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The Newspaper of The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka Vol. 52, No 04, July / August 2016Registered at the GPO as a Newspaper No. QD/53/News/2016

The Institution of EngineersSri Lanka

120/15, Wijerama MawathaColombo 7, Sri Lanka

Tel: 2685490,2698426, 2699210Fax: 2699202E.mail:[email protected]/[email protected]:http://www.iesl..lk

in this issue •110th

Annual Sessions

Programme.............. 2, 3, 4 & 5 • Editorial..................................4 • IESL Commemorates 142nd Birth Anniversary of Late Eng. D J Wimalasurendra....................8 • Birth Anniversary of Prof. E O E Pereira Commemorated......................8 • Interpretation of Ancient Soil – Water Ecosystem as a Salt/Toxin filter while Increasing the Potential of Water in Soil .....................8 • Industrial Visit to Sri Lanka Navy Boat Manufacturing Yard at Welisara on 02.08.2016...10

•Drones Drones everywhere.11

Eng. (Dr.) S.B. Wijekoon, Immediate Past President’sPortrait Unveiled

The photograph ofEng. (Dr.) S.B.Wijekoon, Immedi-

ate Past President of IESLjoined the portraits of all thePast Presidents of theIESL along the hallowedwalls of the Council Roomof the institution when itwas ceremonially unveiledon Friday, 5th August,2016.

Eng. (Dr.) S.B. Wijekoonbecame the 109th Presi-dent of IESL in October2014 and his presidencywas marked by consoli-dation and refinement ofachievements of earliersessions and improvingdecision making andquality and standard ofthe activities of the IESLduring the 2014/2015sessions. Service Excel-

lence at IESL Secretariat,ICT for Productivity En-hancement of IESL andIESL Outreach Drive werethe three special thrust ar-eas he focused on duringhis tenure.

Eng. (Dr.) Wijekoon servedthe Council of the Institu-tion of Engineers, SriLanka representing Mem-bers in 1989 and later on

IESL Induction and GraduationCeremony 2016 - Record

Numbers attainChartered Engineer Status

Contd. on page 5....

served the Council as a Rep-resentative of Fellows, as aVice President and the Presi-dent Elect before becomingthe President of the currentsessions.

(Dr.) S.B. Wijekoon is a prod-uct of Menikdiwela PrimarySchool and Dharmaraja Col-lege Kandy. He obtained his

The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka held its annual Induction and GraduationCeremony for the year, 2016 on Wednesday, 14th September, 2016 at the Main Hallof the BMICH from 3.00 pm onwards. Vidyajyothi (Prof.) Rezvi Sheriff, Professor

Emeritus of Medicine,Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo and Former Director ofthe Post Graduate Institute of Medicine graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Eng.Newton Wickremasuriya Director / Chief Executive Officer,Central Industries PLC, PastPresident,Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka was the Guest of Honour at the event.

Contd. on page 10..

Contd. on page 10 ...

SRI LANKAENGINEERING NEWSEstablished 1906

PRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNER

This is the my last columnunder the IESL “President’sCorner” and my presidential

term will end with the inaugurationof the 110th Annual Sessions.

From 1999, I was in the council,representing all of you, the generalmembership, and you all acceptedme as president of your prestigiousinstitution IESL. At this moment Iappreciate and thank all of you forthe kind and generous support given by all of you to perform myduties as Council member and during the 110th session asPresident.

At this moment, I feel that I have done something to elevate ournoble profession. During the last session, I realized the extentof the responsibility that rests on IESL to enhance theprofessionalism among Engineers in every respect.

Our past leaders, the university Professors and academicsstarting from Prof E.O.E.Perera have worked hard to enhanceour engineering education up to international standards. IESLPast Presidents and Council members also have worked hardfrom 1968 after the incorporation of the IESL by an Act ofParliament to elevate professional standards of our engineers.As a result the IESL has become a member of the EngineersMobility Forum (EMF) and introduced the title “ProfessionalEngineer” for those Chartered Engineers registered by IESLon behalf of the EMF. That marks the quality of our engineerswithin our own jurisdiction and importantly at an internationallevel.

Thank you.Eng. Wimalasena GamagePresident of IESL for Session 2015/2016

Sri Lanka Engineering News - July / August 20162 IESL NEWS

110th ANNUAL SESSIONS – PROGRAMMEP R O G R A M M E

Inauguration of theInauguration of theInauguration of theInauguration of theInauguration of the

110th Annual Sessionso no no no no n

Friday – October 14, 2016a ta ta ta ta t

Bandaranaike Memorial InternationalConference Hall (BMICH)

8.30 am Registration / Arrival of Invitees andMembers

9.00 am Arrival of the Special GuestHon. Patali Champika RanawakaMinister of Megapolis and WesternRegion Development

9.10 am Arrival of the Guest of HonourMr. Khoo Teng Chye,Adjunct ProfessorExecutive Director, Centre forLiveable Cities, Singapore

9.20 am Arrival of the Chief GuestHon. Ranil WickramasinghePrime Minister – Democratic SocialistRepublic of Sri Lanka

9.25 am Introduction of the Past Presidents andthe members of the Council to the ChiefGuest, the Guest of Honour and theSpecial Guest

9.30 am Presidential Procession

9.40 am Lighting of the Ceremonial Oil Lamp

9.45 am National Anthem9.50 am Welcome and Presidential Address :

