IEEE University of Moratuawa Student Branch - Newsletter 2014/2015

1
IEEE University of Moratuwa Student Branch Newsletter Issue 2014
info@ieeeuom.net | http://ieeeuom.net
You volunteer for something expecting nothing. But of course when it comes to paying
off, even though you expected nothing the payback is sweet.
The IEEE student Branch is undoubtedly the best place for an undergraduate to put the
foundation for his or her volunteering activities. Since the carrier doesn’t end there, the
more you are rewarded once you go up the ladder. The Student Branch of University of
Moratuwa indeed made this platform for me and everyone else volunteering here and
surely for the newbies to come. It trains one to excel in his or her academic skills while
shaping his or her path as a volunteer. Since IEEE is the world’s most renowned
professional body where engineering professionals from each and every discipline meet,
the value added is immense. We, the IEEE Student Branch of University of Moratuwa
has the humble pride of launching the first ever newsletter to be launched by a student
branch in Sri Lanka. And here, we continue it launching the next issue for 2014.We
present here a look back towards the activities undertaken by the Student Branch and its
affinity groups. We hope that this would ultimately inspire our young undergraduates, of
course not only from University of Moratuwa but also from other universities island wide
and motivate them to contribute IEEE in its path in “Advancing Technology for
Humanity”.
Sachinthana Pathirana

2
Message from the Branch
Counselor
Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) is undoubtedly the most reputed global
body for electronic and electrical engineers all over the world. They under the vision of
“Advancing technology for humanity” are undertaking several community service projects and
technical programs in order to uplift the mankind via technology amelioration.
The student branches appear to be the link that bridges the professionals in the industry and the
university undergraduates. It is with great pleasure that I mention that we too are privileged to
be a part of this huge global authority. The IEEE student branch of University of Moratuwa,
since the date of its establishment has reached a remarkable exuberance during the past few
years, currently having a member density of more than 350.
The student branch together with its WIE affinity group has pioneered many recognized events
during the last year also.
IEEE Xtreme 7.0 is the one stands high upon every one of them where the undergraduates of
the university proved their excellence once more in this worldwide overnight coding challenge.
It backed the 19th ERU symposium organized by the Engineering Research Unit of university
of Moratuwa, for it is the breeding ground for the innovative ideas of the engineering
masterminds.
Inauguration of the IEEE Power and Engineering society student chapter was one peculiar event
that took place within the past year. Field visits, IEEE talk sessions were some other mini
projects of the student branch.
Moreover, we celebrated the IEEE Day on 1st of October and many sub events such as the
CodeExpertz 1.0, the first ever island wide coding challenge for school children, Xtravaganza
took place in cohesion with that.
Personally, it is a pleasure for me to see the status the UoM student branch has currently
achieved. Yet, the target is still far. We are half past the way to it and a longer distance to travel.
So, I wish the student branch good luck to accomplish the goals successfully during the year
ahead.
Prof. Sisil Kumarawadu
Branch Counselor

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Message from the
Chairman
IEEE is the world's largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological
innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. IEEE and its members inspire a global
community through IEEE's highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and
professional and educational activities. When it comes to student branches, IEEE University of
Moratuwa student branch undoubtedly occupies a remarkable position among other student
branches in region 10.
Comprised of more than 400 student members, IEEE UoM Student branch has reached a
number of remarkable milestones within its few years of operation. IEEE UoM student branch
was established in 2008 with the leadership of Mr. Kasun Chathuranga with guidance of Prof.
Sisil Kumarawadu, senior lecturer in department of Electrical Engineering.
As a student branch, our main objective was to provide benefits to our student members by
exposing them to dynamic technical advances in the world and link them with technology
through numerous activities conducted by student branch. A member of IEEE UoM student
branch indeed acquires knowledge and experience which are beyond the usual study scope for
a university student.
The last official year 2014/2015 was a major success in the history of our student branch.
Student branch achieved a great victory by securing the 3rd
place in IEEExtreme 8.0 worldwide
programming competition held on October 2014. Sticking to the initiative of ‘continuous
growth’ as always, our members were able to add something more to what has been there by
adding a few completely new and successful projects to the SB event calendar. I take this
opportunity to thank everyone who helped us throughout this year and I wish my heartiest
regards to the newly appointed executive committee as well as board of directors for a
successful year ahead.
Thank you,
Samith Sirimanna
Chairman, IEEE SB UoM

