iesl newsletter nov 2011

The Newspaper of The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka Vol. 46, No 10, October / November 2011

Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper No. QD/86 /NEWS/2011

ENGINEERING NEWSSRI LANKA

Established 1906

In this Issue

The Institution of EngineersSri Lanka

120/15, Wijerama Mawatha,Colombo 7, Sri Lanka.

Tel: 2685490, 2698426, 2699210

Fax: 2699202

E.mail: [email protected] / [email protected]

Website: http://www.iesl.lk

Ceremonial Inauguration of

105th Annual Sessions....1 & 3

Editorial...........................4 & 5

Puzzle of the........................6

monthContd. on page 3....

The Chief Guest lights the traditional oil lamp while the President of IESL andother distinguished guests wait for their turn

Those at the head table standing up for National Anthem

Ceremonial Inauguration of 105th Annual Sessionsof the IESL

The 105th Annual Sessions of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) was ceremonially inaugurated by Hon. Prof. G.L Peiris, Ministerof External Affairs at the BMICH on 21stOct. 2011, Friday at 9.00 am in the presence of a large gathering of distinguished invitees, foreigndelegates from sister institutions in the SAARC region, past presidents and members of the IESL. The Guest of Honour for the occasion

was Hon. Patali Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Power and Energy. Hon.Geethanjana Gunawardena, Deputy Minister of Finance and Hon.P. Dayaratne, Minister of State Resources were Special Guests for the event. The keynote speaker for the event was Prof. Robin King fromUniversity of South Australia and Chair, Engineers Australia Accreditation Board.

Prof. A.K.W Jayawardane,the incumbent president ofIESL in his welcomingaddress describedengineering as a professionmuch to be proud of by itspractitioners for its immensecontribution to nationbuilding, economicdevelopment and raising ofstandard of living of ourcountrymen throughimproved socialmanagement systems. Hesaid that there is no bettertime than this for engineers

to make significant impactsand make the profession evenmore prominent at a timewhen the country is makingvast strides in development.He further said that the IESLduring his tenure as presidenthas made significant progressliving up to the 4 goals that hehad declared, to strive for, inhis tenure, ‘the year ofoutreach’. He said thatsignificant progress have beenachieved in the four goals : 1)enhancing the image of ourprofession and professional

practice, 2) raising theinternational standing of theIESL, 3) enhancing memberservices and membership,and 4) positioning the IESLas an important educationalprovider.

Prof. A.K.W Jayawardanesaid that during his tenurethe IESL had also engagedin several policy and advisoryactivities meeting key policymakers including HisExcellency, the President to

PRESIDENT’SSPEECH AT THE IESL

INAUGURATION

It is with great pleasure that I stand before you thismorning as the President of this esteemed Institutionfor the next term. I appreciate with great honour

the Council and the members for having bestowed uponme, the opportunity to serve the Institution in thisprestigious position.

My contribution toengineering is extremelymoderate when comparedwith the great names offamous engineers whosenames are inscribed in thefrescoes around theCommittee Room of theIESL. To quote Sir IsaacNewton the world famousscientist, ‘We are indeedstanding on the shoulders ofgiants’. I can assure you thatI shall do my utmost tocherish and protect ourinheritance from a gloriouspast and shall endeavour, tothe limit of my ability, tofurther the aims and theaspirations of our greatInstitution in this changingworld.

During the last few days whenI was preparing my Address,I became increasingly awareof the sense of history whichpervades our Institution andof the aspirations andexperiences of a past age,which are re-echoed in our

ever-changing world of today.Although there may havebeen many such changesover the years, thefundamental concepts of ourproud profession still remain.

My sense of history wasdeepened when by chance Idiscovered recently in a bookentitled “A journey by stagecoach to the up country” in

Contd. on page 13....

Sri Lanka Engineering News - October / November 2011IESL NEWS2

THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS,SRI LANKA

120/15, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7. Tel. 0112 698426 - 209, 210, 211

Fax : 011 2 699202, E-mail : [email protected]

CONTINUINGCONTINUINGCONTINUINGCONTINUINGCONTINUINGPROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD)PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD)PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD)PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD)PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD)

COURSES FOR THE SESSION – 2011COURSES FOR THE SESSION – 2011COURSES FOR THE SESSION – 2011COURSES FOR THE SESSION – 2011COURSES FOR THE SESSION – 2011

REGISTRATION FORMThose who wish to follow the courses indicated below, please perfectthis form and return the same to the IESL. Please mark “X” in thecage against the interested course/courses. The date ofcommencement of the course will be informed to you in due course.

Director – (EE&T), IESL.Name: ………………………………………………..…….....……Postal Address : ……………………….……….…..…..….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…….Membership No ………….............................................………E- Mail. : ……………..…....................................................……Telephone (Office) ……………................…………..........……(Residence) ……………….....................................…………..….Mobile : ……………………….…...............................………..…

Course Duration Course Fee Pl. mark (subject to change) “X”

Effective 100 hrs Rs.17,500/-Communication every other Tuesdays

Speehcraft 10 Tuesdays Rs.10,000/-Programme from 1700 - 1900 hrs Rs.12,000/-

Quality Assurance 05 Saturdays Rs.18,000/- in Welding from 0900 - 1600 hrs Rs.20,000/-

Accounting for 02 days Rs.7,000/-Engineers from 0900 - 1600 hrs Rs. 9,000/-

Highway 06 Saturdays Rs. 18,000/- Engineering from 0900-1600 hrs Rs. 19,000/-

Signature : ……………...... .Date : ………………………….

THE LIGHTER SIDE OF OURPROFESSION

End of troubles!

This story was related by one of the senior professors in ouruniversity.

Some time back, the professor was conducting a lecture for postgraduateson a Saturday. There was one engineer in the class who was frequentlyfalling asleep and disturbing the class by snoring. The professor went tohim and asked what the matter was. The engineer replied with asympathetic story.

Accordingly, he was working in Trincomalee at that time. On Friday nights,he would return to Kandy where he lived. Early Saturday morning, he hadto come for the PG lecture. Again, he had to leave for his workplace onSunday evening. To add to all of this, he was a newly-wedded engineer...!

The professor, being the kind-hearted man he is, understood the situationand told the engineer not to worry. He asked him to come to the lectureand sleep peacefully in a corner of the class. The professor assured thathe would give him all the necessary notes after the lecture. He evenasked the engineer to come to his residence, should the need for anyclarification arise. The engineer took the advice gratefully.

A couple of months later, the young engineer came to the class in a verydelightful mood. He had brought a big parcel and started distributingvarious kinds of sweetmeats to the professor and the colleagues. Theprofessor who now got curious asked the engineer whether he got atransfer or something. The ecstatic engineer replied;

“No sir, my wife is pregnant...!”

by Dewmini Gamlath Student Member

Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa

ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONFEES FOR THE YEAR 2012Class of Amount in Rs.Membership (Excluding VAT)

Fellow 5000Member 4000Associate Member 3000Affiliate Member 2500Associate 2500Companion 2500Student Member < 35 1000Student Member > 35 2500

International Professional Engineer (IntPEng)Subscription Fees excluding VAT- Rs 2,500/=

Discounts

1. In respect of membership subscription fees, adiscount of 25% will apply to members otherthan Student Members who are above 60 yearsof age and who declare that their annual incomeis less than Rs. 600,000/=.

2. A discount of 10% on all annual subscription fees(including IntPEng) for the year 2012 will applyif paid in full on or before January 31, 2012.

ANNUAL EVENTS CALENDAR- 2011/2012

Event Dates

♦Dr. Ray Wijeyewardene Memorial Tuesday – December 13, 2011 Lecture

♦♦♦♦♦Eng. B D Rampala Memorial Lecture Tuesday –December 20, 2011

♦♦♦♦♦R H Paul Memorial Lecture Thursday – February 09, 2012

♦♦♦♦♦Induction and Graduation Ceremony Friday – August 17, 2012

♦♦♦♦♦E O E Pereira Memorial Lecture Thursday – September 13, 2012

♦♦♦♦♦D J Wimalasurendra Monday – September 17, 2012 Memorial Lecture

♦♦♦♦♦Techno Exhibition Friday – SundayOctober 5-7, 2012

♦♦♦♦♦Inauguration of the Annual Sessions Friday – October 19, 2012

♦♦♦♦♦Annual Sessions Seminar Saturday – October 20, 2012

♦♦♦♦♦Annual Field Visit Sunday – October 21, 2012

♦♦♦♦♦Presentation of Technical papers Monday-WednesdayOctober 22-23, 2012

♦♦♦♦♦Presentation of Technical papers by Thursday - October 25, 2012 Young Members

♦♦♦♦♦Dr. A N S Kulasinghe Thursday – October 25, 2012 Memorial Lecture

♦♦♦♦♦Techno Awards Ceremony Wednesday – October 24, 2012

♦♦♦♦♦Annual General Meeting Saturday – October 27, 2012

Note:Associate Members who wish to apply for the ProfessionalReview, are strongly advised to attend all Memorial Lecturesand keep a record of the attendance for any future reference.

Sri Lanka Engineering News - October / November 2011IESL NEWS 3

Ceremonial Inauguration of 105th Annual Sessionsof the IESL

Guest of Honour, Hon. Champika Ranawakaaddressing the audience

Special Invitees standing up for National Anthem The Chief Guest Hon. Prof. G.L. Peiris addressing theaudience

make valuable inputs andsuggestions on many issuesincluding engineer’sinvolvement in national policymaking and implementationof national projects. Hethanked everyone for beinginstrumental in all theachievements of the IESLand wished the incomingPresident, Eng. (Dr.) AnandaRanasinghe, the newCouncil, the newCommittees, the IESLSecretariat and all membersevery success.

The Guest of Honour, HonPatali Champika Ranawaka,Minister of Power andEnergy, in his speech, aftercommending the IESL for itsachievements since itsinception in 1906, spokeabout the challenges facedtoday in electricitygeneration, climate etc. Hedetailed about thed e m o g r a p h i c a l l y ,economically andstrategically importantlocation of Sri Lanka in theIndian Ocean. He said thatworld after being firstlyEurocentric then North-Americacentric is nowAsiacentric and that theIndian Ocean is expected tobecome the gateway foremerging economic giantslike China and India. Thus thefuture prospects for theregion and that of Sri Lankadue to its strategic locationare brighter and engineeringshould seize the opportunityhe concluded.

The Keynote Speaker in hisaddress stressed theimportance of outcomebased approach to modernengineering education. Theeducation system should beable to produceprofessionals who could fulfillthe needs of the industry andthe country as a whole hesaid.

