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Public Lecture: " to Nano ; where less may be more"

The Public Lecture organised by Sectional Committee in collaboration with Section C of Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science(SLAAS) on “Nanotechnology to ; where less may be more " was successfully held at the Wimaladharmasuriya Auditorium of Institute of Sri Lanka from 5.30 pm on wards on 25th April 2018.

The resource person was Dr. Nadeesh Adassooriya who has completed his BSc Honours in Chemistry at University of Sri Jayewardenepura in 2009 followed by an M.Sc Research Degree in Chemical and Process Engineering at University of Moratuwa and an M.Phil in Materials Chemistry at University of Cambridge, UK. He obtained his PhD in Engineering (Materials) also from University of Cambridge, UK in 2017. He has authored/co-authored over 25 research publications which were presented at well reputed journals and international conferences and is an inventor of 2 US patents. He won a number of international and national awards including, The Adams Glinsman Research Award, Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Awards, Dyson Studentship and Lundgren Research Award from University of Cambridge, National Science and Technology Award and Presidential Awards. He served Sri Lanka Institute ofNanotechnology as a scientist being a starting member from 2009 to 2011 and served Talga Resources Ltd. Cambridge as a consultant in 2016. Presently, he is working as a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. His research interests are preparation, characterization and structure-properties relationship of nanocomposites in the areas of energy, agriculture and pharmaceuticals.

The Lecture was very informative and created a lot of interest among participants as it was more focused on practical application of Nanotechnology on Engineering application rather to explaining the theoretical and scientific background of Nano Technology.

During this presentation it was discussed how Nanotechnology will reach each and every person in next few decades. It will open up a market over 90 billion dollar by 2021 creating plenty of opportunities to a broader community of engineers. This makes it important to identify the impact of Nanoengineering which is known as the next wave of innovation. Nanoengineering is the practice of engineering on the Nanoscale and it is largely a synonym for nanotechnology, but emphasizes the engineering rather than the pure science aspects of the field. This presentation focuses on exploring the Nanoworld from the perspective of engineers bringing together with the viewpoints of a broader community creating an interdisciplinary platform. Fusion of different theoretical breakthroughs in fundamental sciences to reach engineering solutions in the fields of energy, healthcare and advanced materials in and their future challenges was discussed in details. The Mechanical Engineering Sectional Committee wishes to convey it's gratitude to all the parties for their valuable contribution to make this event a great success.

- Randika Amarasuriya MESC Public Lecture Team Leader