SLTC celebrates historic first engineering degree awards convocation

Keynote address by Ambassador Denis Chaibi

SLTC President and VC Eng. Ranjith G. Rubasinghe

Creating history for the Sri Lanka Technological Campus (SLTC), the very first batch of 106 graduates took the ceremonial handshake as they were conferred the Bachelor of Science Honours degree from the Sri Lanka Technological Campus. 

This significant convocation was held at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre in the presence of families and as well as faculty and staff of the SLTC. 

The Guest of Honour was Vidya Jothi Prof. K.K.Y.W. Perera, Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa and Council Member of SLTC, and the keynote address was given by Denis Chaibi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka.

In his welcome address, SLTC President and Vice Chancellor Eng. Ranjith G. Rubasinghe said, “Our first-ever graduates are very special to SLTC. They had the courage to join a university with just a name but no evidence as to what it could offer. Today they have become that very evidence itself. They, together with our faculty members, created an ecosystem that a university should comprise of, all while battling the many hardships that came our way as a newly founded educational institute. My heartfelt gratitude goes to each one of our graduates for being a part of that wonderful team. Let us celebrate the fact that we together created a university and the founding chapter in the history of SLTC.”

Back in 2014, this was the very vision that initiated conversation and the conception of a university to incorporate the dreams of students while giving them a unique experience of teaching and learning with the intention of producing quality graduates to fit the current requirement and trends in the industry. For this very objective, the SLTC was formed based on the vision of Founder President/Chief Executive Officer Eng. Ranjith G. Rubasinghe.

In his keynote address, Chaibi also congratulated the graduating batch on their success and spoke about the contributions these young engineers can make for this country in its fight against climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and other areas of action. “We need power engineers to tackle climate change, civil engineers to design building to protect against natural hazards and digital specialists to ensure improved access to faster internet,” he said. “Imagine how much you can contribute in making lives better?” he asserted. 

SLTC is one of the EU’s ENACT Partners, a project aimed to enhance the governance, management and quality of university education in Sri Lanka by building the capacity of non-academic staff to enhance organisational performance and to support current and future modernisation efforts and reforms in higher education. ENACT is a project funded with the support of the Ersamus+ Programme of the European Union. 

The first batch included 110 determined and aspiring young men and women from across the nation. As Sri Lanka’s only corporate-powered, research based, residential university, students live onsite and experience the gamut of college life, including forming friendships, and enjoying the cultural and scholarly resources of a research university in a beautifully landscaped 37-acre property located at the former SLT Satellite Earth Station in Padukka. 

Presently there are over 3,000 students, making the SLTC the fastest growing university in Sri Lanka. SLTC was awarded the ‘Most Emerging Education Institute of the Year’ accolade at the South Asian Partnership Summit and Business Excellence Awards 2019. The same year, the university was recognised with the Merit Award Educational Service Centre and National Business Excellence Award, presented by the National Chamber of Commerce. The Sri Lanka Technological Campus (SLTC) is also ISO:9001:2008 certified for Quality Management System.