Eng. Wimalasena Gamage,President –Session 2015/2016

10.00 am Address by the Special GuestHon. Patali Champika RanawakaMinister of Megapolis and WesternRegion Development

10. 15 am Address by the Guest of HonourMr. Khoo Teng Chye,Adjunct ProfessorExecutive Director, Centre forLiveable Cities, Singapore

10.40 am Address by the Chief GuestHon. Ranil Wickremasinghe, PrimeMinister of the Democratic SocialistRepublic of Sri Lanka

10.55 am Presentation of Awards and Certificates• Honorary Life Membership Certificates• Fellowship & International Professional Engineers Certificates• Award Winners• Medallion to Immediate Past President, Eng.(Dr.) S B Wijekoon

11.20 am Induction of the President for the Session2016/2017

11.25 am Address by theEng. Jayavilal MeegodaPresident – Session 2016/2017

11.45 am Presentation of Mementoes to the ChiefGuest, the Guest of Honour and theSpecial Guest

11.50 am Vote of Thanks:

Eng. (Prof.) Mrs. NiranjanieRatnayake,President Elect – Session 2016/2017

11.55 am Refreshments

OCTOBER 7, 8 & 9FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

TECHNO 2016 Exhibition at BMICH - Colombo

FRIDAY - OCTOBER 14, 2016

Inauguration of 110th Annual Sessionsat 9.00 a.m. at BMICH – Colombo

SATURDAY - OCTOBER 15, 2016In Association with

The Federation of Engineering Institutions of South and CentralAsia - FEISCA

Regional Seminar onSustainable Development in Water Sector to Ensure Potable Waterand Water for Food Secutiry despite Climate Change -"Challenges

and Solutions"

at 9.00 a.m.at Mihilaka Medura, BMICH - Colombo

SUNDAY - OCTOBER 16, 2016Visit to

Broadlands Hydropower Project, Kithulgala(Buses will leave IESL at 5.00 a.m.)

MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2016&

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2016

PRESENTATION OF TECHNICALPAPERS AT IESL

MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2016

MORNING SESSION - A

CIVILENGINEERING –

GEO-TECHNICAL

ENGINEERING9.00 – 9.20 a.m.

Feasibility Study ofShallow Foundationon Geocell ReinforcedSoil in Sri LankaBy : Eng. C. Sanjei andEng. (Dr.) L.I.N. De Silva

9.20 – 9.40 a.m.

Development of aModel to Analyse aBrick Chimney Struc-ture with a LeanMixture

By : Eng. W.K.R. Peiris,Eng. W.P.R.D.Weerasinghe,Eng. H.S. Kumarasinghe,Mr. E.A.N. Chandana andMr. K.G. NandanaBandara

9.40 – 10.00 a.m.

Study on Propertiesof Locally availableClays to be used inFast and BouncyCricket Pitches

By : Eng. W.S.U. Perera,Eng. (Dr.) U.P.Nawagamuwa andMr. H.W.N. Wijerathna


Sri Lanka Engineering News - July / August 20163IESL NEWS

110th ANNUAL SESSIONS – PROGRAMME10.00 – 10.20 a.m.

Study on RainfallInduced Slope FailuresBy: Ms. A.B.K.A. Lakmali,Eng. H.B.P. Raveendra andEng. (Dr.) N.H. Priyankara

10.20 – 10.40 a.m.

Carrying Capacity ofBored and Cast In-SituPiles in Soil MediumsBased on Field Mea-surementsBy : Eng. (Prof.) H.S.Thilakasiri andEng. R.M. Abeyasinghe

10.40 – 11.00 a.m.Sri Lankans Built FirstRoad Tunnel, underPassing a Live RailwayTrackBy : Eng. (Dr.) G.V.I.Samaradivakara andEng. W.A.A.W. Bandara

CIVILENGINEERING –STRUCTURALENGINEERING

11.00 – 11.20 a.m.Modified Ply Thicknessfor Classical Lamina-tion Theory for ThinWoven Fibre Compos-itesBy: Mr. H.M.S.T. Herathand Eng. (Dr.) H.M.Y.C.Mallikarachchi

11.20 – 11.40 a.m.Predicting ResidualFatigue Life withFinite ElementAnalysisBy: Mr. K. Ubamanyu andEng. (Dr.) H.M.Y.C.Mallikarachchi

11.40 – 1200 noonSSI Effects on Struc-tural Response ofDifferent Structuralforms (A Case Study)By: Mr. A.P.S. Dias and Eng.(Dr.) C.S. Lewangamage

12.00 – 12.20 p.m.

Applicability of the SriLankan NationalAnnex to the EuroCode 1 on Wind Load-ingBy : Mr. P.H. Kandambyand Eng. (Dr.) C.S.Lewangamage

12.20 – 12.40 p.m.

Prediction ofCracking in Rein-forced ConcreteBridgesBy: Mr. W.A.A.C.Wickrama Arachchiand Eng. (Dr.) H.D.Yapa

12.40 – 1.00 p.m.

Work Norm forCement StabilizedRammed EarthWallsBy: Eng. G.W.T.C.Kandamby

MONDAY,OCTOBER

17, 2016

AFTERNOONSESSION - A

ELECTRICALAND

ELECTRONICSENGINEERING

2.00 – 2.20 p.m.

