Eng. Ananda Herath – Chair

Eng. Chamindi Jayasooriya – Committee Member

Eng. Waruna Kaluarachchi – Immediate Past Chair

Eng. Madhuka Jayawardhana – Committee Member

Eng. Dayantha Jayarathna – Vice Chair

Eng. Mahendram Manoharam – Committee Member

Eng. Amali Wickramasinghe – Secretary

Eng. Prathapa S Ravindra – Committee Member

Eng. Lal Wickramarachchi – Treasurer

Eng. Thamarie Jayasinghe – Committee Member

Eng. Nalin Seneviratne – Editor

Eng. Buddhi Wijerathna – Web Master

 

A brief summary of events including the highlights, in the Management Committee’s term of office

  • AGM of IESL NSW Chapter was held on 11 October 2015 where the 7th Management Committee was elected
  • NSW Chapter representatives met with IESL President, CEO, President Elect and Executive Secretary on 16 December 2015 at the IESL head office Colombo and discussed the following;
    • Washington Accord
    • Mutual recognition of Chartered Professional Engineers of IESL and EA
    • Assistance to new Engineering Faculties in North & East
    • Assistance to Road Safety in Sri Lanka

 

1.  Knowledge Sharing Lecture Series

Chapter conducted 4 knowledge sharing lectures including one in Sri Lanka as follows.

  • “Engineers in the driving seat” by Eng. Gamini Gunawardana at EA auditorium on 16 December 2015
  • “Saving $20 million on a breakwater repair design utilizing 3D numerical and physical wave modelling” and “Using short wave spectra to model long waves in a harbour 3D model” by Eng. Indra Jayawardene at IESL Colombo Head Office auditorium on 13 January 2016
  • “Engineering Digital Ecosystems for Sustainable Development” by Professor Athula Ginige at EA auditorium on 22 march 2016
  • “ Intelligent Robots for Bridge Inspection and Maintenance” by Professor Dikai Liu at Sydney Water Head Office Parramatta on 24 August 2016
  • Chapter had a meeting with the CEO of EA Sydney Division on 22 March 2016 to promote the relationship between EA and IESL NSW Chapter.

2.  Young Engineers day

IESL NSW Chapter conducted a Young Engineers Day on 27 April 2016 where 4 presenters shared their research findings as follows.

  • “User Experience(UX)” by Eng. Charith Samaranayake
  • “Performance of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor; removal and fate of trace organic chemicals” by Eng. (Dr) Kaushalya C Wijekoon
  • “Integrated access control for smart buildings using building information models” by Eng. (Dr) Nimal Skandhakumar
  • “PrivMecrics; A framework to secure user privacy in smartphones” by Eng. (Dr) Suranga Seneviratne

3.  Industrial Visits

Chapter organised an Industrial Visit to Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) on 13 May 2016

4.  Newsletters

IESL NSW Chapter published 3 newsletters which communicated the activities of the Chapter, informed readers of the current engineering developments in our neighbourhood and highlighted the achievements of our members.

5.  IESL NSW Engineering Excellence Awards and Engineering Conference.

The Engineering Conference was held on 10 June 2016 at the EA auditorium in Chatswood. Engineering Excellence Awards were presented in the following 3 categories.

  • Best paper published
  • Best innovation
  • Best infrastructure development project

The winners of the awards were as follow;

Best paper published

Excellence award –

“Equivalent-Circuit Models for Efficient Transmission and Dispersion Analyses of Multi-State Periodic Structures” by Professor Karu Esselle and Eng. Dr Dushmantha Thalakotuna

Highly commended award –

“Significant improvement in both low and high-field performance of MgB2 superconductors through graphene oxide doping” by Eng. Dr. Sujeewa De Silva

Best Innovation

Excellence award –

“Shock Mats made of recycled tyre waste to enhance the stability of ballasted rail track” by Eng. Sinniah K. Navaratnarajah

Highly commended award –

“Optimisation of Stochastic deterioration models for bridges under incomplete inspection data using Bayesian inference-based approaches” by Eng. Dr Niroshan K. Walgama

Best Infrastructure development project

Excellence Award –

“Methodology for Assessing Bridges on Road Network for Freight Vehicles” by Adj. Prof. Wije Ariyaratne

6.  Sponsorships

Chapter received 3 bronze sponsorships for the Engineering Convention from NSW Public Works, University of Technology Sydney & Roads and Maritime Services.

7.  IESL NSW Engineers Gala Dinner

  • IESL NSW Chapter Gala Dinner was held on 11 June 2016 at RSL Club, Hornsby. Consul General of Sri Lanka in Sydney, President of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka, President of Engineers Australia – Sydney Division and President Elect of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations graced the occasion. The keynote speech was delivered by Mr. Arun Abey – Chairman and co-founder of Walsh Bay Partners, Chairman and co-founder of Ipac Securities, Chairman Advisory Board of ANU College of Business and Economics, Director of Abey family Foundation & Director of the Smith family.
  • Vice Chair, NSW Chapter attended the Engineers’ Nite, Western Australia on 29 May 2016 and a Committee Member represented the WA Chapter at the NSW Chapter Engineering Convention on 10 and 11 June 2016.
  • Chapter Chair participated in two video conferences with WA and NZ chapters initiated by WA Chapter for regional cooperation
  • Chapter set up a private cloud for storing information/documents relevant to its activities for the benefit of the upcoming management committees
  • Chapter’s request for an amnesty to lapsed memberships was not given a favourable consideration by IESL

 

Further information please refer to the annual report.

Link to the Annual Report 2015-2016