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Driving Forces behind Success…
Activity
Lahiru
Malepathirana
Education
Dhanushka
Dissanayaka
Finance
Rajind
Ruparatne
Int. Realations
Dimuthu
Punsara
Pub. Relations
Himantha
Alahakoon
Editor
Sachinthana
Pathirana
Web Admin
Madawa Soysa
Organizing
Hasala Sakvithi
Chairman
Samith
Sirimanna
Secretary
Kasun
Gunathilake
Treasurer
Nadira
Edirisinghe
Vice Chairman
Malintha
Fernando
Board of Directors

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IEEE Women In Engineering
Chairman
Nadee
Seneviratne
Secretary
Ashani
Muthumala
Treasurer
Sanjeewani
Jayasekara
Vice Chairman
Sanduni
Premaratne
IEEE Power & Energy Society
Chairman
Akila Shan
Udage
Secretary
Sameera
Nanayakkara
IEEE Robotics & Automation Society
Chairman
Peshan
Sampath
Secretary
Ishara
Paranavithana
Treasurer
Eranga De Silva

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IEEE Robotics & Automation Society
Chairman
Omalka
Menuwan
Secretary
Lihini
Senanayaka
Treasurer
Dumira
Athukorala

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“It began with the forging
of fresh young engineering
students to IEEE mindset.
PES was introduced to
Electrical Engineering
Students, who above all
desire power. Computer
Society to Computer
Science Engineering and
Information Technology
students, great coders live
in computer labs of the
mountain halls. RAS to
Electronic Students, wise
creators of robots. Yet,
deep in the field of
engineering, masters of
automobiles, Mechanical
Students were forged to this
ally for strength and will of
each field to advance
themselves”
The awareness session was
organized with the
intention of enhancing the
awareness of the new blood
to the university about the
IEEE, its vision, mission, objectives and the
role of IEEE Student Branch of University of
Moratuwa within Sri Lankan context. The event
took place on the 20th of February, 2014.
An insight to the student branch was given here.
Moreover, each branch chapter and the WIE
Affinity Group were introduced. The fresh
undergraduates were made aware about the
activities carried out within the past year by the
student branch and its associated chapters
including WIE Affinity Group. It gave them a
rough introduction to the upcoming activities of
the student branch. Hopefully, the session was
successful in arousing the desire and developing the appetite of
the fresh undergraduates towards volunteering in the IEEE.
Awareness
Session
That’s how it all began…
Malintha Fernando

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Enumero 2014, the first
ever open workshop on
advancing technology,
organized by the IEEE
UoM SB, was held on 05th
of April 2014 in the Civil
Engineering complex of
University of Moratuwa. It
was a platform which built
up the interaction with the
IEEE Power and Energy
society (PES), IEEE
Robotics and Automation
society (RAS) and IEEE
Computer society (CS).
‘Enumero’ was a technical
workshop organized with
the utmost intention of
accreting the technological
knowledge of
undergraduates. On the
other hand it was a platform
to build up the collaboration among the
members of the IEEE UOM student Branch.
Therefore it was an enormous opportunity for
the students who are with the thirst of hunting
modern technical advances.
In this workshop there were two parallel
sessions on Robotics and Automation and Computer.
ENUMEROThe Advancing Technology Workshop
Sachinthana Pathirana, Madeesha Fernando