The Chief GuestProf.G.L.Peries, afterconveying the warmfelicitations of His Excellencythe President, the patron ofthe IESL, on whose behalf hewas attending this event saidthat Prof. Jayawardane rightydescribed engineering as anation building profession.He said that the governmentis currently makingtremendous investments oninfrastructure developmentand that engineers mustseize the opportunity of

making their contribution inrebuilding their countryshattered by war.Reaffirming the statement byProf. Robin King thatoutcome based educationshould be the goal insteadof the prevailing inputfocused system he saidthere is a need forpragmatism to make the shiftto a more practical andidentifiable demand basededucation. He said ourengineers have excelled inother countries andcommended the endeavorsof the IESL to reach out tothe industry through theIndustry forum and to thepublic at large through the“Building Clinic” andRegional Centers.This was followed by thePresentation of awards forthe winners of Junior Inventorof the Year 2011competition, theUndergraduate Inventor ofthe Year competition,Honorary Life Memberships

and induction of fellows asnew members.

The induction of thePresident for the Session2011 / 2012 was donethereafter with the adorningof the Chain of Office onthe President by theOutgoing President.President for the newsession, Eng. (Dr.) AnandaRanasinghe in his addressthanked the members ofthe IESL for bestowing

upon him the opportunity toserve as President of theInstitution for 2011/2012sessions. He said that, asfamously stated by Sir. IsaacNewton we are indeedstanding on the shoulders ofgiants, referring to engineergreats who had headed theInstitution in the past. Hesaid that although manychanges have happened overthe years the fundamentalconcepts of the profession ofengineering remains thesame. He pointed out the vast

advances made in Science,Engineering andCommunication and saidchange is not made withoutinconvenience and engineersmust have the courage totake the full advantage of theveering winds of change. Hestressed the importance ofparticipation in theinstitutions activities andinvited the unity andcooperation of all membersto fulfil the goals of theinstitution. (See full text ofPresident's speech in page1...)

The presentation ofMementoes to the ChiefGuest, Guest of Honour andthe Keynote Speaker tookplace thereafter. This wasfollowed by Eng. Tilak Silva,President - Elect deliveringthe Vote of Thanks bringingthe inauguration ceremony toan end.

As part of the activities of theAnnual Sessions, the half aday FIESCA Seminar on

Contd. from page 1...

The full text ofProf. A K WJ a y a w a r d a n e ' sspeech will be carried in the nextissue of SLEN.


Eng. (Prof.) Dayantha Wijeyesekera receiving hisHonorary Life Fellow Certificate

An award winner receiving her award from the Guestof Honour

The outgoing President adorning the incomingPresident with "Chain of Office"

Speakers at the FEISCA Seminar


Sri LankaEngineering News

Lakshitha Weerasinghe, [email protected]

Driving in Super-Highways – SomeUseful Tips for Road Safety

by Eng (Prof) M T R Jayasinghe,Senior Professor, Department of Civil Engineering,

Univeristy of Moratuwa

Contd. on page 15...

Letters to the Editor

The Editorial of SLEN ofJuly, 2011 gave someuseful thoughts about

the usage of super highways.With the opening of SouthernHighway and also Colombo-Katunayake and Outer –Circular roads beingconstructed at a rapid phase,while preparations are alsounderway for a highway upto Ambepussa andsubsequently up to Kandy,we will see a significantchange in our mobility withinSri Lanka. For example, weare expected to improve ouraverage speed of travel on ourmain highways from 50 kmper hour to about 100 km perhour without compromisingthe road safety andsometimes improving theroad safety. With theopening of SouthernHighway, reaching Galle inone hour and ten minutesfrom Makumbura (Kottawa)to Pinnaduwa (Galle), adistance of 104 km (96 kmon the super-highway) inabout one hour would bepossible. This is becausethe vehicles on the super-highway are expected to bedriven at 100 km per hourspeed; this could beconsidered as the generallyexpected minimum speedwhile it being therecommended maximum.This means that it is theresponsibility of all the roadusers to facilitate this bydriving at about 100 km perhour by following therecommended desirablepractices. However, theabsolute minimumrecommended would be 60km per hour below which themotorists could be chargedfor an offence.

Since I had the opportunityto get first hand experiencedriving in high speed roadsof United Kingdom (as a postgraduate student) and inAustralia (when I spend mysabbatical leave) and also asa person who has traveled inhigh speed roads of USA,Sweaden, Denmark,Singapore, India, etc., Ithought it would bereasonable to share some ofmy experiences with thereaders of Sri LankaEngineering News. There arefew reasons that encouragedme to write this article sincesome of my own colleaguesexpressed the fear of usingthe Southern Highway assoon as it is opened to traffic

considering some not sodesirable behaviours ofmajority of the Sri Lankandriving license holders (wedrive with a lot of commonsense rather than followingthe road rules very well; apractice that can workreasonably well when thespeeds are low). I also wishto thank the Editor of SLENwho encouraged me to writethis article.

There are few importantpoints that can be followedby any driver of a high speedroad. They are first given inpoint form and thenelaborated later:

1. The condition of yourvehicle

2. Joining the super-highway

3. The driver comfort4. Changing lanes in

the super-highways5. Overtaking in super-

highways6. Braking and

changes in trafficconditions

7. Leaving the super-highway

8. Night time driving

1. The condition of yourvehicle

In super-highways, thevehicles are driven at about100 km per hour for aboutone hour or more. As thedriving on any road, vehiclehas to be well maintained.One of the key features is theneed to have good tyres. Inthis context, it is veryimportant to have tubelesstyres fitted to the vehicle ifsuch tyres have beenrecommended by the vehiclemanufacture. One of the keyadvantages of tubeless tyresis their ability to resistpunctures while maintaininga reasonable tyre pressure.When tubes are used, a tyrecan be flat in few secondswhile a tubeless tyre couldallow a safe passage untilthe next exit from the super-highway. This is of particularimportance for the vehiclesowned by governmentorganizations where the strictgovernment procurementprocedures may not allow thefitting of good qualitytubeless tyres unlessspecifically indicated as aneed for safe driving,especially if such vehiclesare expected to use thesuper-highways.

The owners of private vehiclesalso must ensure that at leastthe front wheels are fitted withgood quality tyres avoidingre-build tyres as much aspossible; even the bestquality re-build tyres are notrecommended if the speed ofthe vehicle could exceed 140km per hour. If the quality ofthe re-build tyre is not verygood, the maximumallowable speed could bemuch less.

It is also necessary to havethe tyres balanced andaligned to avoid wobbling athigh speeds. This also wouldneed good quality tyrespreferably being radial typemanufactured by a reputedmanufacturer with manyyears of experience formanufacturing tyres for highspeed roads. This isespecially valid for cars, vans,double cabs, etc., where themanufactures alwaysrecommend radial tyres fittedas tubeless.

It is also necessary to ensurethat the vehicle has adequatepulling power and also arecommended maximumspeed well over 100 km perhour. Any vehicle driven at alower speed such as 70 or 80km per hour could reduce thecapacity of the super-highwaysignificantly while drasticallyaffecting the level of servicethat is offered to the othermotorists. Therefore, thedriver of each vehicle has tofirmly understand theirresponsibility for the othermotorists.

In Sri Lanka, it is common tofind drivers who believe thatdriving at slower speeds canmake them very good safedrivers. However, theimportant fact that they donot understand is that theirslower speeds could compelmany other motorists toovertake thus causing manyunnecessary and dangerousmaneuvers. Therefore, thosewith such misconceptionsabout safer drivers would haveto change their attitudes ifthey wish to use super-highways.

2. Joining the super-highway

Generally, there will be a tollgate at the entrance to thesuper-highway. After that,there will be slip road whichleads into an acceleration

The other side(s) ofthe coin

An article written by Marvin Minsky, a Professor atMIT titled “The Emotion Machine: Common sensethinking and the Future of Human Kind” was

forwarded recently to me by a former Editor of IESL to beconsidered for publication in the SLEN.

The author, in his article comments “We all grow up withthe popular view that we have only a single Way to Think– called “logical” or “rational” – but our thinking can becolored, or otherwise influenced by so-called emotionalfactors.”

He goes on to ask the question “Why are we so oftensatisfied with dividing things into only two kinds? Perhapsthis is at least partly, because a typical child’s environmentcontains so few significant “triplets” of things. A two-yearold child has only two feet, and is taught by a pair of parentsto learn to put on a pair of shoes –Why don’t we havewords for trichotomies or trifferences? “

As commented by the Professor, at times, we can beblinded by long established beliefs of the society and asa result may fail to see not only “the” other side but alsothe many other sides that are available.

Our Engineering forefathers built large reservoirs andwaterways and as a result, the village tank and irrigatedagriculture together became an integral part of our system.Influenced possibly by our hydrological heritage, we tendto think that trans-basin diversion is the best option left tocultivate the dry zone. Even though our agro ecologicalclassification places all areas having an annual averagerainfall of less than 1750mm in the dry zone, by internationalstandards, our dry zone is by no means dry. Thus, theuse of pumped ground water for agriculture like what Indianand Australian farmers do and watering only the plants(and not the soil) using techniques such as drip irrigationand resorting to the use of less water intensive paddycultivation methods could be an option worthy ofconsidering as an alternative to the multi billion rupeeNCP canal project.

I ones wrote in one of my previous editorials how anenvironmental activist boasted about his Eco friendly homethat used less timber and lot of concrete even for furniture.Trapped in the age old slogan to save trees, he had failedto see that wooden furniture actually is moreenvironmentally sustainable as we can grow them backunlike raw materials that go in to making concrete.However, his vision could have been blocked by well-established beliefs.

Several decades back, when plastics were first introduced,it was considered as a product that could save theenvironment by replacing paper and wooden products ofthe day. It was thought that non-degradable plastics couldconserve the vanishing earth resources because of theirlong life. Now we yearn for plastics that have exactly theopposite characteristic, degradability.

In our quest to achieve an objective, our ability to see allsides of it could be masked by established beliefs unlesswe encourage “out of the box” thinking or paradigm shiftsaltogether.


1 iy 2 u.ska h iy Q ks¾Kh l< yel. fï wkqj H g jvd h wvq

jk whqre meyeÈ,sh.

fï ms<sn| ;j ÿrg;a jvd;a ksjerÈ úYaf,aYKhka wjYH kï

‘Navier Stoke’ iólrKh iy F.E.M. l%u fhdodf.k th l<

yel. tfia l<fyd;a ìfidafldgqfõ ld¾hNdrh ;j;a fyd¢ka

meyeÈ,s lr.; yel.

fï lsisjla fkdi,ld ìfidafldgqj úÿ,s mßm:hlg iu flreug

hdu úys¿jls. m%:ufhka l< hq;af;a ìfidafldgqjg wod< c,

úoHd;aul iólrK f.dvke.suh. wk;=rej tu iólrK j,g

iduH iólrK we;s úÿ,s mßm:hka ks¾udKh l< yels kï muKla

tu úÿ,s mßm:fha l%shdldß;ajh wkqj ìfidafldgqfõ l%shdldß;ajh

újrKh l< yel.

