book 1 -“Guide to Laboratory Animal Science” coordinated by Dr Mayuri Thammitiyagodage  GRC Publication– Book 2 -“Guide for Beginners in Research“ coordinated and edited by Prof. M.C.M. Iqbal  GRC Publication– Book 3- “Guide for Beginners in Biological Research” coordinated by Prof Chamari Hettiarachchi and edited by Prof Ruchira Cumaranatunga, Prof Preethi Udagama and Prof Chamari Hettiarachchi

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A tribute to an Engineer’s Contribution to the Advancement of Science in Sri Lanka

This is a tribute to a for- an Honorary Life Fellow of the Institute of Engineers, Sri mer member of the Sri Lanka (IESL). Lanka Association for the Interests in Science Advancement of Science Don Gunasena’s interest in science is embodied in some of (SLAAS) who was actively the favourite pieces of construction he was involved in. At involved in the proceed- 96 years of age, he still recalls his involvement in the design ings of the Association and construction of the Sri Lanka Planetarium located in since the 1970s. Don Colombo. Gunasena Athukorala, a civil engineer by training, The Sri Lanka Planetarium was established in February 1965 was a strong advocate by the State Engineering Corporation to showcase local de- for the advancement of sign and engineering talent at the Ceylon Industrial Exhibi- science in Sri Lanka and tion that year. The Planetarium was designed by the illustri- Don Gunasena Athukorala in retirement in a keen participant in the ous ANS Kulasinghe and his senior engineers including Don Sydney, Australia has taken in August 2020 Annual Sessions. Don Gunasena and took elements from the Cathedral of Brasilia Gunasena was Chair- in Brasilia, Brazil, man, State Engineering Corporation, and also the founding and was funded Director, Head works at the Mahaweli Authority of Sri by the East Ger- Lanka during a career spanning nearly 45 years. In retire- man government. ment, he pursued his scientific interests in Buddhism and authored a book, Buddha’s Principle of Relativity. Don Gun- The Planetarium asena, now 96 years old, lives with his wife in Sydney, Aus- has a reinforced tralia. concrete floor and a pre- Early Days stressed concrete Born in 1924, Don Gunasena schooled at St John’s College folded plate roof. and Sri Sumangala College, ,and pursued his inter- est in science by joining the Ceylon Technical College, part The second structure that Don Gunasena recalls is the con- of the Ceylon University College affiliated with the Universi- struction of the Kalutara Chaitya, located immediately ty of London. He travelled to the UK to complete his formal south of the Kalutara Bridge. Commissioned by Sir Cyril de training in engineering and gained his Bachelor of Science Zoysa, the design and construction of the Chaitya was un- (Engineering) degree from the University of London in No- dertaken by the State Engineering Corporation. Don Gun- asena says that it is particularly challenging to construct a The Senior Manage- ment of the Corpora- hollow Chaitya which is just a hemispherical shell. Alt- tion in the 1960s (L to R): Don Gunasena hough the foundation of the chaitya was laid in 1964, the Athukorala, ANS Kulasinghe, Neville pinnacle was topped in 1974. Ladduwahetti, and Titus Gunasekera and Don Gunasena was in- spouses (L to R) Jana- ki Gunasekera, Dulsie terested in all things sci- Kulasinghe, Mahes Ladduwahetti, Iranga- entific, and needless to ni Athukorala say was particularly in- terested in the moon vember 1950. Practical training as an engineer with Will- landing for the first time ment Brothers in Middlesex and Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & by American astronauts Partners in London entitled him to gain his membership in in July 1969. the Institution of Civil Engineers, London in June 1955.

