Mr. Damith D. Lekamge, a student of the Department of Chemistry, University of Sri Jayewardenepura,
is the recipient of the Prof M. U. S. Sultanbawa Award for Research in Chemistry – 2022 for the unique,
distinguished, and significant contribution made to the cause of Science, Chemistry, Education and
Research in Sri Lanka. This prestigious award is awarded by the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon (IChemC)
for the best research paper presented at the 51 st Annual Sessions titled, “Synthesis and characterization of inclusion complexes of Ageratum conyzoides L. essential oil in β-cyclodextrin”.
His work was supervised by Dr. Isurika Fernando, Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. This research project was focused on the synthesis and characterization of Ageratum conyzoides L. essential oil in β-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes towards their potential applications. The award was presented at the Inaugural Ceremony of the 52 nd Annual Sessions of the IChemC on the 14 th of June 2023, at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI).