Special Feature

6-May-2009

By Ashan Kumar Ashan Kumar met Sadeepa Ravinath Palliyaguru to understand, How "IT" changed his life.

Associate Software Engineer and Technical Writer OPRO Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. Sadeepa Ravinath Palliyaguru

"My Childhood dream was to become a doctor. An astrologer and many palm readers predicted that I would be a skilled surgeon. My father who was a physics teacher then, collected notes. However I had to travel a different path at my A/L". I entered into a dialogue with somewhat of an introvert, possessing commendable leadership skills from tender age. Sadeepa can be described as a personality who encompasses "quiet potential". He went on describing about his college days, Royal College being his alma-mater, "I studied logic, statistics and English literature for my A/Ls. Even though these subjects were not selected with the objective of moving into IT, they really helped me to grasp the fundamentals of IT" I probed deeper and questioned him why he chose IT as a career, he said, "Traditional avenues left for an arts graduate getting out of the university are restricted.

4-Apr-2009
By Ashan Kumara
 
I recently got the opportunity meet a schoolmate of mine, in his school days I remember him as a very active scout and a person with fine leadership skills. Presently the Manager Software Development at IFS Research and Development (Pvt) Ltd, Azmaan recalls how his life shifted, through the vista of IT. I didnt have a specific ambition as a child. However during my A/Ls I wanted to pursue my higher studies in the IT field as a result of increased awareness in the field and personal interest said Azmaan. Describing his background he said, I come from a business oriented family and resided in Colombo where I schooled at Wesley College. I was brought up in Colombo where I completed my degree in Information Systems from Manchester Metropolitan University, UK where I graduated with first class honours. While studying I commenced my career at IFS as a trainee and thereon my career developed rapidly. Subsequently I completed the Master of Business Administration program at Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

15-Feb-2009
Ashan Kumar met young Rajitha Dahanayake CEO eMarketingEye to understand How IT changed his life... I got the opportunity to meet up-coming young exuberant Rajitha Dahanayake a fan of cricket and a voracious reader. Rajitha said that he had never dreamt to become a doctor or an engineer. “I forever sought to be an entrepreneur, managing my own business. My father is a senior government officer, and I found myself travelling with him to his duty stations. I had to attend six schools and I ended up at D.S. Senanayake College to finish my A/Ls from grade 10, said Rajitha. Presently he is the Founder and CEO of eMarketingEye, which offers a wide range of online marketing solutions to improve the performance and visibility of online marketing.

2-Feb-2009

Ashan Kumar meets Manager Operations hSenid Mobile Solutions (Pvt) Ltd, Dumidu Nayanamithra, to understand How 'IT' changed his life...

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Dumidu Nayanamithra possessed a childhood dream of being a journalist with the intention to travel to all parts of the world.

An old boy of Dharmaraja College Kandy who studied Biology for his A/Ls, he is from a middle class family where both the parents were government servants who did not have any idea about IT.

He recalls "I didn't have any exposure to the IT field until I completed my A/Ls". I asked him how he got exposed to the IT field. He answered "My initial IT exposure was at IDM, Kandy where I did my initial "Computer Course". Then moved to Colombo and enrolled at NIBM (National Institute of Business Management) where I did the Diploma and Higher Diploma. After which I completed my first degree at NIBM, offered by National University of Ireland. Later I did a Masters Degree in IT at the University of Colombo, School of Computing (UCSC). I queried further and he explained "After completing my A/Ls, I was thinking about various career paths. I became very frustrated with my A/L results and during this period I did my own research where I used to refer all vacancy advertisements in weekend papers and I found out that Accounting and Computing has a lot of opportunities out in the market.

18-Jan-2009

Ashan Kumar met Asanga Marasinghe, Manager Software Development IFS Research and Development to understand How 'IT' changed his life...

A naturalist and an adventurer with a desire to explore wildlife, spending his leisure taking part in safaris at the Yala and Wasgamuwa is how I can describe young Asanga Marasinghe who is currently the Manager Software Development at IFS Sri Lanka, a global enterprise solutions company.

He recalled his school days at Nalanda College, Colombo, where his aim was to become a civil engineer, following the mathematics stream, as advised by his parents. His father is a retired draughtsman and mother a retired teacher. "While I was schooling I haven't heard of the term "Software Engineer" said Asanga. He said "My life changed completely as I strived hard to get into Informatics Institute, after my A/Ls. I had to complete five tests to get into the application process. And I succeeded." He added "I aspired to become a software engineer, as this was the time the country was facing an Information Technology revival, the IT boom in Sri Lanka, made a vast change in my life".

13-Jan-2009

"I peeked through our living room entrance to see my father, deep in concentration, in front of him was a TV with a type writer, I stood there for a while to see what he was doing, but I didn't understand anything.

I swiftly ran to my mother who was preparing dinner and asked what exactly is dad doing"? She grinned, lifted me from the ground, looked into my eyes and said, "Your dad is working on a commodore 64 computer." For me this was amusement and I burst out laughing," said Nayana Somaratne presently the Chairman of Paradox Software, recollecting his initial experience with a computer.

16-Jan-2009

"I want to be a fighter pilot" said young vibrant Shalinka when her parents were curious about what plans the tom boy in the family had about her future. She laughs and goes on to explain how she wanted to explore new avenues, and how curious she was to experience adventure and excitement. She reminicises how her friends wanted to become a doctor, engineer and a teacher, and being a fighter pilot was quite a contrast ambition to imagine.

Born and raised in Nugegoda, an old girl of Anula Vidyalaya, Shalinka Jayatilleke is presently the Business Development Manager plus a lecturer at Sri Lanka's premier degree awarding education institute, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology.