The Legacy Forward! Celebrating 25 Years of Excellence 💫

The seventeenth (17th) Session of the “INSPIRE” Webinar Series, which the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies organized to guide engineering undergraduates on the topic “The legacy forward,” was successfully held via Zoom on 15th March 2025 from 7.00 PM to 8.30 PM with the active participation of undergraduates of the faculty and alumni of the faculty. It was a special session as the faculty of Engineering of University of Ruhuna is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The resource persons, Dr. Jeevananda Keerthisena – Founding Dean Faculty of Engineering, University of Ruhuna, Prof. Chaminda Karunasena – Dean, Faculty of Engineering, University of Ruhuna, Dr. (Mrs.). Mihirini Wagarachchi – Head, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, Faculty of Engineering, University of Ruhuna and Dr. Thushara Hewage – Associate Dean-Research, Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK who are witnesses of the transformation of our faculty. The session was intended to inform undergraduate students about the history of the faculty as well as what the faculty will be doing in the future.

During the webinar, Dr. Jeevananda Keerthisena was explained that the initial start of the faculty came about in a new place with young academic staff and limited resources. Also, he said that the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Ruhuna introduced a new semester-based curriculum. The next speaker Dr. (Mrs.). Mihirini Wagarachchi, who is one of the members of the academic staff from then until today, was explained about her experience as first academic staff of the faculty. She is one of witnesses to progress of the faculty since then. Dr. Thushara Hewage from the first batch also joined with the session and shared his experience with university period and the time in the industry after that as graduates from new faculty. He said that rather than worrying after graduation, enjoy university life and concentrate on what you are doing now to make your future successful. Before finishing the main part of the session Prof. Chaminda Karunasena current dean of the faculty explained about the current status and future plan of the faculty. Then the floor was opened for the alumni members to share their limitless memories and heartfelt well-wishes for the faculty. Eng. Chamara, Eng. Hasaranga Vidanapathirana from 2nd batch, and Dr. Ashani Ranathunga, Eng. Zahra Marzook from 10th batch joined with us and extended their heartfelt congratulations on the silver jubilee of the faculty. This journey of growth, innovation, and excellence stands as a testament to the dedication of its founders, academic staff, and alumni. This session highlighted the faculty’s rich history and promising future and may the faculty continue to grow, empowering students and contributing to the engineering field for many more years to come. Six talented engineering undergraduates in 2nd year played the following roles to make it a successful webinar.