Impact of CapacityAdequacy on theReliability Level ofthe Sri LankanGeneration SystemBy: Eng. A.W.M.R.B.Wijekoon

2.20 – 2.40 p.m.Analysis of thePerformance ofThree PhaseInduction Motorunder SupplySource UnbalanceBy : Eng. S.P.M.Sudasinghe,Eng. (Dr.) (Ms.) J.V.U.P.Jayatunga,Eng. (Dr.) D. PrasadWadduwage andProf. S. Perera

2.40 – 3.00 p.m.Power TransformerPressboardHotspot Simulationby Microwave OvenHeatingBy: Eng. W.M.S.C.Samarasinghe,Eng. (Miss.) J.N.N.Shereen,Eng. (Dr.) J.R.S.S. Kumaraand Eng. (Prof.)M.A.R.M.Fernando

3.00 – 3.20 p.m.

Fault ManagementAlgorithm for VoltageFeeder Automation inElectricity Distribu-tion

By: Eng. D.M.D.K.Dissanayaka,Eng. (Dr.) K.T.M.U.Hemapala andEng. (Dr.) W.D.A.S.Rodrigo

3.20 – 3.40 p.m.

Capacitor SwitchingTransient Analysis ona Transmission GridSubstationBy : Eng. (Dr.) K.T.M.U.Hemapala andEng. D.L.P. Munasinghe

3.40 – 4.00 p.m.

Distribution SystemFault Localization,Fault Restoration andNetworkReconfiguration usingMulti Agent BasedSystem

By: Mr. A. Panagoda,Eng. (Dr.) K.T.M.U.Hemapala andDr. N. De Silva

4.00 – 4.20 p.m.

Enhanced True RMSVoltage Recorder

By : Eng. (Ms.) J.P.D.S.Athuraliya,Ms. N.L. Rathnayake, Eng.(Ms.) N.A.A.N. Dilrukshi,Eng. P. Mahadevan,Mr. T.M.S. Dias,Mr. S.R.J.S. Bandara andMr. C.D. Panamaldeniya

4.20 – 4.40 p.m.

Colorimetric Sensorto Detect FluorideConcentration ofDrinking WaterSources

By: Eng. (Ms.) S.A.D.A.NDissanayake,Ms. H. Pasqual andEng. (Dr.) (Ms.) B.C.L.Athapattu

MONDAY,

OCTOBER 17,2016

MORNINGSESSION - B

MATERIALSENGINEERING

9.00 – 9.20 a.m.

Failure Mechanismsof Carbon NanotubeReinforced Compos-itesBy : Eng. J.R.I. Jayathilaka,Eng. D.D.P.D.Dehigaspitiya, Ms. S.T.Pathirana and Dr. K.R.B.Herath

9.20 – 9.40 a.m.

Preparation of NanoSilver Based Anti-bacterial Coating forFood PackagingApplicationsBy : Ms. D.P. Egodage ,Mr. H.T.S. Jayalath,Eng. A.M.P.B.Samarasekara andDr. D.A.S. Amarasinghe

9.40 – 10.00 a.m.Suitability of Fly Ashand its Derivatives asa Raw Material in theManufacture ofCement-BasedRoofing MaterialsBy: Eng. (Ms.) G.L.M.Ariyadasa,Mr. N.T.H. Gunarathna,Eng. (Dr.) S.U. Adikaryand Eng. (Ms.) S.S.K.Muthurathne

CHEMICAL ANDPROCESS

ENGINEERING10.00 – 10.20 a.m.

Reinforcement ofNatural Rubber LatexFilm using Silica FillerModified with aCommerciallyavailable Co-polymerSolutionBy : Ms. A.A.T.K.Ariyarathne,Dr. (Ms.) ChandaniSomaratne, Eng. (Dr.)Shantha Walpalage,Dr. (Ms.) N.M.V. KalyaniLiyanage andProf. Laleen Karunanayake

10.20 – 10.40 a.m.

Thin Layer DryingModels for Drying ofBlack Pepper inSpouted Bed Dryerwith Internal Devices

By : Eng. (Ms.) G.K.Jayatunga,Ms. S.M.N.D. Martinoand Eng. (Prof.)B.M.W.P.K. Amarasinghe

10.40 – 11.00 a.m.Evaluation of Use ofTea Waste Bio-Char(TBC) as AlternativeFiller for NaturalRubber (NR)

By: Eng. (Ms.) HarshaniIresha,Eng. (Dr.) (Ms.) ShanthaM. Egodage,Ms. Chathuri S.Weerakoon,Ms. Piyathi U.Muthukumarana and Mr.Yasas R. Hewamallikage

11.00 – 11.20 a.m.

Process Simulationfor Bio-EthanolDehydration byAzeotropic Distilla-tion and ExtractiveDistillationBy: Eng. H.H.M.P.Rathnayake andMr. S.K.D.H.S. Dilshan

11.20 – 11.40 a.m.

Advances in Strate-gic Process SafetyManagement: Devel-opment of Fire & GasDetection Philoso-phies for Offshore Oil& Gas Industry

By : Eng. (Dr.) P.D.C.Botheju,Eng. (Ms.) Dayani H.Gunawardhana andEng. (Dr.) KumuduniAbeysinghe

Contd. from page 2....