In recognition of his contribution to the engineering profes- sion in Sri Lanka, in January 1971, Don Gunasena was made

“Science for Quality Life” 9 He recalls being glued to the radio commentary live in the versity to inspect the water. They found the peripheral area middle of the night Sri Lanka time, along with his son who of the reservoir was subjected to heavy pollution attributa- was 11 years old at the time. ble to the nearby piggeries. Finally, a sustainable and long- term solution was sought. Engineer Karunarathna explains Controlling the spread of Salvinia molesta

Don Gunasena was interested in the environment and managing the effects of unrestrained growth of Salvinia “In consultation with subject and Nidi Kumba on engineering structures. specialists, we lowered the water Salvinia molesta, a floating water weed with oval-shaped levels of the reservoir and re- leaves, had been introduced to Sri Lanka in 1939. Due to moved the harmful activities to a its rapid spread, Salvinia was declared as “Scheduled great extent. As this exercise continued it was observed that Weed” and a decision had been taken for the physical re- there was a considerable reduc- moval of the plant. Despite using herbicidal controls Salvin- ia had spread in paddy fields, lakes, and became a threat even to the major constructions along the Mahaweli river.

In 1985, the Salvinia weed had covered nearly half of the Managing 'NidiKumba' Growth in the upper reaches of Victoria Reservoir Mauru Oya reservoir body and required urgent attention. Don Gunasena and his engineers had studied many re- Large 'NidiKumba' (scientific name - Mimosa Pigra) bushes search publications to solve the problem of the uncon- in the peripheral areas of the upper reaches of the Victoria trolled spread of the Salvinia. They found that Australian Reservoir had propagated at a high rate in 1988/89, and scientists had successfully controlled the spread of Salvinia Don Gunasena contracted the Department of Agriculture of in Australia and Africa. With the assistance of the Australi- the to conduct further studies. A an High Commission in Colombo, he established a collabo- buffer zone had to be built around reservoirs following the ration between the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial National Environment Act to ensure Nidi Kumba bushes did Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia, the Department not grow out of control and in any way affected the engi- of Agriculture of Sri Lanka, and the University of Kelaniya. neering structures. Australian scientist Dr. Peter Room of the CSIRO had re- searched the conditions in Sri Lanka for a sustainable solu- Further, the sustainable management of the environment tion and had introduced a beetle to attack the bud of the around the structures along the Mahaweli River required a Salvinia as a solution to contain the spread of Salvinia. working definition of a reservoir. Don Gunasena was instru- mental in obtaining Cabinet-level approval to define a res- Blue-green algae formation of Kotmale Reservoir ervoir as the entire water body up to the High Flood Level, The growth of Blue-green algae in lakes, ponds, and reser- 100m peripheral area from the Full Supply Level. Down- voirs was a serious threat to animal and human health be- stream reservation is as per Irrigation Department regula- cause it produced toxic chemicals. The major reason for the tions, according to the height and topography of the Dam. growth of algae is nitrogen-rich eutrophic water bodies. The sustainable Mahaweli environmental management sys- Therefore, algae in reservoirs needed to be continually tem is a combined effort of many people. But as the found- monitored and controlled. At the same time, preventive ing Director of Mahaweli Headworks Guanasena Athu- measures needed to be taken. If the water body was found korala made a scientific and practical approach to find out to be already colonized or invaded by algae, then urgent long term solutions to these environmental issues. His lead- action had to be taken. ership was remarkable to lay a firm foundation for the envi- Algae have been reported in main water bodies all over the ronmental management system in Mahaweli reservoirs country such as Beira Lake, Kandy Lake, and Kotmale reser- that can be seen today. voir. Many species of algae were identified in deep bodies Engineer Karunarathna ends his narration by saying “Mr. of water during the Dry season. When blue-green algae Athukorala was a quiet achiever keen on studying anything erupted suddenly in the Kothmale reservoir, Don Guanase- in detail to find possible solutions. He had a very scientific na and his team evaluated the situation and discovered approach.“ excessive nitrogen-rich eutrophic water bodies. Further,

Don Gunasena arranged for the limnological specialists at Contributed by Asanga Wijeratne the Zoology Department of the Sri Jayawardenapura Uni- ([email protected])

“Science for Quality Life” 10 Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science “Vidya Mandiraya” 120/10 Vijerama Mawatha Colombo 07 Sri Lanka

www. slaas.lk [email protected] Tel:+94 112 688740, Fax: +94 112 691681

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