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“ROBOZONE”, the
session organized by the
Robotics and Automation
Society (RAS), included
sub sessions on
‘Quadcopters’ by Mr.
Eranga Fernando and
‘Unmanned Arial Vehicles’
by Mr. Chamika Gamage
from Department of
Electronic &
Telecommunication
Engineering, ‘Generations
in prosthetic arm
designing’ by Mr. Sanjaya
Bandara and an
‘Introduction to MEMS
and NEMS’ by Dr. Ranjith
Amarasinghe from
Department of Mechanical
Engineering.
Meanwhile, the event
organized by the Computer
Society, HACKERSPACE,
included sessions on
‘Telecommunication
frauds and prevention’ by
Mr. Venura Athukorala
from Wavenet,’ Social
Engineering’ by Mr. Kasun
Chathuranga from
TechCERT and finally an
interesting session under
the theme ‘Think Like a
Hacker’, which discussed
about require VMware,
virtual installation of Kali
Linux by Mr. Dilan
Warnakulasooriya from
99x.
All the speakers who
conducted the sessions
were renowned experts in the relevant areas from the
University of Moratuwa and well-known Technology
providers in the country.
This was followed by an open event conducted by the IEEE
Student Branch which let the participants to have hands on
experience on what they learnt in the morning sessions. Not
only that, but the participants enjoyed the event to the
maximum since it had been organized so that collaborative
efforts lead towards the success.
It is worth mentioning that this massive event honored by the
participation of the Chairperson of IEEE Sri Lanka Section, Dr.
Jayathu Samarawickrama and the IEEE UoM Student Branch
Counselor, Professor Sisil Kumarawadu, was enriched with the
friendly accompaniment of the members from the IEEE
Student Branches of University of Colombo, School of
Computing and SLIIIT.

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“The sky is the limit”, they
say.
Never dare utter this before
an IEEE Xtreme coder.
Because, for them, the sky
is too close and the limit is
in their imagination.
Yes! Members from 70
countries from every
region, more than 2,250
teams registered, with over
5,900 students and 600
proctors, over 310,000
solutions compiled and
tested by teams thus
marked the end of the latest
episode of IEEE
Xtreme, the
world’s most
enthusiastic battle
of the minds,
IEEEXteme 8.0.
We, the IEEE
Student Branch of
University of
Moratuwa, owe the
humble pride of
having contributed a remarkable weight of the
total participants from the Asia Pacific region.
‘The harder the battle, the sweeter the
victory!!!’
Our passionate and elegant geeks, wrote the
history back again this time also, bringing the
title back to Mora.
They were just awesome. Having resolved all 23
brain-teasers in style, they secured the third place from the
entire community of the mind battlers. Thilina
Ambagahawaththa, Varuna Jayasiri and Nipuna Samarasekara
representing the Department of Electronic and
telecommunication Engineering, placed third due to just a few
minutes delay in submission time.
Not only that, the teams Ewoks, Nuostabus, AngryBirds and
BigOH1 securing the positions 15th
, 53rd
, 70th
and 99th
respectively in the first 100 allured the victory much more.
The Legend
Continues!University of Moratuwa Student
Branch Wins the Third place of
IEEEXtreme 8.0!
Team Oops!

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The IEEE Student
Branch of University of
Moratuwa, was the
massive support behind
putting up this grand show.
If it was not for their
immense dedication, not
only on the 18th
day of
October, but since the end
of Xtreme7.0, they put their
maximum strength in
making the episode
Xtreme8.0 a reality. It is
with pleasure we extend
our sincere gratitude to,
“Atrenta”, for being the
Platinum sponsor and
‘WSO2’, for being the
Silver sponsor, backing the
play.
But it is obvious that a
warrior can never win a
battle alone, he should
always be backed by his
followers. That’s it. Just as
that behind all these
victories there is one big
family including the IEEE
Student Branch of
University of Moratuwa
and the “LK Domain
Registry”. We could never
forget the immense
corporation provided by
our proctors for IEEE
Xtreme including the
university staff members.
The IEEE Student Branch
was fortunate enough to
have their hand all the time
up to date from the past few years.
Having all the players, performing the best in their roles, the
show ended with glamour, accreting greed for even more gold
at IEEE Xtreme 9.0.

