Advanced Nanomaterials for Clean Energy and Health Applications
Dr. Yohi Shivatharsiny, Senior lecturer, Department of Chemistry, University of Jaffna, has visited HVL for up to two weeks from 6th to 19th June 2019. She assisted visiting Master students from University of Jaffna at HVL with Gas Chromatography (Shimadzu GC-2010) for hydrogen evolution analysis.
Fatemeh Heidari Gourji joined HVL on 4 June 2019 as a PhD Research Fellow. Fatemeh’s PhD research will focus to implement new Nano structures and optimizing processes to develop high efficient, environmentally stable perovskite solar cells. She has a background in synthesis of Nano-photocatalysts with the aim of wastewater treatment. She has worked with TiO2 and Nano porous sheets of graphene Oxide specifically. She will be supervised by Prof. Dhayalan Velauthapillai.
On 22nd May 2019 visiting research students from University of Jaffna presented their research ideas for the ANCEHA research group at HVL. Arumugam Pirashanthan presentation was titled ‘role of thiophene derivative dyes in enhancing the performance of hybrid titanium dioxide / polymer solar cells’. In his presentation he argued Molecular electronic materials such as dyes, conjugated polymers, and small molecules are gaining much interest for applications in Photovoltaics. In particular, polymer blend and dye synthesized (photo electrochemical) solar cells play a major role in the field of organic Photovoltaics. Hence he is working with hybrid titanium dioxide /polymer and dye sensitized solar cells.
Sivagowri Shanmugaratnam presented ‘Transition metal chalcogenide [MS2] embedded TiO2 nanocomposites for hydrogen production over extended solar irradiation’. She said her work will focus on studying the impact of incorporation of transition metal chalcogenide on the active TiO2 nano composites for hydrogen production over extended solar irradiation.
Kajana Thirunavukarasu presented under the title ‘Storage of solar energy by heterostructured Silver-Metal oxides-SnS2 Photocapacitors’. Her study focus on synthesized heterostructured materials in the form of nanocomposites, characterize them and investigate their solar energy storage efficiency.
Three Sri Lankan students have been undergoing research training at HVL. Arumugam Pirashanthan, Sivagowri Shanmugaratnam and Kajana Thirunavukarasu from the Department of Physics, University of Jaffna, arrived on 8th of May 2019. They are conducting research at HVL under Professor Dhayalan Velauthapillai.
MeeNilankco Theiventhran was granted a NIAS-SUPRA Nordic Scholarship by the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS) at University of Copenhagen. MeeNilankco had his research stay from 23rd April to 5th of May where he presented his research and participated in seminars and workshops related to Asia. His contribution was well received and acknowledged by NIAS.
Link: http://nias.ku.dk/news/new-supras-nias-45
Nanthini Nagarajah, joined HVL on 03rd April 2019 and is currently attached to the Mohn Centre for Innovation and Regional Development. She has a Master in Development Practice from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Her research on Energy Policy and Management is titled ‘Entanglement Matters: Renewable Energy Sector Governance in Sri Lanka’. She is supervised by Prof. Arnt Fløysand and Dhayalan Velauthapillai.
8th Expert’s talk under HRNCET & CBERC Projects
Material Characterization Techniques
by
Professor Gamini Rajapakse
Senior Professor of Chemistry and Coordinator of the MSc Course in Nanoscience
and Nanotechnology (PGIS), University of Peradeniya
Abstract of the talk: Applications of advanced Analytical Techniques is mandatory for Material Characterization in R&D activities pertinent to Materials Science and Nanotechnology. Researchers using these techniques should be mastered in theory of the technique, proper handling of the instrument, trouble shooting and interpretation of results obtained. This lecture is intended to cover analytical techniques including a Voyage through Microscopic Techniques: Optical Microscopy through Electron Microscopy, Surface Analytical Techniques such as X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Auger Electron Spectroscopy, Power X-Ray Diffraction, Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy, UV-Visible Spectroscopy and Electro-analytical Techniques such as Linear Sweep and Cyclic Voltametries, DC Conductivity Measurement and AC Impedance Spectroscopy.