Letters to the Editor

Road Accidents – A Pre PreventiveAttempt

(An approach out of theframe)

(Open for discussion)

Road Accidents haveincreased in SriLanka and the annual

figure is higher than theaverage of deaths occurredduring the past period ofterrorism. Now this hasbecome the new terrorismafter defeating the former one.Though actions are beingtaken to reduce this figureand to minimize the situation,its incremental trend is nowquestioning the effectivenessof such action taken so far.

There is no doubt thatimplementing law with heavypenalties as in othercountries would be theeffective solution for thissituation. Agreeing that theabove fact could be the lastresort which is found fromthe subject of law at curativestage , effort is taken here,tofind out another alternative asa preventive measure,perhaps the pre-preventiveone.

At the beginning the attentionis drawn to two aspects.

1) Finding the solution withinthe subject is sometimes noteffective. In such a situation,Solution has to be found, outof the frame. It seems to betrue for the accidents as well.This is clear in the light of themany existing traffic rulesand guidances and yet findingresort from the subject of lawreveals this reality. Any howthe imposing of penaltycomes under the solutions atcurative stage.

2) Some problems are easyto solve once they are arise,at the curative stage. Someare easy to avoid beforearising, at the preventivestage rather than by acurative measure. In contrast,some are more easy toprevent hence those are to beaddressed at the pre-preventive stage. In thiscontext, difficulty ofpreventing accidents alsoshow that they are also to beaddressed at the pre-preventive stage.

This leads to a pre-preventivesolution out of the frame.

In this context, Buddhisttechniques couldsuccessfully be used forearly tackling the problem,since it is the science ofarresting the ever changinguniverse at every instancewhich in comparison even

motor vehicles are notrunning at such a speed.Hence a minute part of thisspeedy philosophy wouldbe quite sufficient to arrestthe situation andaccordingly, 3 majortechniques are extractedfrom the doctrine for thispurpose.

(a)Adequate minimal(sufficient) (b) Arrest at mind level (c)Mind mapping(Visualizing)

In order to give more weightand the concentration forshorter period of time, thesethree techniques arecombined together to act asa “three in one setup”. Hencethe significance of thisexercise is the deepconcentration and attentionfor the very short period oftime, by using this three inone set of techniques.

Even one instant is sufficientfor an accident and manyfatal accidents haveoccurred, In the instance ofovertaking for about 5-10seconds of very short periodof time.

In this instance one vehicleis at the others lane.Automatically the “instantlane” concept (trajectory ?)is coming to play in order toarrest the situation, since itis a net effect of thisphilosophy of, about theever changing nature in everymoment. At the time oneperson (Driver) is violating thesecond persons lane and thesecond person is alsoheading towards withoutknowing it, henceunprepared as it is his lane.Concept of mind mapping isdirectly focused to theovertaking person in such away that through out theovertaking period hevisualizes a incomingvehicle nearby, driven by anunprepared person. Hencethe over taking person couldplan & prepare to accept theincoming vehicle safelywhich is driven by aunprepared person andguarantee him the sufficientspace to drive comfortably.As said Earlier, Significanceof this exercise is the deepconcentration and attentionby a overtaking drivertowards the incomingvehicle for a very short periodof time of overtaking. Finallythe” instant lane” conceptbecome practical and moreeffective for the safe

overtaking. (Theconcentration and relaxationis a trainable property of mindquite similar to thecontraction and expansionproperty of the material)

In order to avoid accidents,mind mapping three in onetechnique is applied throughout the critical time of overtaking, of which furtherrelates to the meditation.These three techniques arefurther elaborated here fortheir applicability.

(a) Art of driving carryingas guidance and rules, iscompiled in books. Whenfacing a critical moment whiledriving at a speed ,driver cannot recall all these rules andselect the appropriate onefor this moment. It is notpractical at all ,within a veryshort period of time. When acritical situation is arisedas such, Buddhism comesup with the answer of“adequate minimal orsufficient concept”, asexplained in ChullapanthakaCharacter .When a mankcalled Chullapanthaka wasabout to unrobe, saying thedifficulty in following so manydisciplines,Load Buddhasolved it instantly with anadequate minimal (Sufficient)answer. There in the millionsof disciplines weresummarized to an onemoment of mithree in such away by the Load Buddhasaying the ability to meditatemithree for one instant isquite adequate and hencequalified for carrying the robe.

The technique ofsummarizing mass to theminimum sufficient level (ofone discipline) is veryimportant ,as a concept ,totackle critical situations whiledriving.

In this Context, Code ofdiscipline of drivers is comingunder the preventivecategory. Selecting onediscipline out of many, wouldpromote it as a speedytechnique ,lying within thepreventive category .

Preventive Pre-Preventive(a) Further, Buddhismshows that the most effectiveand easy way of tackling theproblem is at the mind levelrather than at the society oroperation level, whichrequires lot of effort. With thestrategy of arresting at mindlevel ,driving exercise entersinto the pre preventive stage. Itwould advance the drivingundoubtly.

by Eng. S.D S .DeshapriyaMM&C Division, Road Development Authority


jr,;a bxðfkare lms, mSßia úisksjr,;a bxðfkare lms, mSßia úisksjr,;a bxðfkare lms, mSßia úisksjr,;a bxðfkare lms, mSßia úisksjr,;a bxðfkare lms, mSßia úisks

ìfida fldgqj iy úÿ,sìfida fldgqj iy úÿ,sìfida fldgqj iy úÿ,sìfida fldgqj iy úÿ,sìfida fldgqj iy úÿ,smßm:mßm:mßm:mßm:mßm:

udf.a ìfidafldgqfõ ld¾h Ndrh (The main function of

Bisokotuwa) kue;s ,smshg m%;spdr olajk bxðfkare ir;a pkaøisß

uy;d c,fha iam¾Ysh n, /wd;;s (shear stress) ke;snj olajd

we;. c,fha iam¾YSh n, fkdue;s kï tkï c,fha ÿiai%dù;djla

fkdue;s kï (Non viscous) ;sria c, k, Èf.a mSvk neiaulska

f;drj c,h f.k hdyels úh hq;=h. ir;a pkaøisß uy;d wju

jYfhka ta .ekj;a is;d ne,sh hq;=h.

;jo ìfidafldgqjg we;=¿jk c,h ‘expand’ fõ hkafkka udf.a

,smsfha i|yka jk fohska woyia flfrkafka c,fha mßud

m%idrKhka ms<sn|j fkdfõ.

tysÈ c,h l=vd m%foaYhl isg úYd, m%foaYhlg we;=¿ jk njh.

fuys§ c,fha hï iq¿ mßud ixfldapkhka úh yel. ukao tys

mSvkh jeäjk ksidh. tfy;a ìfidafldgqfõ ld¾hNdrhg th

t;rï jeo.;a ke;. ìfidafldgqfõ ld¾h Ndrhg jeo.;a jkafka

jefõ we;s c,h ìfidafldgqj ;=< c, ialkaOhg we;=¿ úfïÈ ta

;=< úisr hdu ksid we;sjk iam¾YSh n, /wd;;s (shear stress)

ksid tys fõ.h/ mSvkh nd, flreuh.

ìfidafldgqj ;=< c, lf|a Wi jefõ c, lf|a Wig jvd

wvqjkafka fï ksidh. fï ms<sn| .Ks;uh ú.%yh my; mßÈ fõ.

we;=¿ jk fidfrdõfõ j¾. M,h = A1

msgjk fidfrdõfõ j¾.M,h =A2

c,h .,k mßud iS>%;dj =è

c, lf|a Wi =H

ìfidafldgqj ;=< c, lf|a Wi=h

we;=¿ jk újrfha tall c, nrl Yla;s ydks ix.=Kkh=k1

msgjk úúrfha tall c, nrl Yla;s ydks ix.=Kkh = k2

we;=¿ jk fidfrdõfõ Yla;s ydks ix.=Klh =k3

msgjk fidfrdõfõ Yla;s ydks ix.=Klh=k4


Solution for Puzzle No. 39Puzzle - 44

The PirateProblem

The following Puzzle was contributed by Student MemberDewmini Gamlath (S-10843), Mechanical EngineeringUndergraduate of the Faculty of Engineering, University ofMoratuwa, Sri Lanka. It is an excellent Puzzle in logic and Irecommend the readers of the Puzzle Corner to give it a tryand enjoy the effort. It also brings back fond as well as painfulmemories (he broke my arm) of my old friend Pottacharliethe Pirate whose remains lie at the bottom of the ocean withinthe confines of the sunken VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier)- Baba Gir Gir. Dewmini has promised to keep on sendingmany more puzzles of this type and I welcome him to do justthat.

A gang of five pirates has found a treasure of 100 Doubloons(gold coins). According to pirate tradition, the senior-mostpirate has to propose a method to divide the treasure amongthe gang members. Then, each pirate has to vote either for oragainst the method. If the method wins simple majority, it isaccepted. Otherwise, the pirate who proposed it will be killedand the pirate next in seniority is asked to propose a method.This goes on until one method is accepted. A tie of votes istaken as an acceptance.

What is the best method that can be proposed by the senior-most pirate, that saves his life as well as gives him themaximum share of the treasure? You should consider thatall five pirates are extremely intelligent (this fact is veryimportant in solving the problem).

Contributed by Puzzle EnthusiastDewmini Gamlath

Devarak Chakkare

The winner this time is Eng Chamira Wickramarachchi (AMIE 8633) as she was theyoungest to have sent in the correct solution. The others who sent in correct solutionsare, Engnrs. Name: L.C.A. Pushpakumara (M 4205), Name: M.A.C.A.D.

Mataraarachchi (AM-6883) and Name : J.M.S. Wickramasinghe (M 5507).

The winning solution is given below:

The methodology is explained in her own words as follows:It’s very easy to explain. I invented this when I was in Primary school, because I was too lazyto remember the ‘ Chakkare’. I was punished by my teacher several times for giving wronganswers on the ‘chakkare’, though I was good in other ways.

You can do this without knowing even ‘dewarak chakkare’ but the problem is that you needa bigger sheet for adding a long column. But it works well for multiplying small numbers.

For this puzzle:1st digit: Multiplying by 2 is not a problem2nd digit: Multiplying by 0 is always zero.3rd digit: Multiplying by 9 = Adding the number 9 timesOR [adding the (number) x2 four times + (number)] . You have to do this for all the 6digits. Very easy!

Eng Chamira WickramarachchiEng Chamira WickramarachchiEng Chamira WickramarachchiEng Chamira WickramarachchiEng Chamira Wickramarachchi

Faster Than LightFaster Than LightFaster Than LightFaster Than LightFaster Than LightNeutrinosNeutrinosNeutrinosNeutrinosNeutrinos

By Eng Sarath ChandrasiriBy Eng Sarath ChandrasiriBy Eng Sarath ChandrasiriBy Eng Sarath ChandrasiriBy Eng Sarath Chandrasiri

The Gran Saso finding that neutrinos travel faster thanlight has aroused a veritable hornet’s nest within theinternational scientific community. Einstein is held

in such high reverence by them that they would not acceptanything that proves him wrong without putting up a bigfight. The first argument brought against the new discoveryis the knee jerk reaction that the measurements werewrong. Gran Saso measurements show that the neutrinoswere arriving 60 nanoseconds earlier than expected. Theopposition attributes this observation to the margin of errorin the time measurement, which is vehemently denied bythe supporters of Gran Saso. Oh, how I wish we had aNeutrino Detection Facility in Sri Lanka! We could havehad the last say on the controversy.