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The earth was drenched in
overnight downpour. There
were doubts as to whether
the heavens would open up
again in the dawn. Then it
was the red rim of the Sun
rising through the horizon
that elicited our hearts.
Finally we were ready for
the most awaited event in
the IEEE calendar; the
Annual Charity Project.
IEEE Student Branch of
initiated the Annual
Charity Project for 2014/15
with the intention of
bringing up a smile in the
faces of little kids, who are deprived of
love and care of their parents at the
dawn of their lives. Members of the
student branch felt it is their duty to
uplift the state of humanity, while
working for the advancement of
technology as the tagline of IEEE
reads: ‘Advancing technology for
Humanity’.
Members of IEEE Student Branch,
along with members of WIE Affinity
group managed to reach ‘Isuru Uyana
children’s home at Kuruwita around
10.00 a.m. They were greeted with
warm smiles by little children, the
matron and care-takers of children’s
home.
Since it was the ideal time for a
morning snack, little kids were served
with sweets and tea. It was the
opportunity for both little children and
members of IEEE student branch to share the whereabouts with
each other.
Afterwards, little children showcased their talents by singing
ear-soothing songs and performing eye-pleasing acts. Then it
was the opportunity for young engineers to time travel twenty
years back in their lives. Their gleaming eyes and facial
expressions spoke as to how much they enjoyed the
opportunity while singing songs from ‘Amba Yaluwo’.
Necessities in the categories of stationary, medicine and toys
were donated to the children’s home. Sun-shades were also
fixed onto the windows at pre-school which belong to the
children’s home. Eventually, each kid was presented with gift
packs. Their eyes were lit and a silent ‘Thank You!’ was
written all over their faces. It was a very emotional moment for
the little kids, as well as the student branch members.
As the hours passed by, it was time to bid adieu. On the way
back, young engineers had a dip in Bopath Ella to freshen up.
Annual Charity
Project“There is nothing more beautiful than a child's
smile”
Himantha Alahakoon

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By and by, the moments
filled with excitement,
energy, care and
brotherhood came to an
end. As the twilight made
the goodbyes to come
sooner, everyone had a
bright smile on their faces.
Simply, that was an
unforgettable day with
IEEE fellowship and we
hope it marked a
prosperous end to an
eventful calendar.

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IEEE student branch of
University of Moratuwa in
collaboration with IET
chapter launched their first
joint effort on the 08th of
May, 2014, introducing the
‘School Workshop and
Seminar on Electronic’ to
their calendar. This is the
first ever joint project done
by the two leading
Technology chapters
functioning within the
university.
The project basically
targeted the students in the
suburban areas of Sri
Lanka, that
comparatively find less
opportunities to widen
their knowledge on
Electronics. The
Advanced Level Physics
syllabus taught in Sri
Lankan schools includes
some basic electronic
theories. But due to the
lack of knowledge bases
the students of rural
schools find it
difficult to clearly
grab the essence of
the subject. This
makes most of them
to drop away the
area and henceforth
their appetite for
electronics is
declined.
So this was intended to be a helping hand for them to regain
their appetite towards electronics. The workshop was held in
the Department of Electronics and Telecommunication
Engineering. It was patronized by the Chairman of the IEEE
Sri Lanka Section, Dr. Jayathu Samarawickrama and President
of the IET Sri Lanka Section, Prof. (Mrs.) Indra Dayawansa.
A number of enthusiastic students and teachers from schools
around the country participated. They were taught the basics
through methods easily understandable, by the final year
Engineering Undergraduates of the Department of Electronic
and Telecommunication Engineering and Department of
Electrical Engineering.
Moreover, they were given hands on experience on how to
apply what they learned into practice within the laboratories.
Electronic Seminar
for School StudentsJoined Project by IET Chapter and IEEE Student Branch

16
It was a great pleasure that
just in within the first
attempt, the workshop
turned out to be a huge
success. The IEEE Student
Branch and the IET
Chapter of University of
Moratuwa have future
plans of extending this
project further as a
community service project
to enhance the
Technological knowhow of
the Sri Lankan school
community, not only in
electronics but in many
other novel areas of
Technology.

