Asian Development Bank supports Sri Lanka Inter-University ‘Make-A-Thon’

Thursday, 27 February 2025 09:08 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the University of Kelaniya organised the Sri Lanka Inter-University Make-A-Thon for Assistive Medical Technology from 22-24 February to come up with new solutions for affordable assistive medical technology devices.

This Make-A-Thon is supported by the Education Ministry, the University of Colombo, the Open University of Sri Lanka, Thrimana 3D Printers, ATG Glove Solutions, Avon Pharmo Chem, Leeban Interiors, and FabLab Shinagawa, Japan.

“I am thrilled to witness the creativity, empathy, and passion of Sri Lankan youth making a social impact by providing customised but potentially scalable interdisciplinary solutions within this limited time,” said ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka Takafumi Kadono. “I hope that this Make-A-Thon event will bring a lasting impact for mainstreaming affordable assistive health technology service delivery to the doorstep of people with disability in Sri Lanka.”

The event brought together over 150 participants, including people with disabilities as need knowers, university students and faculty members whose majors are engineering, technology, medical, designing occupational therapy, speech and language therapy from nine universities, and digital fabrication experts to co-create human-centred assistive devices.

The event was held at the new platinum-rated green building facilities at the Faculty of Computing and Technology, University of Kelaniya, developed under the ADB-funded Science and Technology Human Resource Development Project. The event showcased Sri Lankan university students’ creativity in producing affordable assistive medical technology solutions – costing less than $ 1 per device – thereby reducing reliance on imports.

University of Kelaniya Vice Chancellor Senior Professor Nilanthi De Silva said: “More than just a competition, the Make-A-Thon could combat the stigma attached to people with disabilities. This interdisciplinary collaborative event fostered innovation to develop practical solutions to real-world disability challenges through participatory processes.”

13 groups successfully developed 3D-printed assistive device prototypes for people with disability based on the interdisciplinary support from the University of Kelaniya, led by the Faculty of Computing and Technology as well as the Department of Disability Studies of the Faculty of Medicine. The Japanese digital fabrication experts, funded by the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific grant, provided guidance for this event. The future towards technology-enabled occupational therapy was also presented.

This is the first large-scale Make-A-Thon in Sri Lanka focusing on assistive technology. This event aimed to showcase the power of 3D printing technology to produce assistive devices for people with disabilities, raise awareness and interest in 3D-printed assistive devices among key stakeholders, and develop assistive devices and share it through an open platform so that everyone can produce them through the FabLab network in Sri Lanka and beyond.

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