In the meantime others have opted for the option ofaccepting the results and at the same time savingEinstein’s Theory in a typically proverbial case of ‘RavulathOney Kendath Oney’ (I need the beard as well as the ricesoup). I am describing some of them below.

4th Dimension: One theory is that the neutrinos take a 4-Dimensional short cut from CERN to Gran Saso, whilelight (photons) take the conventional 3- Dimensional path.In other words, neutrinos make the journey faster becausethey take a short cut and not because they travel faster.They almost sound as if they are blaming the neutrinos fordoing something that is simply ‘not done’ – like not stickingto the official path in a marathon.

My analogy for this is a 2-D surface such as that of asphere. Photons travel from A to B (say, two diametricallyopposite points on the sphere), along the surface of the

STRSTRSTRSTRSTRUCTURAL STEEL ANDUCTURAL STEEL ANDUCTURAL STEEL ANDUCTURAL STEEL ANDUCTURAL STEEL ANDREINFORCED CONCRETEREINFORCED CONCRETEREINFORCED CONCRETEREINFORCED CONCRETEREINFORCED CONCRETE

DESIGN COURSES DESIGN COURSES DESIGN COURSES DESIGN COURSES DESIGN COURSES

1) Based on BS - 5950 & BS 8110

2) Course duration : Two Months – (8 Weekend Classes)

3) Course Context

Steel Concrete

a) Design of beam a) Design of slabsb) Design of column b) Design of Beamc) Design of connections c) Design of Columns

d) Design of foundations including pile foundation

4) Commencement of course : Second week of December 2011

5) Course suited for : Practicing Engineers

6) Venue : In Colombo

For registration please contact :Tel : 0777 – 666149, 4934266,

E-mail : [email protected]. on page 14...


TECHNO 2011The national engineering and technology exhibition, Techno 2011, the flagship event of the IESL was conducted successfully for the

26th consecutive year on 7th, 8th and 9th October 2011. It was declared open by Hon. Wimal Weerawansa, Minister of Construction,Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities on 7th Friday October 2011 at Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition

Center at the BMICH.

Eng. (Dr.) Ananda Ranasinghe, President – Elect &Chairman Techno – Addressing the gathering atTechno – 2011, (BMICH)

This year too more than 250stallholders representing theentire spectrum of engineeringrelated industries took theopportunity to make use of theexhibition as a platform toshowcase their products andservices incorporating thelatest of global technologies.

The ‘Building Clinic’,a conceptof the Civil EngineeringSectional Committee of theIESL which made its debut theprevious year at the Techno2010 provided professionaladvices from practicingengineers for house ownersseeking solutions to house-building and maintenance

Hon. Wimal Weerawansa, Minister of Construction,Engineering Services, Housing & CommonAmenities, addressing the gathering, as the ChiefGuest at Techno 2011 inauguration

Chief Guest and the special invitees at the Techno 2011– Inauguration (BMICH)

The Stall with Highest Technological Impact – GoldAward Mr. Mangala Yapa, Chairman, Dockyard GeneralEngineering Services (Pvt) Ltd. receiving the award onbehalf of the company at the Techno awards ceremony

The stall with Best Display – Gold Award, Mr. VikasSaxena, Country Manager Siemens Ltd. receiving theaward on behalf of the company at the Techno awardsceremony

Hon. Wimal Weerawansa launching the Engineeringjobs.lk, website created by Young Members’ Sectionof IESL

problems free of charge.Special seminars too werearranged to create generalawareness on cost effectiveways of house-building andmaintenance for the visitorsto the exhibition.

The exhibition also hadspecial features like Robot

Competition, ComputerGames DevelopmentCompetition (Cruncher)together with exhibits of thewinners of the UndergraduateInventor of the Year and Juniorinventor of the Year 2011competitions.

Special projects of the IESLwhich reach out to themasses in the provincestoo found expressionsthrough exhibits in thestalls of the IESL ProvincialCentres.The selection of the beststalls for the gold, silverand Bronze awards ofvarious categories weredone as in the previousyears and the presentationof those awards togetherwith awards for the winnersof the above mentionedcompetitions were done ata glittering ceremony filledwith entertainment, theTechno Awards Ceremony,held at the Hotel Galadarion 28th Oct. 2011. Mr. S.MGotabe Jayaratne,Secretary, Ministry ofConstruction, EngineeringServices, Housing andCommon Amenities gracedthis event as the ChiefGuest.

THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKAOne day Workshop

on

“REPORT WRITING”December 18, 2011, from 09.00 a.m. to 04.30 p.m. at IESL

Course Contents• Effectiveness and Efficiency aspects of Report Writing• Getting the purpose clear• Identifying the target group• Structuring the report• Style• Formatting

Resource Person Eng. Nishantha Kamaladasa,CEO, Distance Learning Centre Ltd

Fee Rs.4,500/- for Members of the IESL , Rs.5,000/- for non-members

For further details, please contact;Education, Examinations & Training Division

Tel. 011 2 698 426 - Ext. 209/210/211, Fax : 011 2 699 202 , E-mail : [email protected]

DIRECTOREDUCATION, EXAMINATIONS & TRAINING

• Sender’s and Receiver’s angle• Sections, Paragraphs and

Sentences• Introduction, Body and End• Sentence Structures• Sentence length• Selecting words• Use of numbers• Reviewing


Enhancing The Nation's Engineering ProwessEnhancing The Nation's Engineering ProwessEnhancing The Nation's Engineering ProwessEnhancing The Nation's Engineering ProwessEnhancing The Nation's Engineering ProwessEngineering Excellence Awards 2011

Excellence in professions among citizens has been the hallmark of countries that achieved progress and status par excellence inspecialty fields. Some of the most innovative solutions to challenges faced by mankind had been a result of the quest for excellence inprofessions by men and women of great vision, patience and perseverance.

The Chief Guest Mr. Ajith Nivard Cabraal beingconducted in procession for the Engineering Excel-lence Award 2011 ceremony

Prof. Ananda Jayawardane, President of IESLmaking the welcome address

Sri Lanka in particular has a great engineering tradition with its ancient kings engaging in building of irrigation tanks, stupas, dagabas, fortresses, gardens,etc., that considered the best interest of the society and based on engineering principles which are being validated as sound to this day. Latter-dayengineers of Sri Lanka like Prof. E.O.E. Pereira, Eng D.J. Wimalasurendra, Vidya Jyothi (Eng) (Dr) A.N.S. Kulasinghe, Eng. B.D. Rampala and others hadcarried on the great tradition and have established par excellence status to the profession.

The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL), being the premier professional body for engineers in Sri Lanka is committed towards uplifting the status andinterest of the engineering profession in the country. The biennial Engineering Excellence Awards are presented by the IESL to encourage and celebrate thisexcellence in the science and the practice of engineering by rewarding the best and the finest of its members, individuals, organizations and companies inSri Lanka for their outstanding accomplishments and achievements related to engineering.

The Engineering Awards were first presented in the year 2006, but without a ceremony, to honour the following with Excellence in Engineering Awards :

• Eng. (Prof.) K K Y W Perera• Eng. (Prof.) D S Wijeyesekera

The first ever formal awards presentation ceremony was held in the year 2008 at which thefollowing were honoured with Eminence in Engineering Awards:

• Deshamanya Eng. (Dr.) Ray Wijewardena – Eminence in Engineering• Eng. M Chandrasena – Eminence in Engineering

At the same ceremony Eng. Priyal De Silva and Eng. (Prof.) B L Tennekoon were presentedwith Excellence in Engineering Awards.

This year the Engineering Excellence Awards ceremony was held at the pictureque WatersEdge on 5th October 2011 with Mr. Ajith Nivard Cabraal, Governor of Central Bank of SriLanka as the Chief Guest

The winners of the Engineering Excellence Awards 2011 as announced at the AwardsPresentation Ceremony held on October 5, 2011 at the Waters Edge are given below.

Eng. (Ms.) Arundathi Wimalasuriya, ExecutiveSecretary, IESL, lighting the oil lamp

Eng. (Prof.) W P S Dias receiving Excellence inEngineering Award from the President - Elect, IESLEng. (Dr.) Ananda Ranasinghe

Colombo Dockyard PLC being awarded Excellencein Engineering Award for organisation

EMINENCE INENGINEERING AWARDS

FOR INDIVIDUALS

• Eng. (Prof) SKarunaratna

• Eng.(Dr.) MervynGunasekera

EXCELLENCE INENGINEERING AWARDS

FOR INDIVIDUALS

• Eng. (Prof) W P S Dias• Eng. Jayantha

Ranatunga• Eng.(Dr.) Sarath

Abayawardana

EXCELLENCE INENGINEERING AWARDSFOR ORGANIZATIONS

•Colombo Dockyards PLC-Infrastructure-Construction

•Mobitel (Pvt) Ltd.-Infrastructure-Services

•Sierra Cables PLC-Manufacturing-Large

CHARTERED ENGINEERAWARDS

♦Eng. (Prof.) M T RJayasinghe -CivilEngineering

♦Eng. N R Jayasinghe -Electrical and ElectronicEngineering

♦Eng. R G Rubasinghe -ITand Communication

THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS,SRI LANKA

ENG. B D RAMPALA

MEMORIAL LECTURE

on‘An Engineering Perspective of the past,

present and future of the Railways’

ByEng. Prof. Amal Kumarage

Senior Professor of Civil Engineering, Department ofTransport & Logistics Management, University of Moratuwa.

TUESDAY – DECEMBER 20, 2011AT

IESL WIMALASURENDRA AUDITORIUMALL ARE WELCOME


The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lankaand

Ray Wijewardene Charitable Trustinvite you to the

Inaugural RayWijewardene

Memorial Lecture

Grassroots Innovation forInclusive Development:From Rhetoric to Reality

by Dr Anil Kumar Gupta

Professor, Indian Institute of Management,Ahmedabad

Executive Vice Chair, National InnovationFoundation of India

Member, National Innovation Council, IndiaFounder, Honey Bee Network

5.15 pm, 13 December 2011at IESL Wimalasurendra Auditorium,

120/15 Wijerama Mawatha,Colombo 7.

Brief profile: Anil Gupta is an unusual professorwho walks the talk — and walks through the villagesand slums in search of innovation. He wants toensure that grassroots innovators receive duerecognition, respect and reward for their brightideas. He also seeks to embed innovative ethic ineducational policy and institutions.