17
Writing the next chapter
of the legend, IEEE Student
Branch of University of
Moratuwa is launched in
style, the next step of
CodeExpertz, the first ever
coding competition for the
students of Sri Lankan
schools. Having
successfully completed the
CodeExpertz 1.0 in 2013,
we are with the humble
pride of organizing
CodeExpertz 2.0 on 19th
July 19, 2014 from 9.00 am
onwards at University
premises.
The competition provided a
platform to,
• Motivate school students
to be technologically sound in
solving real world problems,
especially using computer
programming
• To provide students an
online competitive environment
to investigate their talents in
programming.
• Give IEEE Student
Members a challenge to
embrace team work – an
important skill to develop for
career success.
Students, who are currently
studying in a school (O/L &
A/L) and students just finished
their advanced level
examinations, were eligible to
take part in this competition.
As an initial step, an introductory session was conducted to
give the participants a brief introduction on the competition
structure and coding fundamentals. This was held at the
university premises on 5th
July, 2014.This workshop was
conducted by our high caliber undergraduates representing the
technical committee. All of them are members of the IEEE
Student Branch of University of Moratuwa.
This cutting-edge competition was praised by many people
including the Principals, teachers and the school children as
well. They are eager to participate in these kinds of events each
year. It’s a pleasure to know that this unique experience had
made most of them realize about their hidden skills which they
can improve in the future.
As we hoped we were able to retain the momentum in this
year’s competition as well and produce the winners of this
year’s competition,
CodeExpertz 2.0Successful Second Step Toward making of School
Code Geeks

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1st Place – acftw from
Ananda College,
Colombo
2nd Place – master_coders
from Rahula College,
Matara
3rd Place – devanscoders
from Maliyadeva College,
Kurunegala
The winners were awarded
at the IEEEXtreme 8.0
introductory session and
CodeExpertz 2.0 awarding
session.

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Having successfully
concluded the next big step
of Sri Lanka’s first ever
Coding Fest for school
children, Code Expertz 2.0,
the IEEE Student Branch of
University of University of
Moratuwa was left with one
more, yet the most
important event of the
process, ‘Awarding the
Winners’.
It was with this this
intention that we organized
the awarding ceremony of
the Code Expertz 2.0 in
style along with the
introductory session to
IEEE Xtreme 8.0 on 16th
October, 2014.
The winners of the contest
were awarded fabulous
prices for their excellence
in collaboration with the
Institute of Java and
Software Engineering
(IJSE), the main sponsor
for the event.
CodeExpertz & Xtreme
7.0 Awarding CeremonyRecognizing Young Enthusiastic Coding Geeks…

20
A successful career has an
invaluable impact on the
overall wellbeing of an
individual. It is the platform
that will guide the life in
proper direction. Though
there can be twists, turns
and unexpected
opportunities that come on
the way, it is better to map
the direction first and let
chances have a secondary
impact, not a primary effect
on career goal. With this
intention on focus, IEEE
Student Branch of
University organised a
session under ‘IEEE Talk’
in collaboration with IEEE
Young Professionals Sri
Lanka to emphasize young
undergraduates on the
value of proper career
planning.
‘From Good to Great’ was
held on 7th August 2014
with the participation of
undergraduates from
Faculty of Engineering,
University of Moratuwa.
The keynote speaker was
none other than Mr.
Aravinda Perera, who is a
graduate of Department of Electrical Engineering, University
of Moratuwa, currently working as a development Engineer in
Siemens Power Electronic Centre in Norway.
The event was added more value with Mr. Aravinda Perera
sharing some of his personal life experiences.
Further he advised the participants on adding both short term
as well as long term goals.
As the Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu once said, "The journey
of a thousand miles begins with a single step", Mr. Aravinda
Perera proved the statement with his own experiences in life.
As the dusk began to fall for the day, young undergraduates left
the Seminar Room with comforted thoughts as they succeeded
in defining new horizons for their careers.
“From Good to Great”IEEE Talk Event
Himantha Alahakoon

