News
Sri Lankan wins Worldwide Engineering Award
Sri Lankan Ishan Kavan Abeysekera, being 1st Class (Warwick), MSc Earthquake Engineering (Imperial College London), DIC, CEng MIMechE, has won the prestigious “Young Structural Engineering Professional Award 2022” of the Institution of Structural Engineers.
The Institution is one of the world’s leading professional bodies providing professional accreditation. It is a professional body for structural engineering, headquartered in the United Kingdom, and has approximately 30,000 members, operating in over 100 countries, worldwide.
The Institution press release states:
‘The Young Structural Engineering Professional Award is an internationally recognised mark of achievement that highlights young engineers who are driving the profession forward. Being a recipient of this award shows that they have demonstrated the skills and achievements necessary to mark them as “one to watch” among the Institution’s global membership.
After a rigorous judging process, we are thrilled to announce that Ishan Abeysekera is the recipient of the 2022 Young Structural Engineering Professional Award.
While all entrants to this year’s award were of high quality, the judges selected four exceptional finalists for shortlisting, including Ishan Abeysekera, who were invited to the competition’s final round.
The final four all demonstrated a variety of quality skills and achievements which promises a bright future for structural engineering, however, the judges eventually narrowed it down to Ishan Abeysekera and Lauren Barnes.
Ishan proved to be the deserving winner of the 2022 Young Structural Engineering Professional Award. He impressed the judges from the get-go with his significant technical knowledge, as well as his achievements in teaching and inspiring the next generation of engineers. In his final interview with the judging panel, Ishan further proved his technical skills in coding and working with timber structures, as well as an evident passion for the profession.
Ishan showcased his impressive skills and achievements marking him as “one to watch”.’
Ishan was born in 1991, in Colombo, and is the only child of Harindra and the late Priyani Abeyasekera. He was educated at S Thomas’s Preparatory School, Kollupitiya, and The British School, in Colombo, where he was the Head Prefect.
Ishan is a Senior Engineer in the Advanced Technology and Research Department at Consultant Engineers Ove Arup and Partners International Limited. As well as project work at Arup, Ishan provides AdHoc technical advice to colleagues around the Arup globe on non-standard structural problems requiring first principles analysis. He also provides internal training to other Arup engineers on Nonlinear structural analysis, structural dynamics, existing buildings and timber structures.
Ishan is one of the youngest members of a Europe wide committee of experts writing the next version of the Eurocodes (Europe and UK wide standards for structures) for timber structures.
He is also passionate about engineering education and is an invited guest lecturer at Imperial College London and Cambridge University.
In the field of charity he is an active Honorary Director and Trustee of the International Students Club (Church of England) Limited which administrates a student hostel in London.
The U.S. Embassy in Colombo welcomed the U.S. Sports Envoys to Sri Lanka, former National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) players Stephen Howard and Astou Ndiaye, from June 8 through 14.
The Public Diplomacy section of the U.S. Embassy said that it would launch a weeklong basketball program intended to harness the unifying power of sports, made possible through collaboration with Foundation of Goodness and IImpact Hoop Lab.
While in Sri Lanka, Howard and Ndiaye, both retired professional basketball players, will conduct a weeklong program, Hoops for Hope: Bridging Borders through Basketball. The Sports Envoys will lead basketball clinics and exhibition matches and engage in leadership sessions in Colombo and Southern Province for youth aged 14-18 from Northern, Uva, Eastern and Western Provinces, offering skills and leadership training both on and off the court. The U.S. Envoys will also share their expertise with the Sri Lanka Basketball Federation, national coaches, and players, furthering the development of basketball in the country. Beyond the clinics, they will collaborate with Sri Lankan schoolchildren to take part in a community service project in the Colombo area.
“We are so proud to welcome Stephen and Astou as our Sports Envoys to Sri Lanka, to build on the strong people-to-people connections between the United States and Sri Lanka,” said U.S. Ambassador Julie Chung. “The lessons that will be shared by our Sports Envoys – communication, teamwork, resilience, inclusion, and conflict resolution – are essential for leadership development, community building, equality, and peace. The U.S. Sports Envoy program is a testament to our belief that sports can be a powerful tool in promoting peace and unity.”
SJB Colombo District MP Mujibur Rahuman in parliament demanded to know from the government the reasons for CEB suspending the leave of all its employees until further notice from Thursday.
MP Rahuman said that the CEB has got an acting General Manager anew and the latter yesterday morning issued a circular suspending leave of all CEB employees with immediate effect until further notice.
“We demand that Minister Kanchana Wijesekera should explain this to the House. This circular was issued while this debate on the new Electricity Amendment Bill was pending. There are many who oppose this Bill. The Minister must tell parliament the reason for the urge to cancel the leave of CEB employees,” the MP said.However, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena prevented Minister Wijesekera responding to the query and said that the matter raised by MP Rahuman was not relevant.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) successfully concluded the 8th Annual CIPM Symposium, which took place on 31st May 2024. Themed “Nurturing the Human Element—Redefining HRM in a Rapidly Changing World,” the symposium underscored the pivotal role of human resource management (HRM) in today’s dynamic global landscape. Since its inception in 1959, CIPM has been dedicated to advancing the HR profession through education, professional development, and advocacy, solidifying its position as Sri Lanka’s leading professional body for HRM.
Ken Vijayakumar, the President of the CIPM, graced the occasion as the chief guest. The symposium commenced with the welcome address by the Chairperson, Prof. Arosha Adikaram, followed by the Web Launch of the Symposium Proceedings and Abstract Book by the CIPM President. The event featured distinguished addresses, including a speech by Chief Guest Ken Vijayakumar, President of CIPM, and an address by Guest of Honor Shakthi Ranatunga, Chief Operating Officer of MAS Holdings Pvt. Ltd., Sri Lanka.
The symposium also featured an inspiring keynote address by Prof. Mario Fernando, Professor of Management and Director of the Centre for Cross Cultural Management (CCCM) at the University of Wollongong, Australia.
Vote of Thanks of the inauguration session was delivered by Dr. Dillanjani Weeratunga, Symposium Co-chair.
The symposium served as a comprehensive platform for researchers to present their findings across a wide range of critical topics in HRM. These included Cultural Diversity and Inclusion, Talent Development and Retention, Ethical Leadership and Corporate Social Responsibility, Adapting to Technological Advancements, Mental Health and Well-being at Work, Global Workforce Challenges, Employee Empowerment, and Reskilling and Upskilling.
The plenary session was led by Prof. Wasantha Rajapakse. Certificates were awarded to the best paper presenters during the valedictory session, followed by a vote of thanks delivered by Kamani Perera, Manager of Research and Development.
The annual symposium of CIPM was a truly inclusive event, attracting a diverse audience that spanned undergraduates, graduates, working professionals, research scholars and lecturers. This widespread interest highlights the symposium’s significance in the field of HRM, offering a unique opportunity for everyone to network and learn from scholarly brains.The CIPM International Research Symposium was sponsored by Hambantota International Port, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT), E B Creasy & Co. PLC, and Print Xcel Company.
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