Contd. on page 4...


Sri LankaEngineering News 110th ANNUAL SESSIONS

– PROGRAMMEMINING ANDPETROLEUM

ENGINEERING11.40 – 12.00 noon

Optimizing a MiningTunnel Design usingEmpirical and Analyti-cal Methods Com-bined WorkflowBy: Eng. A.M.A.D.M.Senadhira

12.00 noon – 12.20p.m.

Pore-Pressure andFracture PressureGradient PredictionModel for FewExploration Blocks inMannar and CauveryBasins, Sri LankaBy: Eng. J.M.S.T.W.Jayasinghe,Eng. A.C. Kurukulasuriya,Eng. W.M.T.U. Jayasinghe,Eng. (Ms.) M.A.D.M.G.Wickrama,Eng. A.M.A.D.M.Senadhira and Prof.Nalin Ratnayake

MONDAY -OCTOBER 17,

2016

AFTERNOONSESSION – B

MECHANICALENGINEERING

2.00 – 2.20 p.m.

Design and Develop-ment of an IntelligentLighting System forOperation TheatresBy: Mr. T.A.U. Roshan, Mr.L.M.N. Sachinthana, Mr.P.M.N.K. Senarathna, Dr.Y.W.R. Amarasinghe,Eng.W.P.D. Welgama and Mr.W.A.D.M. Jayathilake

2.20 – 2.40 p.m.

Performance Analysisof Pedestal and TableFansBy: Mr. B. Anthujan,Mr. S. Srikandaraj,Mr. V. Vipulan,Dr. C.P. Ranasinghe andDr. A.G.T. Sugathapala

2.40 – 3.00 p.m.

Analysis of the HeatColumn Formationin a 10 Storey Build-ingBy : Mr. K. Prasath,Mr. S. Thavanees,Mr. A. Prakalathan,Dr. M.A. WijewardaneandDr. R.A.C.P. Ranasinghe

ACOUSTICALENGINEERING

3.00 – 3.20 p.m.

Design Optimizationof Power GeneratorSoundproofing En-closure using Ge-netic Algorithm ToolBy : Eng. (Ms.) IsankaEhelepola andDr. D.P. Chandima

MANUFACTUR-ING

ENGINEERING3.20 – 3.40 p.m.

ForecastingAccuracy ofLearning Curves inApparel IndustryBy: Eng. (Ms.) T.Ranasinghe,Dr. C.D. Senanayake,Dr. K. Perera andDr. P. Gamage

TUESDAY -OCTOBER

18, 2016

MORNINGSESSION – A

WATERRESOURCESAND ENVI-

RONMENTALENGINEERING9.00 – 9.20 a.m.

Performance of anUASB Reactor forLeachate Treatmentunder AmbientTemperatureBy : Ms. H.A.M. Fonseka,Mr. P.J. Senewirathna andEng. (Dr.) W.M.K.R.T.W.Bandara

9.20 – 9.40 a.m.

Effect of ChemicalOxygen Demand(COD) to Sulfate(SO4

-2) Ratio onSulfate Reduction inAnaerobic Digestionof Sulfate RichWastewaterBy: Eng. (Ms.) I.R.Samarathunga,Eng. (Dr.) P.G. Rathnasiri,Mr. M.A.R Hansaka,Mr. U.G.Y.S. Kawinda andMr. R.Y.B Ananda

9.40 – 10.00 a.m.

Effect of LipidInhibition inAnaerobicWastewaterTreatment: A CaseStudy usingDesiccated CoconutWastewaterBy: Eng. B.K.T. Samarasiri,Mr. P.A.D. Mihiranga andEng. (Dr.) P.G. Rathnasiri

10.00 – 10.20 a.m.

Optimization ofLandfill Final Coverwith respect to GasTransport PropertiesBy : Eng. M.H.Samarakoon,Mr. E.B.S. Madushan,Eng. (Dr.) N.H.Priyankara, Eng. (Dr.)A.M.N. Alagiyawannaand Prof. K. Kawamoto

10.20 – 10.40 a.m.Eco Friendly Energyand BiocharProducing StoveBy: Dr. K.M.M.Dassanayake,Ms. W.D.S. Fernando, Ms.B.S.N. Perera and Dr. R.S.Dharmakeerthi

10.40 – 11.00 a.m.Minimization ofSludge Productionin Low-StrengthWastewaterTreatment usingHybrid SystemBy: Ms. R.M.S.M.Rathnayaka,Mr. H.D.D.B.Dayarathna andEng. (Dr.)W.M.K.R.T.W. Bandara


District Quota forUniversity Entranceand opportunitiesfor higher studies

In August this year, therewas a serious discussion onsitting for A/L by some alien

students at exam centers ofunder privileged districts.Some students were caughtand even some principals toowere interdicted due to thisfact. This has been practiced

by some students and somehow they entered into engi-neering and medical faculties representing under privilegeddistrict or making use of that quota. When somebody veryseriously looks into the Z-scores required for entering intohigh demand courses released by UGC for academic year2015/16, there is no such benefit. Please see the follow-ing table prepared considering the minimum z-score re-quired to entering the engineering faculty of University ofMoratuwa under district quota.