Gupta founded the Honey Bee Network in 1986-87 to promote a fair and responsible knowledgeecosystem, where innovators can benefit by sharingtheir ideas. In the 1990s, he set up the Societyfor Research and Initiatives for SustainableTechnologies and Institutions (SRISTI,www.sristi.org) and Grassroots InnovationAugmentation Network (GIAN, www.gian.org) bothof which support the Honey Bee Network to scaleup and convert grassroots innovations into viableproducts. All three are partners of the NationalInnovation Foundation (NIF India, www.nif.org.in),an autonomous body under the Department ofScience and Technology (India), which since 2000has mobilized more than 160,000 innovations andtraditional knowledge practices from all over India.It now holds the largest database of its kind in theworld.

Professor Gupta has received a large number ofawards and honours, including Padma Shri fromthe President of India (2004), Science-in-SocietyAward from the Indian Science Congress Association(2004) and the Asian Innovation Award Gold bythe Far Eastern Economic Review (2000). Detailedprofile at: www.iimahd.ernet.in/~anilg/

Admission is free on a first-come, first-servedbasis.

THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS, SRI LANKA

One day Courseon

“PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT”

Continuing Professional Development Programme of the IESL

Target Group Senior and Middle level Engineers and Officers in Engineering alliedFields.

Participants Maximum of 30 Participants

Course ModulesIntroduction to Public ProcurementProcurement ProcessProcurement Planning

Resource Person Mr. Ivan Tissera

Date & Time December 17, 2011 from 0900 hrs to 1630 hrs

Venue IESL Members Lounge

Course Fee Rs.4,500/- for Members of the IESL and Rs.5,000/- for non-members.

Registration Admissions are limited and will be filled strictly on first come, firstserved and paid up in full basis. Applications can be obtained fromthe Education and Training Division

Further details Education, Examinations & Training Division Tel. 011 2 698426 Fax : 011 2 699202 E-mail : [email protected]

DIRECTOR – EE&TThe Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka120/15, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7.

Health Insurance Scheme for IESL Members

Main Features of the Scheme:

♦ This is a group policy and will commence on 15-Nov-2011.♦ Members upto 85 years are eligible♦ Sum insured ranges from Rs. 150,000/= upto Rs. 1,000,000 ( 6 options

are available)♦ Join in without undergoing any medical test♦ Additional covers for 25 critical illnesses, personal accidents, eye care,

child births etc., for no additional premium♦ Spouse and the children also covered but no added premium♦ Hassle free hospitalization and bill settlement system

A MOU was signed between the IESL and the National Insurance Trust Fund(NITF) whereby the latter would provide comprehensive health insurancecoverage for the members of the IESL.

Prof. Ananda Jayawardane, President of IESL 2010/2011 sessions and Mr. Senaka DAbeygunasekera, Chairman NITF signed the MOU for the two parties at a simple ceremonyheld at the Wimalasurendra Auditorium of the IESL on 12th October 2011.

Detailed information could be obtained from the Finance Departmentof the IESL


The audience, including the Deshabandu Vidya JyothiEng (Dr) A N S Kulasinghe's family members

Photographs of theDeshabandu Vidya Jyothi

Eng (Dr) A N SKulasinghe Memorial

Lecture

Eng. (Dr.) Ananda Ranasinghe, President - IESL gar-landing the photograph of the Deshabandu Vidya

Jyothi Eng (Dr) A N S Kulasinghe

The lecturer Vidya Jyothi Eng. A D S Gunawardana(Former Secretary - Ministry of Irrigation

& Water Management) delivering his lecture

Eng. (Dr.) Ananda Ranasinghe addressing thegathering

IESL 'Building Clinic' comes toPanagoda

A Building Clinic whereengineering experts wereat hand to provideimmediate answers toproblems encountered byordinary people whilebuilding a house of theirown was conducted at ShriBodhirajarama premises atPanagoda, for the benefitof residents in and aroundthe Bodhiraja Templevicinity on Saturday , 01st Oct 2011. It was organizedby the Civil EngineeringSectional Committee ofthe Institution of Engineers,Sri Lanka (IESL) in closecollaboration with theNational HousingDevelopment Authority(NHDA) as part of theWorld Habitat DayC o m m e m o r a t i o n sprogramme of the Ministryof Construction,Engineering Services,Housing and CommonAmenities. The Secretaryto the Minister, Mr. S MGotabe Jayaratne gracedthe occasion as the chiefguest. The General

Civil Engineering Sectional Committee Chairmanaddressing the audience

Manager - Major GeneralW R Wasantha Kumara,Deputy General Manager(Engineering Services) -Eng(Ms) SrimathiWeerasinghe and Eng(Ms)Renuka were among thoserepresenting the NHDA atthis event. The DistrictManager; Eng Gunapalaand the staff of his officealso were present.

The inaugurationceremonies began with thearrival of the Chief Guest ataround 9.30 a.m. followedby the lighting of thetraditional oil lamp and therecital of national anthem.The Chairman of the CivilEngineering SectionalCommittee, Eng(Major)Nishsanka Wasalabandarain his welcome addressthanked Mr. Jayaratne forhis fullest assistanceextended to the spread andrealization of the goals ofthe Building Clinic andcommendable role of theNHDA in organizing this

Chief Guest, Mr. S M Rajapaksha addressing theaudience

clinic despite the short timeavailable to do so He alsothanked the PanagodaPradeshiya Sabha for theirefforts to create awarenessamong area residents despitethe short notice. Heappreciated the services of theexperts and welcomed all.While explaining the objectiveof the Building Clinic, hepointed out the unavailabilityof the services of Engineers forconstruction of houses in

general while more than 1,000Graduate Engineers are beingproduced through the freeeducation in Sri Lanka everyyear. He said “the involvementof an Engineer would reduce

Members of the public getting professional advicefrom engineers at the Building Clinic

the cost for construction andalso ensures a safesustainable house withoutissues like water leaksthrough concrete slabs,cracks in beams, walls etc.He informed that the BuildingClinic concept, launched for

reiterating his backing tothe concept.

The General Manager,NHDA, Major GeneralWasantha Kumara in his

the first time at the Techno2010 Exhibition of theIESL, has proved to be avery popular and muchappreciated serviceamong ordinary peoplerecording more than 200consultations in the 3 daysit was held at thatexhibition. He further saidthat the ministry hasresponded enthusiasticallyto the potential publicservices the BuildingClinic could offer and arepromoting the concept tobe made part of theJanasevana programmeand possibly adding it tothe next Deyata Kirulaexhibition.

The Chief Guest, GotabayaJayaratne in his addressinformed that this clinic isone of many functions hisministry is involved in tomark the World HabitatDay and that his presencehere shows the importancethe ministry attaches tothe concept of BuildingClinics. The fact that itinteracts with ordinarypeople to find low costsolutions to their buildingproblems contributes topeace and harmony tothose families he said

Contd. on page 15...


Panel Discussion on Comprehensive Economic Partnership AgreementPanel Discussion on Comprehensive Economic Partnership AgreementPanel Discussion on Comprehensive Economic Partnership AgreementPanel Discussion on Comprehensive Economic Partnership AgreementPanel Discussion on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement(CEPA) between Sri Lanka and India(CEPA) between Sri Lanka and India(CEPA) between Sri Lanka and India(CEPA) between Sri Lanka and India(CEPA) between Sri Lanka and India

A Panel Discussion on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Sri Lanka and India was held at theWimalasurendra Auditorium of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka on 17th October 2011, from 4.30pm onwards. It was organized bythe IESL under the prevailing circumstances where many local businesses and professionals have voiced their opposition to it.

A panel of eminentpersonalities who are familiarwith the terms and conditionsof the CEPA participated inthe discussions in thepresence of a well attendedand somewhat vociferousaudience.

Prof. Ananda Jayawardane,President of IESL, explainingthe purpose of convening thepanel discussion described CEPA as very important andcontroversial, the merits ordemerits of which could befar reaching in view of its vastscope. That the agreementis going to be a frameworkagreement with thepossibility of later annexeswith undesirable features andthat even the frameworkagreement is not available forstudy has led to thecontroversy and concern hesaid. The IESL is also verymuch concerned about theagreement specially aboutthe professional servicesaspect.

Eng. (Dr.) Brig. AnandaRanasinghe, President Electof IESL, then laid down therules for conducting thepanel discussion and invitedpanel members to thepodium for presentation oftheir positions as regardsCEPA within their prescribedtime of 15minutes each. Thepresentations session wereto be followed by a Questionand Answer session.

Among the total six panelmembers who addressed theaudience the ratio betweenproponents and opponents ofthe CEPA were evenly split.Mr. G.T Senadhira - DirectorGeneral, Department ofCommerce, Mr.RohanSamarajeewa - Chairmanand CEO, LIRNEasia and Dr.Harsha de Silva – Hon.Member of Parliament spokein favour of the CEPA whileMr K.D Rajapakse –Chairman, DSI, Mr.Samantha Kumarasinghe –Chairman / ManagingDirector, Natures BeautyCreations Ltd. and Eng.Lalith Kahatapitiya,Chairman, KIK Group ofCompanies spoke againstthe agreement in theirpresentations.

A Comprehensive articlebased on the outcome of thisPanel Discussion is to bepublished in a forthcomingissue of SLEN.

Prof. Ananda Jayawardane, President IESL makingthe welcome address

Eng. (Dr.) Ananda Ranasinghe, President-Elect, IESL,conducting the panel discussion

Mr. G T Senadhira, Director General, Department ofCommerce, addressing the audience

Mr. K D Rajapakse, Chairman, DSI, addressing theaudience

Dr. Harsha de Silva, Hon. Member of Parliament,addressing the audience

Eng. L Kahatapitiya,Chairman, KIK Group ofCompanies, addressing the audience

Mr. Rohan Samarajeewa,Chairman and CEO, LIRNEasia, addressing audience

Mr. Samantha Kumarasinghe,Chairman / ManagingDirector, Natures Beauty Creations Ltd., addressingthe audience


COMMUNITY SERVICE BY ELECTRICAL AND

ELECTRONICS SECTIONALCOMMITTEE I.E.S.L

by Eng. E W Karunaratne

BENEVOLENT FUNDHELP A FELLOW MEMBER IN DISTRESS

This year, the IESL Benevolent Fund has so far assisted seven of our memberswho are facing financial hardships mostly due to ill health. Two members wereassisted each with Rs 40,000.00, and five members with Rs 60,000.00 each, afterthe amount of assistance was increased recently.

The Benevolent Fund is maintained with your own voluntary contributions.We appeal to you this time to give more generously when you pay subscriptions,by contributing more than the Rs 200.00 standard contribution proposed in theSubscription Notice and make the fund richer to assist more of your own colleaguesin need!

Yes, it is a small sum. Yet, when faced with financial hardship, even this smallamount will help a lot. For instance, a member suffering from a Brain Tumour whohad undergone surgical treatment at a cost of over Rs 5.0 Million, applied forassistance from the Benevolent Fund, because even this small sum was importantto him in his time of serious need.

Be a Friend in Need and contribute generously to the Benevolent Fund! ThankYou!

