Astonishing response from schools at Future Careers event in Kandy

Winners of the Innovation Competition – Smart Walking Stick for the Blind

Kandy IT/BPM Week hosted a Future Careers event, an initiative by SLASSCOM, focused on building capacity for the IT/BPM industry in Sri Lanka, on 10 June at Ranabima Royal College, Gannoruwa with the participation of 2,500 students. 

The event was supported by the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) and the ICT branch of the Ministry of Education. The program included a seminar to create awareness about the knowledge service industry and the career opportunities available for these future leaders. The students were provided the opportunity to speak to the industry professionals in smaller groups to obtain career counselling as well to understand their experiences of working in the industry. 

The highlight of the event was the innovation competition and exhibition. The competition was held to evaluate technology enabled innovations by students in the region where a panel of industry experts selected three projects as winners. 

The winning project of the competition was by the students K.M.G.K. Bandara and K.G. Wijayawardhana of St. Anthony’s College, Katugasthota who developed a walking stick for the blind, using Arduino software which indicates obstacles ahead through vibration. 

The second place was awarded to H.M.M.I.S.B. Herath of Poramadulla National School for the innovative student information system that’s currently being utilised in the school to manage student information. 

Five girls from Girl’s High School, Kandy; Sanduni Jayasinghe, Roneshi Hettiwewage, Vishaka Randunuge, Hemangi Wimaladharma and Dilhani Gamhatha secured the third place of the competition for the innovative an educational 3D maze game, where the user has to answer questions on different subject areas to move further levels.

These students were given the opportunity to exhibit their innovations to the students who participated at the event. Additionally, the Event Educational sponsor Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT) featured a fewaward winning innovations of their students at the exhibition to inspire the young children and inculcate innovative thinking among them. 

“It’s encouraging to see an overwhelming response from the schools to attend this program. Based on the feedback we received during a pre-event workshop conducted for principals and teachers, we are hopeful that more students will be encouraged by the teachers to pursue a career in the IT/BPM industry,” said S. Muralidaran, Head of the Capacity forum of SLASSCOM sharing his thoughts on the Future Careers program held in Kandy.