District Colombo Ampara Jaffna Kandy N/Eliya

Z-score 1.9856 2.0123 1.9942 2.0011 2.1713

District Puttalam Anuradhapura Matale Vavunia

Z-score 1.9932 1.9889 2.2887 2.0061

Why I am raising this point is to highlight that now there isno advantage to sitting the A/L from under privileged dis-tricts but there is a requirement for providing more oppor-tunities for higher education. The number of academic in-stitutions are mushrooming, yet, there is no guaranteethat the students of such institutions are been blessedwith the same knowledge and benefit that other state uni-versities offer for their students. Infact, IESL is obliged tocontrol such institutes which offer engineering educationat a lower standard. I request the IESL authorities to beproactive and educate the parents about IESL requirementsfor obtaining associate membership and publicize thosewho can really offer such engineering education in thecountry that IESL recognizes as higher or equal to theminimum requirements of IESL. Otherwise, IESL has toalways be blamed for not educating parents before theyinvest money on their kids’ education.

I also take this opportunity to invite the members of IESLfor Annual Sessions 2016 starting with Techno and pro-ceeding on to inauguration, FEISCA seminar, technicaltour, technical paper presentation by members and theAGM. Please do not miss this annual event of IESL andencourage your junior engineers to participate in numbers.

With this editorial I am completing 4 years in the office asthe editor newsletter and would like to thank all the mem-bers who contributed and sent their feedback on the news-letters published since October 2012. I request your warmsupport for the next editor who will continue from the nextissue onward.

Udeni [email protected]

Contd. on page 5...


11.00 – 11.20 a.m.Deriving Eco-Hydrau-lic Reference Condi-tions for PhysicalHeterogeneity forCanals in ColomboBy : Eng. (Dr.) P.I.A.Gomes,Mr. G. Weerasinghe andMr. R.C.M. Paulnath

11.20 – 11.40 a.m.

De-Silting of MinorIrrigation Reservoirs:A Study on MajorStakeholder OpinionsBy : Eng. (Dr.) (Ms.)W.B.M. Thoradeniya andMs. W. M.Y.N. SarasiKumari

TRANSPORTA-TION

ENGINEERING

11.40 – 12.00 noon

Assessing theSuitability ofProviding SeparateOpenings for U-Turnsat SignalizedIntersectionsBy: Eng. N.K. Jayasooriya,Eng. H.L.K. Perera andEng. (Prof.) J.M.S.J.Bandara

12.00 – 12.20 p.m.

Travel DemandBehaviour of RailwayPassenger Transportacross Western Prov-inceBy: Eng. (Dr.) Tissa U.Liyanage,Eng. Maheen Ranasinghe,Ms. Krishani Perera andMr. C.P.E.S. GayashanDalpethado

12.20 – 12.40 p.m.

Integrated TrafficManagement Solutionfor Alleviation ofTraffic Congestion atParliament Road

By: Eng. (Dr.) Tissa U.Liyanage,Krishani Perera andEng. Mahesh A. Prasad

12.40 – 1.00 p.m.

Evaluation of Levelof Service for Two-Lane Roads in SriLanka

By: Mr. D.N.D.Jayaratne, Mr. P.W.P.R.Jayasinghe andEng. (Dr.) H.R. Pasindu

TUESDAY -OCTOBER

18, 2016

MORNINGSESSION – B

COMMUNICA-TION,

CONTROLAND

COMPUTERENGINEER-

ING, SIGNALPROCESSING,

DATAANALYSIS

9.00 – 9.20 a.m.

Fuzzy Logic DigitalController for Indus-trial Colour SortingRobotBy : Mr. A. Rajeevan,Eng. G.D.M. Pathmikaand Mr. D. Prabhath

9.20 – 9.40 a.m.

Transitioning to aSoftware DefinedData Center; “APractical Approach”By : Eng. M.S.M.Musthalie

9.40 – 10.00 a.m.The Role of MultipleBroadband AccessMethods in Deliver-ing IoT Full Poten-tialBy: Eng. U.K.A.Udunuwara andEng. R.L. Weragama

10.00 – 10.20 a.m.An OptimisedStimulus for Hear-ing Screening ofInfants using theAuditory BrainstemResponseBy: Ms. W.N.Manamperi and Dr. A.C.De Silva

110th ANNUAL SESSIONS – PROGRAMME10.20 – 10.40 a.m.A NovelRecommender Algo-rithm for BipartiteNetworks EmployingAssociation Rules toDiscover Characteris-tics Intrinsic to theContentBy : Eng. (Dr.) A.J.M. Koraleand Eng. N.S. Weeraman

10.40 – 11.00 a.m.

Trajectory Refine-ment using an Adap-tive Filtering Methodfor Event Detectionand ClassificationBy: Ms. S.G.M.P.Senanayake,Ms. R.A.A. Rupasinghe,Ms. D.A. Padmasiri,Dr. M.P.B. Ekanayake,Eng. (Dr.) G.M.R.I.Godaliyadda andDr. J.V. Wijayakulasooriya

11.00 – 11.20 a.m.Emotion Identifica-tionBy: Ms. H. Sathananthan,Ms. V. Shanmugarajah,Mr. T. Janathan,Eng. (Dr.) G.M.R.I.Godaliyadda, Dr. M.P.B.Ekanayake andDr. J. Wijayakulasooriya