BOARD OF MANAGEMENT OF THEBENEVOLENT FUND

The Chairman and the committee members of the Electricaland Electronic, sectional committee undertook to carry out acommunity service project to a school in a remote village. Thisvillage school is situated in a remote area about 15km offPuwakpitiya in the Avissawella district. It has four separate hallsaccommodating the class rooms. One servicing as the mainassembly hall. This school has about 80 students and classesup to 'A' Level and almost all the children are from the low incomegroups. The name of the school is Pagnagula Maha Vidyalayaand the principal is a lady teacher. She mentioned to thecommittee that they had classes up to 'A' level and somestudents have even gone to the university from this same school.

The community project undertaken was to carry out the completewiring to two main halls and repair the wiring of the two balancehalls, and also repair the doors and windows of the mainassembly hall. The work was undertaken on the bassis thatmembers of the committee will find a sponsor to finance theproject. As the committee was unable to find a sponser, theproject had got dragged on for nearly one year without aninfluential member in the committee who could find a sponser.The chairman was not willing to give up the project due to nonavailability of a sponser as they had given an undertaking to theschool. The committee discussed this matter at length anddecided to finance the project by the members of the committee.Eng. Kosala Abeysiriwardana also agreed to contribute becausehe is the main author of the project.

Eng. D G Upasiri had agreed to handle the project and entrustedthe work to a contractor and he also supervised the work. Twomain halls were completely wired, and the wiring of the othertwo main halls were repaired. The doors and the windows werefabricated in Panadura. As a result they had to get a permit totransport the timber doors. The work was completed after muchpersuasion.

The Principal of the school wanted to have a function to handover the work completed by the sectional committee. Thecommittee agreed with the decision of the Principal and haddecided to pay a visit to the school on, 24 September 2011 overfor the ceremony. There was balance money Rs. 11,000 leftfrom the upper Kotmale visit and committee decided to buy somebooks for the school library. Eng. Faisal and Eng. Kolonne boughtthe required books from the book exhibition. Another membercontributed 100 Exercise books to be given to the low incomegroup children.

The work done was formerly handed over to the Principal andalso the books to the library. The Principal thanked the I.E.S.L.for making this valuable contribution to the school. The chairmansuggested that if the other sectional committee can undertakesimilar projects it will be of great benefit to similar school in theisland. The chairman also undertook to finance a student whocan enter to the university from the school. After this smallceremony tea was served with cake for the committee memberswho joined the visit to the school.


the early part of the 19th

Century, which describesthe difficulties of travel andthe meanness faced by thetravellers. About one and ahalf century ago the fastesta man could travel wasprobably astride a gallopinghorse compared with theBoeing of today carrying100’s of passengers,travelling at twice the speedof sound, and spanningthousands of miles betweenthe continents of the world,in a single fl ight.Communication was by aman on horseback and bystage coach taking daysand weeks, compared toemails, micro waves etcbounced from satelliteswhich provide us with almostinstantaneous transmissiontoday. An engineer todaycould handle a complicateddesign by himself whereasin the past they must haveemployed a team ofengineers to do the samework relying heavily on theirassistance, judgment andintegrity.

Despite the difficulties oftransport andcommunication, engineersin the previous era haveconstructed great bridges,canals, over 1000 miles ofroad, together with harboursand other structures. Evenstupas, kovils, churches,mosques etc. were built toperfection.

The great developmentscarried out in constructionof roads, bridges, canals,docks and harbours, did ofcourse provide greatopportunities for theemployment of engineersand contractors. Presently,stricter education andtraining is now required bythe Institution in order toobtain professional status,or otherwise to become achartered engineer. Wemust be aware, however,that on the demands whichwe make upon youngengineers we should notattempt to stifle the energyand the ambition of youthitself and make ourprofession less attractivethan others to the youngperson embarking on hiscareer. Therefore we have tosupport our buddingengineers to becomechartered engineers ratherthan discouraging them byexpecting too much ofgeneral knowledge whichwe believe that they shouldpossess.

Presently I function as avisiting lecturer in variousinstitutions and also at theuniversities and I am highlyimpressed with the training

and guidance given bycertain professionalinstitutions to theirgraduates to qualify them tobecome corporatemembers. A vast variety ofsubjects are being taught tothem such asenvironmental law, UDAregulations, labour laws,contract laws, Conditions ofContract, accountancy,management, officepractice etc. I have tried mybest to formulate theprofessional examination ofthe IESL on these lines sothat our engineers too maybe taught importantsubjects which a universitycannot teach them as theyare too general in nature.But disappointedly themajority was not preparedto accept my proposal andultimately I had to give uplecturing at the IESL forprofessional examinations,while I continued to lectureat other institutions.

I started my practice as anExecutive Engineer in theDepartment of Highwayswhere I had to giveinstructions and orders toremove structureswhenever there wereencroachments into theroad reservation. For that Ihad to be aware of theThoroughfare Ordinance. Idid not know the ‘ins andouts’ of what an Ordinancewas apart from givinginstructions and orders incompliance with theOrdinance. From the veryfirst day, I worked at how toget a transfer to the DesignOffice in Colombo so that Icould practice what I havelearnt at the University. Butladies and gentlemen, thatwas not easy either, asdesigns office experiencehas to be gained from theDesign Office. Therefore,moulding professionals isnot teaching them generalknowledge as some of uswould believe. They shouldnot only be taught how toput theory into practice, butshould be taught non-engineering subjects suchas management, law etc.as well.

Technology in the first halfof the 19th century, andbeyond, was based mainlyon empirical rules andpractical experience.Formal engineeringeducation was certainly notconsidered worthy of noticeby universities.

It is perhaps of interest tonote that Professor Rankin of‘earth pressure’ fame, wasone time an AssociateMember of the Institution ofCivil Engineers (UK), butwhen he applied for FullMembership he was rejectedfor some obscure reason,and he resigned from theInstitution in anger. Howeverthereafter following Rankin’sdeath, the ICE has been very

kind to have the annual RankinLecture. Membership cannot bedenied to any engineer who canprove his qualif ications andcompetence and whoseexperience, reputation andcharacter should be correctlyvouched for by his sponsors.However the Institution has noplace for half-baked peoplewhose competency ismanipulated. But the Institutionis not reluctant to recognizepeople who have done greatservice to the society. We havedone so in the past, and in thefuture too we will continue tohonour them as HonoraryFellows or Honorary Members.

Towards the end of the lastcentury, the supremacy of theoryover rule of thumb, has graduallybut surely asserted itself.Although at times the want ofcommon sense and experiencein the application of abstractprinciples has led to disastersquite as serious as those whicharose from want of theoreticalknowledge, and in this respectthe competent and successfulengineer will show himself as aman who in his work is careful tomake theory and practice walkside by side, one aiding andguiding the other and neither ofthem asserting unduesupremacy.

There is undoubtedly a gapexisting between the theoreticalworld of engineering educationand the scene of our activitieslying outside the university. Aperiod of training or experienceis necessary to fuse engineeringknowledge into a completewhole, and to allow the engineerto recognize the restrictions andconstraints, which the world ofpractice can impose uponunrestrained theory. Sometimesthe young technician can seemto be much more expert andtalented and probably morefinancially rewarded than thenewly graduated engineer. Thisis the period when the immatureyoung graduate has to be tutoredby experienced andunderstanding engineers andescorted into his professionallife. Therefore IESL has a greaterrole to play in grooming youngengineers by helping them toobtain proper experience and weas senior members have agreater responsibility in carryingout this task. I shall do every thingpossible to achieve this targetthrough the IESL.

The importance and necessityfor this fundamental training andexperience has been fullyappreciated and is one of themain ingredients in ouraspiration, towards greaterprofessionalism and status inour society. Both the academicand the practicing sections of ourindustry must combine to achievethis objective of adequate trainingand experience. The academicworld probably is of the opinionthat industry is lukewarmtowards the duty of traininggraduates, and industry on theother hand argues that the costis too high and out of proportionto any return which might beexpected. With the tightermargins experienced over therecent years of recession, this isquite a real problem to manyfirms, who have co-operated wellin the past and who now preferto recruit trained engineers only.Training of young engineers is,

however, a fundamentalobligation, and our professionmust accept thisresponsibility. There might bethe argument that a firm iswilling to provide experiencebut not training. The dangerwould be a comparativelynarrow experience, lacking inwider professionalism. TheInstitution must and shouldoffer support to overcome thisbarrier. Therefore I intend togive more prominence andpublicity to the value of traininggraduate engineers in order tochange the mindset of theindustry.

Our industry has had aremarkable record ofachievement abroad and hasearned great prestige inaddition to valuable foreignexchange. One of our mainstrengths in theseachievements has been ourcadre of trained and qualifiedengineers. Resources forsuch training, however, canonly be available in a viableindustry with a firm base-loadof work in our own country.Government (that is, bothnational and local) is nowpractically the sole patron ofengineering, either by virtue ofdirect contracts or by awardingcontracts to the industry.Successive governmentsappear, in my eyes at least, tohave appreciated theimportance of a medium orlong-term planning strategywhich could stabilize a trainingpolicy. However I believe whenit comes to engineers that thepresent young engineers dohave the same opportunity thatwe had, of obtaining trainingwhich will benefit thedevelopment of this country.

Our profession, which isfundamental to theadvancement of our materialworld, cannot today escapefrom the public eye. Ourfailures and occasionally oursuccesses are beamed intoalmost every home, not only inour own country but in manycountries abroad. Themorning papers emblazonstories on front pages, anddue to the advances ofcommunication, we alsocannot hide sensitiveinformation from the press,the television camera or themicrophone.

Unfortunately it is failure, ordisaster, or our shortcomingswhich are highlighted, and oursuccesses are oftenunrecorded, unpublished andunappreciated. The failure ofa large dam, the collapse of along span bridge, the hugeescalation in cost of a projectof national interest are theitems which attract theheadlines, not the success ofconstructing a harbourcomplex or completing a largesewage scheme or motorwayon time and within the financialbudget. Difficulties overcomeare overlooked andappreciation andunderstanding are seen onlyin the eye of our discerningbrother or sister engineer andnot in that of the generalpublic. I consider that it isimportant in drawing yourattention to the problems

experienced by the engineers.The presence of a rock in aharbour, the collapse of anunderpass in a highway etc.are some of the events whichare not uncommoninternationally in theengineering industry.Foolproof structures can neverbe built when considering thenature and the complexities ofthe construction. Completinga project within duration andwithin the cost does not attractpublic attention. Therefore wehave to make the public awareof important engineeringnews, and the only way is forour engineers to write to thepublic newspapers ofwhatever work they do and theprogress achieved. I, as thePresident, do intend to give allassistance to them.