Venue: Mini-Auditorium, Department of Physics
Date & Time: March 21, 2019 (Thursday), 15:00 – 17:00
Target group: Researchers and Final year students of the Faculty of Science
9th Expert’s talk under HRNCET & CBERC Projects
How to write a scientific article?
by
Professor Gamini Rajapakse
Senior Professor of Chemistry and Coordinator of the MSc Course in Nanoscience
and Nanotechnology (PGIS), University of Peradeniya
Abstract of the talk: Conducting scientific and clinical research is only the beginning of the scholarship of discovery. In order for the results of research to be accessible to other professionals and to have a potential effect on the greater scientific community, results obtained must be written and published. Scientific reports must be error-free, concise yet sufficiently descriptive and adhered to the format required for publication. Reviewers consider the following five criteria to be the most important in decision making: 1) the importance, timeliness, relevance, and prevalence of the problem addressed; 2) the quality of the writing style (i.e., that it is well‐written, clear, straightforward, easy to follow, and logical); 3) the study design applied (i.e., that the design was appropriate, rigorous, and comprehensive); 4) the degree to which the literature review was thoughtful, focused, and up‐to‐date; and 5) the use of a sufficiently large sample in case of associated statistical analysis. Journal articles usually have a common structure comprising of Title, Author Details, Abstracts, Keywords, Introduction, Materials and Methods (Experimental), Results and Discussion, Conclusions, References and Associated Conflict of Interest Statement and Acknowledgement for Financial Support. A comprehensive literature survey and understanding the research question are to be done at the beginning. This could follow data analyses and when possible presenting in the form of clear and attractive figures and tables. Abstract should be a condensed form of the manuscript adhered to required word limit which can be written after completing other sections. It is always advisable to put reference DOI within the manuscript so that standard referencing system can be easily used. Conclusions should not be the summary of the article but clear conclusions that can be drawn from the results described in the manuscript. Required form of referencing is also mandatory.
* Brief profile of the speaker
Gamini Rajapakshe is a Senior Professor of Chemistry with diverse research interests in Nanotechnology. He holds BSc Hons (Chemistry, Peradeniya), Ph.D. (Imperial College) and DIC, FNASSL. He has Teaching experience as Undergraduate and Postgraduate Teacher for more than 30 years. He supervised several PhD and master degree theses/dissertations. He has, to his credit, over 100 indexed publications and over 200 publications and communications, in total, and written several Textbooks for GCE Advanced Level and for BSc Degree Level Chemistry curricula. His academic and research activities have been rewarded by awarding 15 National Awards for Excellence in Research, including CVCD award for the most Outstanding Senior Researcher in the field of Physical Sciences. He is a pioneer in establishing MSc Programme in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and SLINTEC. He has also participated in the First Discussion on Establishing the Institute of (National) Fundamental Studies.
An international conference on Advanced Materials for Clean Energy & Health Applications (AMCEHA 2019)
was organized jointly by University of Jaffna (UoJ) and Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL)
from 6th to 8th of February 2019. The conference was funded by NFR, DICU, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Sri
Lanka, Sustainable Energy Authority and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research in Sri Lanka. Over
400 delegates, including 120 foreign delegates from countries such as Norway, India, Canada, Australia, UK,
Bangladesh, Sudan, Sweden, Finland, Egypt, China, Japan and USA participated at this unique conference. Over
180 research articles were submitted and up to 140 research articles have been selected and presented after
peer-review process. Altogether 20 researchers from HVL, UiB, UiO and IFE and industry participated at the
conference. Selected quality papers will be published as full-scaled articles in ‘Science Citation Indexed’
journals such as MDPI-‘Materials’ and ‘Materials Today’ in the coming weeks after another set of peer-review
process by the respective publishers.
The participants at AMCEHA 2019 comprised of experts, eminent scientists, industrial representatives from
local & foreign companies and students of higher learning in Clean energy technologies and Health
applications. The conference was organized under the two collaborative projects
(http://project.jfn.ac.lk/hrncet/) between UoJ and HVL: Higher Education and Research collaboration on
Nanomaterials for clean Energy Technologies (HRNCET) and Capacity Building and Establishment of a research
Consortium (CBERC) funded by Center for Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education (SIU)
and Royal Norwegian Embassy in Sri Lanka, respectively. The conference and the workshop were co-chaired
by Professor Dhayalan Velauthapillai from Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and Professor P.
Ravirajan of the Department of Physics, University of Jaffna. The first two days of the conference were held at
Main premises of the University of Jaffa in Thirunelvely and the third day at the Faculty of Engineering in
Kilinochchi premises.
Inauguration ceremony was commenced after procession of invited speakers and guest, lighting of oil lamp
and welcome song and dance performed by the students from Ramanathan Academy of Fine Arts of the
university. His Excellency Thorbjørn Gaustadsæter, Ambassador at The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Colombo
was the chief guest and Prof. P.S.M. Gunaratne, Head, Research and International Cooperation & Vice
Chairman, University Grants Commission, Sri Lanka was the Guest of Honour Prof.R.Vigneswaran, Vice
Chancellor, Prof.G.Mikunthan, Dean/Graduate Studies at University of Jaffna, Rector Berit Rokne and Henning
Report
Norheim, director at HVL welcomed the gathering. Apart from the scientific activities, the conference also
provided opportunities for signing MoUs and agreements for collaboration and co-operation in higher
education and research between University of Jaffna and GEXCON: a world-renowned company in safety
measures (https://www.gexcon.com/news/Gexcon-signed-MoU-with-University-of-Jaffna/230/en) as well as
HVL and NIFS, Sri Lanka.