ENGINEERINGMANAGEMENT

11.20 – 11.40 a.m.The Colombo PortCity, its Major Issuesand the Road toSuccessful Implemen-tationBy : Ms. Dilini L.Thoradeniya and Eng.(Prof.) Malik Ranasinghe

11.40 – 12.00 noonAnalysis of ProjectSchedule Delay usingFuzzy Logic Incorpo-rated with RelativeImportance IndexMethod: A Case withWater SupplyProjectsBy : Eng. A.W.K. Ariff andProf. L.H.P. Gunaratne

12.00 – 12.20 p.m.Innovative FloodProtection Approachusing Remote Sens-ing and GIS Tech-niquesBy : Eng. Meera SahibuMohamed Rizwan

12.20 – 12.40 p.m.Distribution ofResponsibilities andApplicability of RiskAssessments inConstruction SafetyBy: Eng. W.A. Asanka andEng. (Prof.) MalikRanasinghe

12.40 – 1.00 p.m.Investigation of SiteManagement Prac-tices in Sri LankanConstruction IndustryBy : Mr. M.T.C.Premathilaka, Mr. T.W.C.S.Thalangama and Eng.(Ms.) S.N. Malkanthi

WEDNESDAY-OCTOBER 19,

2016

Presentationsof Papers

byYoung Members'

at 9.00 a.m.at

IESL

SATURDAY -OCTOBER 22,

2016

ANNUALGENERALMEETING

at9.00 a.m.

atSRI LANKA

FOUNDATIONAUDITORIUM,

COLOMBO

FRIDAY -OCTOBER 28,

2016

Techno AwardsCeremony

at7.00 p.m.

atHotel Galadari


B.Sc (Hons) degree in Civil Engineering from the University ofPeradeniya. He also holds a Master of Engineering in Construc-tion Management earned from the University of Moratuwa and aMaster of Business Administration in Technology Management fromDeakin University, Australia. He is also a Diploma Holder in Com-mercial Arbitration. He obtained his Doctorate in Technology fromthe Deakin University, Australia.

Upon his graduation, Eng. (Dr.) Wijekoon joined the State Develop-ment and Construction Corporation as a Site Engineer attached toits Kothmale Road Development Project and was later promotedas a Project Manager. In 1988, he joined the Road Constructionand Development Company as a Civil Engineer to be in charge ofBridges and was subsequently promoted to the posts of SeniorEngineering Manager and Deputy General Manager, Central Zoneand Bridges. From December 1995 he worked in Mainroads West-ern Australia until 1997 when he decided to return to the country tojoin the Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya as a Se-nior Lecturer in charge of Industrial Training. In 2004 he worked asthe Team Leader of Project Management Unit of ADB funded RoadNetwork improvement Project of the Road Development Authorityand later on took up the position of National Project Director of theJBIC funded Provincial Road Improvement Project of the Ministry ofLocal Government and Provincial Councils which post he held tillOctober 2006. During this period he also served as the Chairmanof the State Development and Construction Corporation.

In January 2007 he joined Gossnells City Council in Perth Australiaas a Project Manager in charge of Major Projects and in July 2007joined VICROADS in Melbourne Australia as a Project Co- Coordi-nator for the Monash Freeway Improvement Project. He returned tothe country in March 2008 to resume work at the Faculty of Engi-neering, University of Peradeniya as the Senior Lecturer. He servedas the Chief Resident Engineer of the Provincial Road Improve-ment Project for eight months in 2009.

Eng. (Dr.) S.B. Wijekoon , Mrs. Wijekoon and their son MalindaWijekoon were in attendance at the unveiling event which was at-tended by Past Presidents , Council members and staff of IESL.While Eng. (Dr.) Jagath Peiris, CEO / ES of IESL read out the cita-tion and conducted the event Eng. Wimalasena Gamage, Presi-dent of IESL 2015 / 2016 delivered the special oration. Eng. (Dr.)Wijekoon thanked the IESL and its membership for the trust theyhad placed on him to be their president and for cooperation ex-tended to him during that session.

Eng. (Dr.) S.B. Wijekoon....Contd. from page 1...


Birth Anniversary ofProf. E O E PereiraCommemorated

The IESL commemorated the 109th birth anniversary ofLate Prof. E O E Pereira, considered as the Father ofEngineering Education in Sri Lanka, on 13th Septem-

ber 2016 with a memorial lecture on ‘Seismic Status andMacro Seismic Hazard Zonation’ delivered by Eng. (Prof.)H.N. Seneviratne , Senior Professor in Civil Engineering, Fac-ulty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya. The lecturewas preceded by the lighting of the traditional Oil Lamp andgarlanding of the portrait of the late professor by the Presi-dent of IESL. Family members of the late professor werealso present at the event which was attended by Past Presi-dents and members of the IESL. The video recording of thefull lecture could now beaccessed through the MultimediaPortal of the IESL website: www.iesl.lk.

IESL Commemorates142nd Birth Anniversary of

Late Eng. D J Wimalasurendra

The 142nd birth anniversary of Late Eng. D JWimalasurendra was

commemorated at the IESLon 15th September 2016 witha memorial lecture on”FutureRole of Hydro Power and O&MChallenge” delivered by Eng.T M Sarath K Tilakaratna,Deputy General Manager(Mahaweli Hydro Power Com-plex), CEB. The lecture waspreceded by the lighting of thetraditional Oil Lamp and gar-landing of the portrait of thelate professor by the Presidentof IESL.. Family members ofthe late professor were alsopresent at the event which wasattended by Past Presidentsand members of the IESL. Thevideo recording of the full lec-ture could be accessedthrough the Multimedia Portalof the IESL website:w w w . i e s l . l k .

