Category: Events

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences in partnership with the University of Jaffna and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Sri Lanka hosted a seminar and a panel discussion on “A New Decade: Investing in Clean Energy in Sri Lanka – Drivers and Barriers” on January 21, 2020 at the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo – Sri Lanka.

The panel discussion is a precursor to the opening of Sri Lanka’s first floating solar power plant at the Faculty of Engineering, Kilinochchi Campus, University of Jaffna. The panel discussion brought together key actors from the Sri Lankan energy sector and focused on various aspects of clean energy transition and power generation in Sri Lanka.

The panel consisted of Sturle H. Pedersen, Chairman of Greenstat Hydrogen Asia, a Norwegian clean energy company, Prof. Nalin de Silva, Senior Professor, University of Colombo, Dr. Asanka S. Rodrigo, Director General, Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, B. M. U. Senarathna Banda, Deputy General Manager, Renewable Energy Development Division, Ceylon Electricity Board, S. Renganthan, CEO and Managing Director, Commercial Bank of Sri Lanka, and Kamal Dorabawila, Principal Investment Officer, International Finance Corporation (IFC). In addition, Norwegian Ambassador Trine Jøranli Eskedal, Mr. Inge Vikesdal, CEO of Current Solar, Prof. Kathirgamanathan Kandasamy of the University of Jaffna, Prof. Dhayalan Velauthapillai of the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) and Ms. Nanthini Nagarajah, PhD Research Fellow also addressed the gathering. The session was moderated by Prof. Rohini M. de Silva, University of Colombo.

Annual Solar Eclipse: Observation Camps 2019′ was held at University of Jaffna and Kilinochchi. This events was enjoyed by more than 4000 participants at the University ground in Thrunelveli and Kilinochchi. It is a great team effort. More than that nature allowed the participants to watch the eclipse without any interruption. We thank the State Ministry of Technology and Innovation and the Norwegian Embassy (through CBERC project) for their funding.

Gz. MeeNilankco Theiventhran, PhD Research Fellow presented a paper at the International conference titled “Energy Geopolitics and Renewable Electrification: Theoretical Insights and Practical Implications”. The Conference was organsied by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was held from 18^th to 20^th December 2019 in Jerusalam. MeeNilankco’s paper was titled “Power, Politics and Protest: Repositioning geopolitics through energy transitions in the Global South” and Dr. Carmela Lotmar of the University of Haifa was the discussant. The three-day conference brought together leading scholars and practitioners in the field of renewable energy and energy geopolitics.

Selected final papers from the conference  is planned to be published in the special issue of the Political Geography Journal. MeeNilankco’s paper has been selected to be published in the special issue.

Scientific Writing Workshop

Haja Sherief attended a scientific writing workshop, which was organized by Digital Life Norway Research School and Norwegian Research School in Neuroscience  in Hotel Admiral, Bergen from 14^th to 16^th October 2019. This three-day intensive workshop was conducted by Dr. Daniel Soule from Grammatology, UK to give scientific-writing training to the researchers of biotechnology background.

Details of Scientific Writing Workshop

Schedule of Scientific Writing Workshop

Annai Poopathy Tamil School Students visited the ANCEHA research group on the 25^th September at the HVL, Kronstad. Introduction to clean energy was given through lectures and later the students were taken into the lab for further explanation and demonstration. Tamil language was the medium of instruction throughout the introduction and experiment. Students initiated a lively discussion that paved the way for quality Q&A session followed by hands on training.

ANCEHA research team at HVL conducted a clean energy workshop for the grade 9 students on the 23th of october at the HVL, Kronstad. Students were given an introduction to clean energy and then they were exposed to the clean energy situation in Sri Lanka and India followed by an introduction to Hydrogen. Later there were live demonstrations on the usage of dye sensitised solar cells and then students were given the opportunity to try out the new technologies in the hands on session.

Three scholars including Shoji Keneko (President, SPD Laborary), P.V.V. Jayaweera (Principal Scientist, SPD Laboratory) visited the HVL on the 15th & 16th of  September 2019. SPD Laboratory is the leading producer of automated spray pyrolysis deposition systems for laboratory and industrial applications. During the visit The scholars explained the manufacturing of transparent conducting thin films such as fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) and tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) on the glass substrates using SPD technique. SPD is an abbreviation of Spray Pyrolysis Deposition which is a versatile and effective technique to deposit functional thin films. Spray pyrolysis has been applied to deposit a wide variety of thin films. These films were used in various devices such as solar cells, sensors, display panels, and solid oxide fuel cells. ANCEHA group presented their research work on synthesis, fabrication of different type of solar cells, hydrogen evolution and super capacitors and photocapacitors.