The Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS) held its 80th Annual Session on December 08, 2024, at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), Colombo. The theme of this year’s session was “Harnessing the Power of Sciences for Societal Transformation.”
The Chief Guest of the event was Professor Emeritus Malik Ranasinghe, Vice President of the National Academy of Sciences Sri Lanka and Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa. The Guest of Honour was Mr. Ranil Vitarana, Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Technology Officer of MAS Holdings.
The session featured the Physical Science Awards, which recognize outstanding research achievements of undergraduate students or recent graduates in the fields of Physics, Mathematics, and Statistics. The awards are presented to the top three candidates based on their research projects, completed as part of their B.Sc. Degree in Sri Lankan universities.
This year, students from the Department of Physics of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura excelled once again:
Ms. A.M.N. Opayangana currently a temporary assistant lecturer, received 2nd Place in the Physical Science Award (Physics) category for her thesis titled ‘Design a Low-Cost Instrument to Detect Heart Rate Variability and Analyze Heart Rate Variability Using Wavelet Transformation’, under the supervision of Prof. N.G.S. Shantha Gamage and Mr. C.H. Chandima Manatunga.
The following individuals have been recognized as winners of the video competition in the Physics Undergraduate category, organized by SLAAS Section E1:
1. K.G.D. Rathnasekara, a 3rd Year Undergraduate, secured 1st Place in the 3-minute video competition 2024 for his video titled ‘Dark Energy and Dark Matter’.
2. Mr.K.A.I.S Amarasinghe, also a 3rd year undergraduate, secured 2nd Place for his video titled ‘Schrödinger’s Cat Experiment ’.
3. Mr. M.M.J.N. Mahipala, a 3rd year undergraduate, secured 3rd Place for his video titled ‘Big Bang Theory’.
Congratulations to all the winners of 2024, especially those from the Department of Physics, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, who were honored at the prestigious SLAAS Awards Ceremony!