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Manju Gunawardene, the winner of the prestigious Dassis Award at the National Innovations exhibition in 2012, was able to win Gold and Silver prizes for his two inventions at the 41st ‘Inventions Geneva’ exhibition, held from 10 to 14 April, the largest marketplace for inventors in the world.
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| Manju Gunawardene received a warm welcome at BIA |
Gunawardene brought honour to the country for his two inventions developed using nanotechnology. The Gold award was presented for his air purifying nano photocatalytic CFL lamp and the Silver was for the nano visible light photocatalysis-based hospital infection control system.
The Gold medal was awarded in the category of ‘Food Stuff, Drinks, Cosmetics, Paramedical, Health and Hygiene’ for the nano photocatalytic CFL lamp sanitises air by killing microorganisms present in the air without the use of any harmful sanitisers or any type of chemicals. The innovative coating on the bulb not only kills germs, but also destroys any odours and harmful chemical vapours present in the air.
The Silver medal was awarded in the Category of ‘Medicine, Surgery, Hygiene, Orthopaedics and Material for Handicap’.
Gunawardene is a serial inventor who hails from Matara. He was a student of Mahanama College and Royal College Colombo.
In 1990, Gunawardene became the Junior Inventor of the Year of Sri Lanka for the development of formalin detector in fish, and with this initiative then developed many innovative products covering various areas. He developed a novel charge state monitoring system for lead acid batteries and now the world is moving in the same direction in the charge state monitoring technique.
He received his primary engineering education from the Engineering Council of UK and post graduate qualification from the University of Houston Texas on a special scheme of research with Raytheon Aerospace.
Gunawardene currently works at CIC Agri Businesses as a Consultant Research Scientist and is also the Chief Executive Officer and Principal Research Scientist at Hybrid Technologies Ltd. He started product development in nanotechnology and new technologies such as nano cosmetics, nano medicine and nano lubricants.
He developed a system which generates aqua ozone which can be applied as a food sanitiser and a food processing industry sanitation system, post-harvest protector and a unique system to reduce wastewater load in the food processing industry were introduced by Gunawardene.
He has invented a specialised water conditioner for the North Central Province to treat drinking and cooking water in Rajarata and other kidney disease-affected areas.
The nano silver impregnated non-woven wound dressing is a low cost wound dressing made out of non-woven fabric and impregnated with silver particles for faster healing and pathogen killing. He is also the founder of the air purifying nano CFL bulb.
Gunawardene’s participation was sponsored by the Sri Lanka Inventors Commission, with him being the winner of the Dassis Award in the Open Category.
“This competition was one of the world’s largest in the area of innovation and new product development. There were 42 countries represented at the exhibition, with more than 600 new developments. It was a very tough fight, especially in the categories of Medicine and Energy. The major problems the world is currently facing were solved with extremely advanced techniques as well as some remarkably simple devices. I firmly believe that in future Sri Lanka must increase participation with more futuristic and applied innovation,” said Gunawardene.
“Both my products are focused on critical problem areas facing the world. Indoor pollution sources that release gases or particles into the air are the primary cause of indoor air quality problems in homes, offices, restaurants and industrial work environments. Inadequate ventilation can increase indoor pollutant levels by not bringing in enough outdoor air to dilute emissions from indoor sources and by not carrying indoor air pollutants out of the home. High temperature and humidity levels can also increase concentrations of some pollutants. These pollutants are a mix of microorganisms, chemicals and other contaminants. These pollutants make indoor air 10 times un-cleaned than outdoor air. The nano air purifying CFL lamp can remove and clean 99+% of indoor air pollutants to make indoor a better and a safer place to breathe.”
Hospital-Associated Infections (HAIs) are infections that patients acquire during the course of receiving healthcare treatment for other conditions. These infections related to medical care can be devastating and even deadly.
Hospitals and clinics strive to understand how HAIs happen and to develop appropriate interventions. HAIs are an important public health problem. Approximately one out of every 20 hospitalised patients will contract an HAI. With the award-winning solution developed with nano photocatalysis and ozone, a great level of HAI deaths is now being prevented.
“The uniqueness of both systems is the sustainability of the solution and extreme applicability at a negligible long-term running cost, in addition to the unparalleled efficacy of the solutions developed when compared with current solutions,” he added.
“We are delighted that our inventors continue to prove that they are world class. We invite local investors to take a closer look at what our inventors are capable of doing and take them to the next level of commercialisation. Be angel investors and make a difference is my appeal,” said Deepal Sooriyaarachchi, Commissioner of the Sri Lanka Inventors Commission, which functions under the Ministry of Research Technology and Atomic Energy.
Last year the Sri Lankan inventor who was sent to the same exhibition by the Commission won a Gold award. This year the commission is planning to have the Sahasak Nimevum National Exhibition in late December to showcase the talents of Sri Lankan innovators.
With a view to promoting inventiveness among the youth, the commission airs a weekly reality TV show titled YIC (Young Inventors Club) on ITN on Saturdays at 11 a.m. where schoolchildren are challenged to come up with innovative technological solutions for a day-to-day problem.
The activities of the commission are published regularly on its website www.slic.gov.lk.