There have inevitably been acurtailment in the number ofcontracts available, and in anendeavour to keep contractingorganizations functioning,contracts have been takenwith little or no margin. This isthe recipe for trouble, quiteunderstandably, astremendous effort is made torecoup costs in extras and inclaims leading to argumentand dispute, resultingsometimes at the end of theday in both the engineer andthe contractor beingdiscredited. In my experiencethere has been a greatproliferation of claims over theyears and this may well be aself-crit icism of ourengineering profession. Oneof the most essentialrequirements before acontract goes to tender is tohave sufficient lead time for itseffective preparation and toallow the contractor anadequate period for theexamination of thedocuments, to decide on hismethods of construction andto price his tender. Time is acommodity which wesurrender too easily. Speedcan so often be a delusion forefficiency. Therefore we havea responsibility in educatingour engineers in contractmanagement and disputeresolution and at the sametime openly discuss theseproblems either withadministrators or thelegislators (politicians). Thetraining of engineers in thesefields shall be enhanced asevery decision of an engineerwould have a great impact onthe projects cost and quiteoften these costs are in theorder of millions of rupees.

The profession should,however, remind the publicfrom time to time of the greatpart it has played, and is stillplaying, in the evolution of ourcivilization and society. Theprevention of disease and theimprovement in theenvironment and socialservices has been largely dueto the influence of theengineer. We provide theinfrastructure upon whichcivilization is built. Televisionsand computers are the mosteffective medium of thetransmission of informationtoday. Although the engineers

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PRESIDENT’SSPEECH....


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PRESIDENT’SSPEECH....

are responsible for designingand building these electronicgadgets, we are the peoplewho use them the least.

Concern is expressed fromtime to time amongst ourmembership that theprofessional engineer haslost his status in society andis not held in the sameesteem as he wasgenerations ago. The averagemember maintains that this isreflected in his rewardsrelative to those in otherprofessions and indeed tothose in other engineeringdisciplines. Our brothers andsisters in Law, Medicine,Accountancy and theAdministrative service appearto be given responsibility at amuch earlier age and they playan effective part in the politicaland social life of the country atboth national and localgovernment level. They appearto exert an influence in theformulation of policies and inthe direction of events,whereas we engineers remainin the background and at mostare occasionally asked foradvice on a project of nationalimportance which has beeninitiated by our lay brothersand sisters. This has to bechanged.

A degree course inengineering is one of the mostdemanding of universitycourses, with considerableanalytical content but possiblywith only a limitedconcentration on the widerscene and on the use andapplication of the written andspoken word. It is perhapsunfortunate, that we do notlearn language skills in ourseats of learning. Effectiveunderstanding and even moreeffective communication isvital in our professional andbusiness life. The Englishlanguage is one of thegreatest assets which weshould nurture and cherish.Therefore I will make an effortto improve the language skillsof our engineers.

When engineers meet, theytalk about engineeringexperiences, problems andsolutions, because we areintensely interested in andenthralled by our profession,and have little interest in affairs

beyond our own boundaries.We tend to ignore otherprofessions and thepolit icians. Our apparentfailure in our search for statuscould well be echoed byCassius in Julius Caesar: ‘Thefault, dear Brutus, is not in ourstars but in ourselves……’.Acceptance in the social orderis transient, largely dependenton public acclaim, andcertainly in the popularityratings of today is the pop star,TV actor and the professionalcricketer who are well aheadof the engineer. However, itwas not always so, andKulasinghe, Rampala,Wimalasurendra, and RayWijewardene were relativelywell known household namesin their days and were held inhigh esteem in society andwere considered to be greatbenefactors to the nation. Theywere honoured by the nationand their great works werevery well acknowledged.

Our status and our self-esteem, call it what you will,lies within ourselves – thereis no Holy Grail for which wemust search, on finding theprestige which we seek. Ourstatus is dependent onourselves alone and can onlybe earned by our ownexertions and our integritywithin our chosen profession.It is by strength of character,by independence, integrity andmental courage and vision thatwe could impress. If weengineers are to make agreater impact on our societythen we too must penetrate theconfining boundaries oftechnology into the wider worldof influence.

I would like to remind you ofthe theme of my address,‘Change is not made withoutinconvenience, even fromworse to better’. We live in afast-changing world and thereis no doubt that to survive inthe confused seas ofchanging social andprofessional philosophies wemust have the courage to setour sails to take full advantageof the veering winds ofchange.

I would also like to mentionsomething about an importantevent that occurred recently inour Institution, that is theannual elections that we heldin order to select the membersfor the Council. It is extremelydisappointing that there are at

least six positions for whichnobody has contested. Thisis not a very good situation.We are boasting about ournumbers when we say that wehave 14,000 members, out ofwhich I presume at least 5,000are corporate members. Theparticipation in Councilactivities and other functionsof the IESL is extremely poor.However, there are a lot ofcritics from the membershipstating that the Council doesnot perform. It should benoted that all the work that isdone by the Council membersare voluntary, and apart fromthis the members have to incurexpenditure on travelling andsometimes spend 3 to 4hours at a meeting or function.Therefore, I request especiallythe young members, toparticipate in these meetingsand other activities of theIESL. Sometimes it isembarrassing to note thatthere are only a very fewpeople attending thememorial lectures which wehave organized to honour ourpast engineers. If we do notprotect the Institution there willbe nobody to protect us. It isdepressing to mention thatthere are a few members whoare working against theinterests of the IESL, whichwas evident when we met theMinisters and other politiciansto get our Act amended and toget the Registration ofEngineers Act recognised.

The Institution alwaysrecognizes its memberswhether they have enrolledfrom the University or any otherInstitution, as long as theyhave fulfilled the requirementsnecessary to obtain corporatemembership. Thereforeplease join hands with theInstitution and support ouractivities. It is veryencouraging to us when aperson enters as a Studentand completes hisprofessional examinationconducted by the IESL. Weare proud of suchachievements. We want ourprofessional engineers to becompetent to work anywherein the world and not second toany other foreign engineer.Unity is our strength. Thereare many works ahead of uswhich have to be completedand implemented and I needyour cooperation andcommitment to fulfil thesegoals. I wish you all the best.

sphere (2-D travel) while neutrinos travel directly through thebody of the sphere (3-D travel). But no one explains how onlyneutrinos are capable of traveling through a fourth dimension,which seems to be beyond the capability of photons. Is itbecause neutrinos are the bourgeoisie of the fundamentalparticles while photons are part of the Janathawa?

Handicapped Photons: Another theory says that c is thespeed of light in empty space and the universe is not actuallyempty but filled with some medium. Thus, what we consideras the speed of light (c) is not the speed in a true vacuum butthe speed of photons that are somewhat impeded by whateverthis medium is. On the other hand neutrinos are not impededby this ‘thing’ that fills up space and win the race. Again theyseem to consider it as a result of an unfair race where theirfavorites, photons, are subjected to an unfair handicap.

The Scientific Method: While the giants of the sciencecommunity fight it out, commoners like us can enjoy it withouttaking sides, watching how the scientific method works. Eitherway, we have nothing to loose. One thing we can say is thatno theory in science is sacred or can be held out as theultimate truth. As Dr. Richard Fenynman once said, sciencethrives on skepticism. Good scientists are skeptical evenabout their own theories.

This is the type of thinking that our young engineers shouldinculcate. Never be blind to the possibility that you may bewrong. And when you have been proven wrong be humbleenough to accept it gracefully. No one can be right all thetime. Even Newton was found to be wrong (or at leastinadequate) when Einstein discovered his theory and thesame fate may be awaiting Einstein. In Science, there areno infallible Gurus.

The basic steps by which Science works are: (i) Observation,(ii) Making up a Theory to explain the Observation (iii) MakingPrediction based on the concerned Theory. The proof of thetheory lies in the accuracy of the predictions. But no amountof proof makes a theory an ultimate truth because there isalways the possibility that, one day, evidence against it maybe discovered.

Supernova SN 1987 A: One such remarkable predictionthat comes to my mind has something to do with neutrinos.In the 20th century astronomers formulated a theoretical modelof supernova explosions that large stars undergo at the endof their lives. The theory had very few observations to go bybecause these events are so rare. Between 1886 and 1986,none had occurred close enough to be observed using moderninstruments. There have been 5 known supernovae withinthis period, but the closest of them 1972 E was 11 millionlight years away. Thus they had relatively scantyobservational data on the process and the model was almostcompletely based on mathematics, stellar physics andcomputer simulations and not on direct observational data ofsupernovae.

The model predicts that a huge burst of neutrinos occurssimultaneously with the collapse of the core of the star,preceding the emission of visible light, which occurs onlyafter the shock wave reaches the stellar surface, hourslater.[However, proof had to await an actual supernovaexplosion and in February 1987 the scientists were rewardedfor their patience. Three neutrino detector sites reported asignificant increase in neutrino levels. Now other astronomerswent in to action and a few days later, evidence emergedthat a supernova explosion had occurred in a star 160,000light years away (next door by astronomical standards)inthe Large Magellanic Cloud, a close companion dwarf galaxyof our own Milky Way Galaxy. This event marked the birth ofneutrino astronomy.

Time Dilation Effect: I would like to end this article statingmy own thoughts on the neutrinos result. If neutrinos aretraveling faster than light, then according to the time dilationeffect of Einstein, they are traveling in to the past relative tous. Does this open up a way of the much speculated timetravel?

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Faster Than....Faster Than....Faster Than....Faster Than....Faster Than....

“Outcome Based Approach to Modern Engineering Education”, was held at Hotel Taj Samudrathe next day, 22nd Oct. 2011, with guest speakers from among foreign delegates representingsister organizations and the Sri Lankan academia. The well attended seminar was followedby a Banquet dinner in their honour, at the same hotel.

A Field Tour was organized as another event of the Annual Sessions the next day, 23rd Oct2011, to visit Mattala International Airport and the Hambantota International Cricket Stadiumby way of the newly-built Southern Expressway. Many IESL members participated in thetour, while the foreign delegates were conducted on a tour of the Temple of the Tooth Relic inKandy after which they departed to their home countries.

The Technical Sessions were held on the 24th and 25th of October during which 70 technicalpapers on research projects under various disciplines of engineering were presented and forthe best papers of which awards will be presented at the next annual sessions.The Annual General Meeting was held on the 29th Oct 2011 at the Wimalasurendra Auditoriumas the final event of the Annual Sessions.

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Driving in Super-Highways......

Contd. from page 4...

lane. This lane is an extrapiece of road from which thedriver will be able to see andadjust to the traffic on thesuper-highway. If you arealready on the super-highway, it would be a goodpractice to safely move yourvehicle to the right lane sothat vehicle on theacceleration lane will be ableto change on to the left laneof the four lane super-highway (two lanes in onedirection). After theinterchange, you can safelychange back to the left lane.

3. The driver comfort

In Sri Lanka, many vehiclesare fitted with airconditioners. However, wehave the habit of using it withre-cycling on (air conditionerworking with re-cyclingswitch on rather than on freshoutside air mode on). Thisis logical in our roads with alot of dust since the fresh airmode will need frequentservicing of filters of the airconditioning system.However, this recycling couldbe detrimental for the healthof the occupants sincerecycled air could haveaccumulated CO

2 reaching a

level much more than therecommended maximum of1000 ppm. Continuousexposure to high level of CO

2

in the air that we breath couldlead to drowsiness andsometimes to headaches.Since the super-highwayswill generally be free of dust,it is advisable to run airconditioners in fresh airmode when the vehicle is ina super-highway. Otherwise,frequent opening and closingof shutters also could berecommended (once in every5-10 minutes).

