Prof. Ranjith Senaratne, Chairman of the NSF and chairperson of its Research Arm, Prof. Nadira Karunaweera, met with Prof. Siva Sivanathan, the Director of the Microphysics Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA , at the Hotel Shangri-La on the 4th November 2022.
Prof. Sivananthan, a graduate from the Faculty of Science, Univ. of Peradeniya, is a world-renowned physicist as well as an outstanding entrepreneur in creating advanced military infrared night vision technology, which has also served as the platform for ground-breaking, next generation solar cells. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and was awarded the "Champion of Change" (Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Innovators category) in 2013 by the White House.
During the breakfast meeting, the need for development of a workforce for the installation, maintenance and repair of solar panels and merging of some S&T institutions in Sri Lanka for increased effectiveness and reduced burden on the public coffers were discussed, among other things. Prof. Sivananthan is keen to share his knowledge, expertise and experience to the benefit of the country, particularly in the field of solar energy in which he has already contributed a great deal.
The NSF will work closely with Prof. Sivananthan, the Universities of Jaffna and Peradeniya and the relevant vocational institutions to develop the requisite vocational courses to produce trained manpower/craftsmen which is important to promote the use of solar panels as an alternate source of energy in Sri Lanka.
The meeting was facilitated by Dr. Bandula Wijey in Houston, USA, and Dr Rajendran Surenthirakumaran, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Univ. of Jaffna and , Mr. Cyril Suduwella, Chartered Chemist in Petroleum Science also joined the discussion.