Interpretation of Ancient Soil – Water Ecosystem as a Salt / Toxinfilter while Increasing the Potential of Water in Soil

by : Eng. Kapila Peiris

Sri Lanka is famous forits ancient soil watersystem, most of which

are even functioning today. Therenowned statement by KingParakramaBahu the Greatwhich says that “not a singledrop of water gained from rainshould be drained to the seawithout getting the optimumusage from it’ is also famousthroughout the world. Theearth works and related struc-tures of this water manipulat-ing system which was mostlyburied and covered by thickjungles were presently discov-ered by the scholars and aca-demics such as Brohier andParker and has been mappedand sketched. But the inter-pretation given by them relatedto the functions of variousstructures and the conceptsbehind the whole system arechallenged by various presentday scholars such as Engi-neer D.L.O. Mendis.

Accordingly the sole objectiveof the ancient system was toenrich the soil with water andto increase the biological fer-tility of the same. The rainwater which was freely drain-ing to sea has been trapped,stored and distributed through-out the soil strata and withample sunlight the fertility (bio-logical activities) of soil hasbeen increased and the pre-

vailed dry zone has been con-verted to a wet zone. The soilhas been used as a watertransferring media, waterstorage and a water purifica-tion media, with these func-tions of the soil, reuse ofwater has been improved.

Also when the water condi-tion of soil is maintained nearthe ‘field capacity’every dropof water gained even by a rainwith very low intensity couldbe used by plants and otherbiological entities effectively,otherwise the water from lowintensity rain will get dis-persed throughout the soilunder very low matric poten-tials and will be evaporatedeventually without any usage.A fertile soil full of biologicalactivities is the base forsustainability. Also in suchsoil enriched withwater,salinity will move down-wards and the marshy landsplanted with salt / toxin ab-sorbing plants (kattakaduwa)in the downstream of damsof small vewas will reduce thetoxins in the system.

Such soil with the help ofsunlight will produce almostall the needs of human andanimals, birds etc. upon itand most importantly it willrecycle all the generatedwaste. For a closed (mate-

rial) system such as ourearth,cyclicity is the maincriteria for sustainability.

As stated above in this sys-tem the water from seasonalrains which flows in riversand oyas are used to main-tain the soil in the whole eco-system near the field capac-ity and then to drain throughthe same rivers / oyas tosea. In canals and otherwater ways water is trans-ferred by method of ‘overflow’,and not by the gradientof the bed. In soil the watertransfer has taken placemainly by seepage whilemaintaining the top mostsoil at field capacity. There-fore in this system almostalways the ‘extra’ water hasbeen made to flow away‘automatically’.So when thewhole system in consideredit hardly needs active watercontrolling systems.Vanasand Sorrow was will satis-factorily perform this task.Sorrowas will distribute wa-ter at high heads to low lev-els at a slow rate, whilevanas will maintain a specificwater head in a particulararea. According to the re-sults of this study (and per-vious studies) active watercontrolling systems such as‘ketasorowwa’ has beenused only at the entrance of

paddy fields, which is onlya small part of the system.In an eco system wateracts as the blood in thebody! Active water control-ling is an inherent part in ir-rigation for agriculture, butours is not agriculture ratherit is “govithena”.

When the soil is maintainedclose to ‘field capacity’ thestorage of water in the sys-tem will be very high andpotential of each drop ofwater will be high i.e. viabil-ity for draught will be low.Floods are created when riv-ers over flow in flood plains.But when water of rivers aretrapped at up stream endsare dispersed all over theeco-system, basicallythrough soil and then areconnected to the same riv-ers at down stream ends theover flow (floods) will beless.

BisokotuwaBisokotuwa is a specialtype of sorrowwa. In thissystem it has been used torelease water from largetank (Vewa) with highheads. Bisokotuwa is arectangular tank made outof stonewhich is situated atthe inner side of thedam.Water first enters to itand then the pressure and

the velocity will be reduceddue to viscosity and turbulenteffects. Then the low pressurewater (low velocity) passesthrough the culvert within thedam.Because of the action ofBisokotuwa dam in protectedfrom high pressure(velocity)water and a gentleout flow will take place throughthe outlet canal.

In rainy periods, huge amountof water will be collected inlarge Vewa within a short pe-riod of time(few months)andthen this water will be re-leased gently/slowly to out-let canals throughout theyear, while enriching thewhole ecosystem.

KattakaduwaKattakaduwa is a marshyland belt situated just belowthe dam and parallel toit.(specially in gam Vewa)Thismarshy area in almost con-nected to the Kiualela (drain-age canal).The seepage wa-ter through the dam gets tothis marshy land and will flowthrough the Kiualela.There bythe water level immediatelybelow the dam will be at a lowlevel, and the see page linewithin the dam will also beshifted to lower part of thedam, increasing the stabilityof dam.