If the vehicle is not fitted withan air-conditioner, it would beadvisable to have theshutters only slightly open.Shutters that are fully opencould increase the windresistance to a significantlevel at high speeds andhence could contribute to ahigher fuel consumption.Thus, it is the duty of thedrivers to ensure adequatefuel in the vehicle if planningto enter a super-highway andto use the vehicle in such away that the occupantsreceive sufficient ventilationwhile operating the vehicle atan optimum level.

4. Changing the lanes insuper-highway

In a super-highway, we areexpected to use the left lane.Changing the lanes should beconsidered only where thereis a need. Always keep tothe middle of the lane thatyou are using. Prior tochanging the lanes, the driverhas to follow mirror-signal-

maneuver routine. It is verydangerous to change thelanes without consulting themirror though we could seemany drivers, especiallythose driving larger vehiclessuch as buses changinglanes without much concernto the other road users.When driving on super-highways, mirror-signal-maneuver must be followedby all the drivers irrespectiveof the size of the vehicle thatthey drive.

5. Overtaking in super-highways

In super-highways, generally,it is not necessary toovertake since all the driversare expected to drive at 100km per hour. However, if it isnecessary, it has to be a verycarefully planned activity.Overtaking is possible onlywhen there is sufficient spaceand also enough gaps. Theposition-speed-look routineis the first step. The correctposition is to keep a goodgap from the vehicle that youare going to overtake. Next,it is important for you toensure that your vehicle iscapable of accelerating to thespeed required for overtakingwithin a reasonable time.Otherwise, it would beadvisable to follow the vehiclein the front since it is alsotraveling at a high speedthough may not be at 100 kmper hour.

6. Braking and changingtraffic conditions

In a high speed road, it isimportant to observe asmuch as possible so that ahigh level of anticipation canbe maintained. In driving,anticipation means actingpromptly to fit in with whatother road users are doing aswell as being able and readyto alter your own course orbehaviour as a situationdevelops. Experience andanticipation are vital toprevent possible dangersfrom becoming actualdangers.

Because of the high speedsof super-highways, anybraking must be unhurriedand carried out progressivelyso that it is properly spreadout. Braking changes thetraffic conditions on super-highways and hence thedrivers should be aware ofthe consequences of suchactions. This also indicatesthe need to keep a sufficientgap with the vehicle in thefront. The general rule is 1meter for every 2 km per hourspeed. For example, for 100km per hour, it is ideal tokeep a 50 m gap though itmay sound too high.However, at 100 km per hour,the distance that the vehicletravel while moving the footfrom the accelerator to thebrake is about 15 meters.The distance that the vehicle

travel before it comes to a haltis about 35 m. This indicatesthat a 50 meter gap could bevery reasonable.

Another rule is counting bysaying one second, twosecond when the vehicle infront of you pass a fixedobject. If your vehicle passesthe fixed object in less than 2seconds, you are driving tooclose to the vehicle in the front(the time taken for you to sayone second two second; youhave to do this since there isno way of looking at yourwatch when you are drivingclose to 100 km per hour).This is called leaving a 2second gap in countries likeUnited Kingdom and USA.

7. Leaving the super-highway

The driver who enters thesuper highway must have agood idea about thedestination they wish to reachand also the route that theyhave to follow. The driver hasto read the road mapscarefully and store the data inmemory. It will not bepossible to get anyinformation from other roadusers by stopping the vehicleas we often see on otherroads. Both stopping andreversing are prohibited onsuper-highways.

The exits are usually markedwith sign boards with bluecolour background with whitecolour letters indicating thedetails of the exit at least twokm before the junction. Theroad that has to be taken afterthe exit will be given in greencolour background (A or Bclass road). Hence, it is theresponsibility of the driver toplan and take the proper exitslip road through adeceleration lane. The drivershould never slow down whileapproaching a junction untilthe lane has been changed tothe deceleration lane.

The speed can be reduced to60 km per hour or less asindicated in the road signs. Itis essential to look atspeedometer since driverfinds it very difficult to judgethe speed after driving ½ hourto one hour at 100 km perhour. A speed of 80 km perhour may be felt as 40 km perhour unless the actual speedis judged with thespeedometer. This goodpractice will allow the driver toreach the toll gates, if anylocated at the exit, safely.

8. Night-time driving

Super-highways are notgenerally provided with streetlights except at gradeseparated junctions where exitand entry are allowed usingslip roads that can be usedeither for acceleration ordeceleration. If you useheadlights, it can dazzle theincoming drivers. Therefore, itis advisable to use dippedbeam of vehicle headlight.

Since the night time may notallow very high level ofvisibility, a greater degree ofanticipation will be vital. If youare dazzled and compelled toslow down, be aware of thetraffic behind. You must neverbrake suddenly.

Judging the speed andjudging the distance of othervehicles are both moredifficult on a super-highwayat night. Thus, changinglanes in night will needspecial care. You must usesignal indicator with ampletime ahead of maneuver.

The eight points described indetail have highlighted anumber of facts that must befirmly established in the mindof a driver who is planning toenter a super-highway.

It is also necessary to keepin mind that paying a toll willnot entitle the motorists to anyspecial privileges. All theusers of a super-highway willbe sharing a common facilitywith great respect to others.One of the main reasons topromote the super-highwayis to improve the road safetyby separating thepedestrians and other slowmoving vehicles such asthree wheelers, motor cycles,scooters, carts, land vehiclesfrom the other vehicles thattravel long distances at higherspeeds.

The importance of accidentminimization can be lookedfrom the point of view ofaccident costs. If a fatalityoccurs due to an accident,its cost to the nationaleconomy wasapproximately identified asabout 1.3 million Rupees in2000 prices (about Rs 7billion for all the accidents).It would be about Rs 4.5million in 2011 prices perfatality. In a country where

about 2000 fatalities occur,the accident cost only dueto fatal accidents can beestimated at Rupees tenbillion or 0.2% of GDP of SriLanka which now stands atRs 5000 billion. (The totalcost of traffic accidents couldbe as high as Rs 25 billionfor the national economy in2011 prices or 0.5% of GDP.)

Thus improving road safetyby acting in a responsiblemanner leaving aside thearrogance that we have seenwith some drivers whileunderstanding the need toshare the facility with a goodvehicle would be the key toaccident free, safe,comfortable, fast andefficient use of super-highways of Sri Lanka.

I wish you all a safe andcomfortable journey whereyou would willingly pay thetoll to maintain the facilitywith a high standard whileproviding funding necessaryfor the further expansion ofthe super-highway network inSri Lanka.

References:

Department of Transport,Driving – The Department ofTransport Manual, HerMajesty’s Stationary Office,London, 1978, 228 p.

Perrippanayagam, T., Driving– Challenges andInstructions, Vishwa leka, SriLanka, 2006.

Ratnayake, L. L.,Jayasinghe, C., “Trafficaccident cost analysis”,Engineer, Journal ofInstitution of Engineers, SriLanka, Vol:XXXIV, No: 03,September 2001, pp 61-72

address explained the efforts that went into organizing theclinic at short notice and thanked all those who helped.

Thereafter Eng. Prabodha C Ginasena who had the brainwavethat led to the first ever Building Clinic spoke to the audienceand expressed his happiness to see his idea being adaptedand put into practice. He explained how the idea originallycame about and its essence being cost free advice and costcutting on the actual work through reduction in wastage. Hedelivered the vote of thanks ending the ceremonies held inthe 2nd Floor of the premises. Eng(Ms) Shashikalaconducted the ceremonies while Eng. (Ms) Champika JRanasinghe, Eng. (Dr.)Ms Namali, Eng. Prabodha C.Jinasena were actively involved in the organizing of the clinic.Refreshments were served thereafter.

The actual Building Clinic were held in the 1st floor of thepremises with separate areas being allocated as consultationareas for the people seeking advice on particular buildingsrelated problems faced by them. These were the parallelsessions with capacity to provide advice to up to fourconsultation sessions simultaneously. Meanwhile a seminarwas organized on subjects of general interest on the 3rdfloor of the premises with the opening presentation beinggiven by Eng. G.W.T Kandamby on the topic of “CementStabilized Rammed Earth for Housing’. The audience wasat liberty to move out of or into the seminar hall as andwhen they require to have consultations on a problem fromthe Building Clinic in the 1st floor.

Local people were seen coming into the clinic in trickles atthe start due to not many being aware at the start but withawareness creation being done throughout the numbersshowed some improvements in the latter part of the durationof the clinic which concluded around 3.00 pm in theafternoon.

IESL Building.....Contd. from page 10....


Hotline 2674576

To keep you on running........

(a) In addition to this, the Buddhism express that results areeasier by visual form of which was applied successfully to teachand obey Rupananda, the uppish beauty queen as a one example.In the other hand, visualizing comes under the meditation and itsfurther end extends up to the great “Chinthamaya Gnana”. Foreasy understanding, it says in general that one picture gives theidea more than given by thousands of words.Categorically the mind mapping is inherently bound by naturewith the technique of arrest at mind level and it also fulfills theadequate minimal factor (concept) as well.

Hence in this three in one set ,mind mapping plays the vital role,as a so simple and speedy pre preventive measure.

Not to forget that the pictures are more effective than words and thesentences as far as the drivers different intelligent levels areconcerned. Visualizing the incoming vehicle before it reallyhappened, would strengthen the pre-preventive techniques bygiving a visual mode. Summarizing the above techniques of arrestat mind level, adequate minimal and mind mapping are in joinhands at the parade in front, to look after any accidents. Hence thisthree in one pack of techniques is at the supremacy as far as thearrest of accidents is concerned.

In the other hand, it is a solution found from the religion rather thanfrom law which shows the power of religion, ( if search), ahead oflaw. This effective tool would alert the overtaking driver to themaximum and be the art of maximum for driving and overtaking.

In the other hand this three in one set is also a preplanningtechnique which has been planned to the worse (ie. overtaking)and It would work effectively with every other phase of driving aswell. Hence the three in one pack would solve the new burningproblem of Sri Lanka ; ie, the road terrorism which remains afterdefeating the 30 years of terrorism.Initially at the transition period it would work with the strictenforcement of law with heavy panalties since any road violationis being committed with the best knowledge of mind mapping threein one pack.

(Not to mention the necessity of training and educating the peoplefor this pack before hand which would be easy through mass mediain couple of week time. Further a new law (offence) could also beintroduced to the charge sheet for the failure in mind mappingpack.)Three in one pack is so strong that, after the transition period itwould withstand alone for any kind of accident very effectively bypushing the law enforcement to a passive role.

Contd. from page 5.... Road Accidents.....

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