21
The event ‘Make Them
Smile’ was organized for
the first time in WIE history
of University of Moratuwa
as a community service
project with the intention of
serving the nation as lady
engineering
undergraduates.
This was suggested with
the motive of fulfilling our
duty towards the society as
to-be-professionals. We as
young lady engineering
undergraduates always
believe in contributing to the
betterment of the humanity by
every means and we are definite
that ‘Make them Smile’ helped
reach a step higher in the journey.
All the student members of IEEE
Women in Engineering (WIE)
Affinity Group of University of
Moratuwa got together to make
the 9th August 2014 a memorable
day for the sisters of
Gangodawila Girls’ Children
Home in Nugegoda.
We were able to provide morning
tea with gift packs for all the
children and we donated story
books and educational books
worth of LKR 8000 for their
library. A cash donation of LKR
2500 was made for the future
development of the place. The
small kids loved the company of
our members and we did few games and entertainment
activities with the small kids.
“Make Them
Smile”Community service Project by IEEE WIE Affinity
Group of University of Moratuwa
Nadee Seneviratne

22
These interactive sessions
created an environment full
of fun, joy and happiness.
Few motivational
discussions were conducted
with the girls who were
getting ready for the GCE
Ordinary Level
examinations in this year
and they seemed to be quite
influenced by hearing to
our small speeches.
They were made aware of
what the society expects
from a successful woman
and how education could be
the sole reason for one’s
success.
At the end of the day
nothing is more rewarding
than the smile we draw on
the little ones’ faces as we
returned back from their
place.

23
‘Limelight 2014’ was a
panel discussion organized
by the IEEE WIE affinity
group of University of
Moratuwa, to empower
tomorrow’s leaders with
the hands on experiences of
today’s elite lady
personalities. Knowing the
fact that lacking confidence
and inability to identify the
true potential and
becoming second in the
engineering field by
thinking engineering is
meant for males and always
lagging behind them, we
introduced this novel event,
‘Limelight 2014’, starting
from this year for the very
first time in order to help
the young female
undergraduates of University of
Moratuwa to unveil their immense
potential to be at the heights they
deserve to be at in the future and to
uplift their confidence,
competencies and personality to
operate in a corporate environment
meeting high level industry
standards.
And the inaugural chapter was
successfully held on 20th May
2014 from 5.30pm to 7.30pm in
Department of Electronic and
Telecommunication, University of
Moratuwa with the participation of
today’s elite lady personalities and
few lady undergraduates of
different fields.
The panel consisted of Prof. (Mrs.)
Dileeka Dias (Professor at University of Moratuwa), Mrs.
Samadani Kiriwandeniya (Chairperson, Sanasa Development
Bank), Mrs. Indrani Fernando (Chairperson/Managing
Director at New Philip Hospitals (Pvt) Ltd) and Mrs. Indira
Kulatilake (Managing Director, Universal Labels (Pvt) Ltd).
The four panelists appeared on the event were interested to
share their experiences with the young undergraduates. The
four panelists appeared on the event were interested to share
their experiences with the young undergraduates.
Mrs. Indrani Fernando, a delightful personality shared her
inspiring business experience with us while Mrs. Dileeka Dias
shared her educational experiences and family life experiences.
Mrs. Samadanie Kiriwandeniya who was ranked as one of the
50 most powerful women in Sri Lanka taught how to face to an
interview successfully by sharing her life experiences. Mrs.
Indira Kulatilake showed us the interpersonal ability of women
which leads to the success of whole family.
As expected this event was a massive successful one. The
feedbacks given by the participants revealed their enthusiasm
LimelightA panel discussion featuring today’s elite lady
personalities to empower tomorrow’s leaders
Nadee Seneviratne

24
on programs like these,
specially focused on the
female engineers in
molding their characters
enabling them to get on
with the rapidly moving
industrial world. Thus, it is
also evident that the event
was a great success.

IEEE University of Moratuawa Student Branch - Newsletter 2014/2015

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