On behalf of the University Council, the vice-chancellor of the University of Jaffna appreciated Professor
Dhayalan Velauthapillai with a memento for his efforts in winning and executing two major projects worth of
over LKR 200 million to promote Higher Education and Research Collaboration at the university of Jaffna and
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences through students – staff mobility programmes, conducting
international conferences, outreach activities in schools and developing Master degree programmes, since the
signing of the MOU with the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences in March 2017
(http://www.jfn.ac.lk/index.php/mou-norpart/).
After the inauguration ceremony, four plenary talks were delivered by eminent scientists in the fields of
nanomaterials for solar cells, health applications and energy storage systems. An interactive poster session
was followed by one-minute spotlight presentation of each poster. Up to thirty posters were displayed by the
authors after the spotlight session.
The second day of the conference (http://conf.jfn.ac.lk/amceha/index.php/programme/) was organized under
four different symposiums with themes Solar energy applications; Advanced Materials for Health Applications;
Advanced functional materials; and Wind/Hydrogen/Bioenergy and Storage applications. Each symposium had
four plenary and invited lectures and more than 30 contributed papers. On the second day of the conference,
a considerable number of dentists and the students from the medical faculty attended the session led by world
renowned Skandinavian scientists in regenerative medicine.
Sri Lankan and Norwegian workshop on Clean Energy Applications was held at the Faculty of Engineering,
Kilinochchi as the third day of the conference which was co-chaired by Professor Dhayalan Velauthapillai from
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and Professor A.Atputharajah, Dean/Engineering. It was
attended by most of the participants of the conference, other industrialists, policy makers from the
government sector, investors and representatives from clean energy enterprises in Sri Lanka. In order to realize
new innovations, researchers need the active support of the industry. Especially in the clean energy sector,
the industrial involvement will help us in implementing new innovative clean energy technological solutions.
Thus, on Friday, in collaboration with Sustainable Energy Authority in Sri Lanka, multiple sessions were
arranged to discuss on the challenges and possibilities in implementing clean energy solutions in Sri Lanka. The
first part was to look back at the Clean Energy Seminar held in Colombo in May 2018 and identify the progress
made in different aspects of clean energy technologies and to discuss the way forward in the future. Local and
Norwegian clean energy companies presented their activities. An interactive session was also arranged to
discuss the possibilities in enhancing collaboration in higher education in the field of clean energy technologies
between Sri Lankan, Norwegian and Indian Universities. Expatriates from various countries presented their
ideas on how the expatriate community contribute in capacity building at University of Jaffna.
This international conference is considered as an historical event of the university of Jaffna with more than
120 foreign participants, and students, academics, officials and all the national and international delegates
had praised the conference as one of the best conferences they have attended. The conference is
characterized as of high quality and well organized. AMCEHA 2019 has contributed in widening the research
networks working on nano materials for clean energy and health applications; the academic personal have
broadened their research network and the students have got international exposure and are really inspired by
high quality research presentations. In addition, the participants at the conference had also an opportunity to
enjoy the hospitality of the people in the region.
Oraginising committee of AMCEHA – 2019, acknowledge Norwegian Research Council, Royal Norwegian Embassy in
Colombo, Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education (SIU), , Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority and
Mininstry of Science, Technology and Research for their generous financial support.
This week we are back in Jaffna where researchers and academics from different countries are gathered at the University of Jaffna for an International Conference on Advanced Materials for Clean Energy and Health Applications (AMCEHA). Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) and University of Jaffna (UoJ) jointly organize this conference, and in the coming days, scholars will present articles for publication.
The Ambassador opened the conference today, acknowledging the importance of creating these forums where participants can exchange research and partnerships can be formed. One of the main goals will also be to inspire young students to choose studies in technical fields. In addition, the conference includes a Norwegian-Sri Lankan workshop on clean energy technologies that will be held at the Kilinochchi Campus on Friday. In total, around 500 participants will attend this conference.
Haja Sherief attended the 7th Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) winter school of the theme ‘Musculoskeletal Tissue Regeneration: From Mechanobiology to in Vitro / in Vivo Models and Advanced Imaging’ from January 13th to 16th 2019 held at Hotel Zum Jungen Römer, Radstadt, Austria. This winter school was organized by Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental & Clinical Traumatology, Austria and Austrian Cluster for Tissue Regeneration. This gave an opportunity for researchers to acquire the insights of several preclinical (in vitro and in vivo) models and in vivo imaging.