STEMUp Educational Foundation expands Advisory Board

Wednesday, 31 March 2021 01:32 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

STEMUp Educational Foundation Advisory Board

STEMUp Educational Foundation, the non-profit organisation with a focus on furthering Scientific, Technological, Engineering, and Mathematical (STEM) knowledge among Sri Lankan students, has expanded its distinguished Advisory Board by bringing in five new experts to take the Foundation’s vision forward.

The new Advisory Board includes Channa Manoharan – Advisory Leader/Chief Operating Officer of PwC Sri Lanka, Gareth Stockdale – CEO of Micro:bit Educational Foundation, Sampath Jayasundara – CEO and Director of hSenid and Founder of PIBT, Madhu Fernando – Head of Corporate and Vocational Training/General Manager Corporate Planning of ESOFT Metro Campus and Lin Gong-Deutschmann – Co-Founder and General Partner of L&R Holding GmBH & Co-Founder of AI Academy.

They will be joining the current members of the Advisory Board that includes Prasad Piyasena – Director, IT and Program Promotion of SLIDA, Yashinka Jayasinghe Alles – former Education Lead at Microsoft Sri Lanka, Janakie Karunarathne – Lead, Corporate Affairs of Hemas Consumer Brands, Sumudu Wasana – Assistant Director of Ministry of Education, Shamilka Samarasinha – Global Head, Corporate Social Responsibility of EPAM Systems and Ravin Tharinda Piyasiri – Deputy General Manager-SME Product Development of Sri Lanka Telecom.

STEMUp Educational Foundation Director Prabhath Mannapperuma stated: “We are excited to welcome a new set of brilliant individuals with vast experience in their relevant fields to take the STEMUp Educational Foundation forward. We are confident that their expertise will help us broaden our horizons and grow in numerous areas. They will work closely with the existing Advisory Board Members as well as with the STEMUp Directors and a large number of volunteers to achieve our key objective of attracting students of all ages to choose a career in STEM.” Over the years, STEMUp Educational Foundation has conducted numerous impactful initiatives and programs to allow students to embrace the world of STEM. Their most recent initiative aimed at encouraging young children to expand their knowledge and pave the way for them to enter a career in STEM was ‘Electronics for Kids’.

The first Electronics for Kids session was live streamed on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter commencing late last year. The sessions, conducted by industry experts, were tailor-made for children from Grade 6 and above from across the island and were held in Sinhala medium to reach a wider audience.

The STEMUp Educational Foundation is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to inspire and engage students to become interested in pursuing Scientific, Technological, Engineering, and Mathematical (STEM) degrees and careers. The organisation’s mission is fulfilled through the programs and resources they offer to the South Asian community. The Foundation has educational opportunities and resources for all. Most of its resources are also offered free-of-charge as a part of the vision of becoming a national model for passionate support for STEM education.