IIT wins multiple awards for innovation at prominent ICT competitions

The pioneer in providing British higher education in Sri Lanka, the Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT) once again bagged multiple accolades for innovation at prominent ICT competitions which were held recently. IIT students emerged in a dominant position by winning awards at e-Swabhimani, National Best Quality ICT Awards (NBQSA) 2017, TADHACK Sri Lanka 2017 and HaCKLN2017 

IIT continued the winning streak at this year’s National Best Quality ICT Awards (NBQSA) by taking home a bronze award and two merit awards. Ramitha Wirasinha from IIT secured a bronze award for his project named Source Co- Pilot, a source recommendation tool for novice programmers. 

One of the two NBQSA merit awards went to team Aparecium Labs consisting of IIT students – Brion Silva, Hasitha Walpola, Savani De Silva and Ramith Kisal for creating “Safe Plant” which is a smart wrist band made to help Kidney Transplant patients in their aftercare process. 

The other merit award was won by Team Orasi consisting of students, Isuru Kariyawasam – Founder, Janak Amarasena, Nipuni Paaris and Numee Thilakarathne for their project Orasi 2.0 World. Orasi 2.0 is a highly efficient and accurate mobile device that is designed to help improve the day to day lives of the visually impaired which converts non braille content to braille. Recently, Orasi 2.0 World was presented the coveted e-Swabhimani Award 2017 under the Inclusion and Empowerment category and also was adjudicated as runner-up for the InnoServe Award held in Taiwan. Out of over 200 startup companies in Sri Lanka, Orasi 2.0 emerged as the fourth runner-up at the Asian Business Angel Forum (ABAF) awarded by Lankan Angel Network (LAN) and Venture Engine.

Meanwhile, IIT students made strides during recent hackathons by emerging as the first runner up at TADHACK 2017 and HaCKLN 2017. Team CodeFlakes comprising of IIT students Areefa Thassim, Sameeha Rahman and Atheeb Hasan was awarded the First Runner-up title at TADHACK 2017 for their innovation which is a SMS platform that offers advice and reminders for pregnant women and new mothers.

Meanwhile, four students kept the IIT flag flying high at HaCKLN 2017 which is known to be one of the biggest inter university hackathon’s which was organised by the University of Kelaniya, Department of Statistics and Computer Science. Team Aparecium Labs which represented IIT emerged First Runner Up for their project ‘Safe Plant’. 

“IIT has created a culture of educational excellence which fosters creativity and innovation through its program of study that enables students to explore opportunities and discover the unknown. These facets facilitate IIT to become an award winning campus,” Dean of IIT, Naomi Krishnarajah said. 

“The quality off IIT graduates speaks for itself considering its longs list of illustrious alumni who hold prominent positions in the industry both locally and abroad. The many awards won locally and internationally by IIT students and alumni is a testament to our success in providing quality British higher education in Sri Lanka,” Krishnarajah said.  

Since the institute’s inception in 1990, IIT has groomed leading innovators, entrepreneurs and corporate leaders. IIT students are encouraged to participate in local and international competitions, which is an integral part of the institute’s education system. The academic staff at IIT play a key role in searching for opportunities that will enhance the knowledge and skills of students, guide them on the use of technology which will empower organisations and will also help them develop the much needed interpersonal skills. The academic staff at IIT focuses on producing all-round and highly dynamic professionals who are in demand in today’s competitive job market.