SAITM-AIT engineering graduates dive into local and foreign industries

Friday, 16 August 2013 07:12 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A few weeks since graduation, a set of fully qualified and energetic young engineers have already taken up their duties in engineering careers in both Sri Lankan and international firms. This new generation of dynamic BSc. (honours) engineers is the product of a unique and pioneering league of local private sector higher education provided by the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM), Malabe, together with the prestigious Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand. The SAITM engineering program is unique in the sense that all of its students get the best of both Sri Lankan and foreign engineering education and industry experience. Students have the privilege of learning from some of the best senior lecturers and professors including those from local State universities in Sri Lanka, and foreign academia from universities such as MIT, CalTech (USA), Cambridge and Imperial (UK) while in Thailand. “It was truly an honour to learn from and closely associate with the professors both in Sri Lanka and at AIT. I can’t think of another opportunity of receiving this brilliant exposure available to students at an undergraduate level in Sri Lanka,” said Harshana Molligoda, who has now begun working for a highly reputed engineering design and consultancy firm in Colombo. Some of the students have also received job confirmations even before the graduation, due to the high reputation AIT has in the region and the performance and quality of the Sri Lankan students. This new batch of engineers who began their journey at SAITM underwent a fulfilling and life changing experience at AIT within a multicultural setting where they interacted with students and lecturers from over 48 countries from all continents. The full range of engineering fields of specialisation is covered with comprehensive curricular spanning four years which include industrial training in Sri Lanka and abroad. The excellent performance by the Sri Lankan students is a tribute to the immense efforts made by the SAITM Faculty of Engineering and AIT to maintain academic quality and standards along with the infrastructure made available, in par with the best in the world. SAITM has achieved remarkable progress, attaining a high standard of academic excellence, making the undergraduate engineering programs the most successful offered in Sri Lanka. It is noted that the students have not only gained from the high quality faculty and infrastructure facilities but also by numerous course-related events organised by the faculty such as the annual research symposium (SAITM Research Symposium on Engineering Advancements – RSEA) – the only research symposium conducted by a non-State sector institute of higher education, the annual robotics competition (SAITM Robotic Challenge – SRC), numerous guest lecturers from the industry, workshops and field visits. Many of the graduated engineering students have also already begun their journey in Master’s and PhD education at AIT and elsewhere. Of the Sri Lankans who graduated from AIT at the 119th graduation in 2013, 13 students secured 100% fellowships and eight students 75% fellowships to pursue Master’s degrees in the chosen fields of study at AIT, which is also highly popular for State sector students looking for overseas education at the Master’s level.

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