In this marshy land (kattakaduwa) various plants whichcould absorb salts and toxin are planted. Figure shows atypical cross section of a Gam Vewa with Kattakaduwa,Kettasorowwa, and Madakaluwa. In Vewa salt/toxin getsettled and purified water at top will be release to down-stream through Kettasorrowwa.The bottom most waterwhich seeps through the dam will be collected inKattakaduwa and while being purified flow to downstream.Salt /toxin collected in the bottom of vewa (Madakaluwa)will be send to Kattakaduwa through Madasorrowwa inthe dry period. The purified mud/silt in the Kattakaduwawill be used to renovate the dam in the Vewa side atMadakaluwa. Therefore Gam Vewa – Kattakaduwasystem is a typical cyclic salt/toxin filter.

Due to above said water management system the waterpotential of the total eco-system will be high. With thishigh water content in soil salt will always tends to movedownward and the concentration of salt in soil will below.Therefore the ancient water system has functionedas a mechanism that reduces hardness (salt) of water aswell and even,the potential of purification of toxin wouldhave been high.If one studies the history of the currentkidney disease, emergence of this disease, could beclosely related to the degradation of ancient water sys-tem and introduction of agro chemicals. Elders in theseareas witnesses how the hardness of water in wells wereincreased with the degradation of ancient water system(specially small vewa)

Also these findings show that no water has been taken topaddy fields direct from the large vewas. Small Wewashas been the source of water for paddy fields.

Interpretation of Ancient Soil .....Contd. from page 8....

The induction of 400 Associate Members of the IESL in to the corporate membership as CharteredEngineers is the largest in a year since the incorporation of the IESL in 1968 as the professional bodyto award Chartered Engineer status in Sri Lanka. The event also saw 82 students of the IESLEngineering Course receiving their certificates having successfully completed the course.

Junior Inventor of the Year (JIY) Competition – 2015 Scholarship Winners also received their schol-arships at the event. Pioneered by the IESL with the purpose of inculcating creativity and inventionamong school children, many of the JIY winners have gone on to win at the national level competition‘Sri Lanka Science and Engineering Fair’ and therafter proved their ability to compete and win eventsat the Intel international Science and Engineering Fair, the world’s largest international pre-collegescience competition held annually in the USA. Winners of Special Memorial Awards too receivedtheir awards.

Contd. from page 1... IESL Induction and Graduation ....

Contd. from page 1....PRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNERPRESIDENT’S CORNERFurther, from 2014 the IESL hasattained the full membersignatory status of theInternational EngineeringAlliance (IEA), WashingtonAccord for accreditation /recognition of four yearengineering programmes.During the session 2015/2016,I had the opportunity toparticipate in the symposiumorganised by ChinaEngineering EducationAccreditation Association inBeijing China and realized howChina had worked hard tobecome a signatory to the IEAand discussed with all othermember countries on how theycorrect their short comings.

Further I participated in theannual meeting of theInternational EngineeringAlliance held in Kuala Lumpurwith our delegation and realizedthe extent of the burden thatrests on the IESL President andCouncil members to maintainthe required standard. In thisregards UGC is aligned with theIESL and fair amount of fundshave been released toEngineering faculties tostrength their laboratories tomeet the required standard.

Therefore the IESL, as anon-government organization andfull member of the WashingtonAccord for Accreditation /Recognition of engineeringdegree programs has legalauthority to performindependently the entrustedresponsibility to the entiresatisfaction of both the local andinternational engineeringcommunity.

In the year 2016 the IESLproduced a fairly large number(more than 400 ) of CharteredEngineers and facilitated moreavenues for engineers to qualifyas Chartered Engineers. Now,among engineers in theindustries, both in thegovernment and private sectoras well as university academics,we have created theenthusiasm to becomeChartered Engineers and thatis a good sign of improvementin our engineering profession.

The Engineering Council Act,after lot of deliberations duringlast few decades was approvedby the cabinet and gazetted asa Bill of Parliament which is asignificant achievement forIESL members.

Engineering education is nowavailable at a multitude ofeducational establishmentsboth in Sri Lanka and abroad.Those who qualify at theseestablishments at differentlevels of academiccompetence, depending on the

standard and level of theeducational programmes theycomplete, are enabled topractice engineering in differentlevels.

However, there is no system ofregistration or licensing of thosepracticing the engineeringprofession in Sri Lanka unlikein other professions such asLawyers, Medical, Surveying,Architectures, AyurvedaDoctors, etc. This registration isnecessary to preventunqualified persons practicingas professionals engineers,which if allowed would bedetrimental to the country, thesociety and the public atlarge.The objectives of registration isto identify specifically those whoare authorized to practiceengineering at different levels inSri Lanka under differentcategories of registration, suchas Charted Engineers,Associate Engineers,Incorporated Engineers,Engineering Diplomates andEngineering Technicians. Theneed for a set of controls thatgovern those who practice in thecountry at different level hasbecome a necessity in the lightof the complex, political,educational and economicframeworks now in place in SriLanka.That is a good signtoestablished a well-recognizedengineering profession.

Looking forward, I pose thequestion of how best ourprofession and IESL itself canfulfill its role in society andremain relevant to ourmembers. I would like to seethe Institution fulfill its role asthe home of all that isengineering in the country withthe infrastructure and facility toshowcase the great engineersand their ground-breaking featsthat have shaped the country.

I would say the exchange ofknowledge as a fundamentalopportunity to members as itwas the objective when theInstitution was founded in 1906.

But the Institution must berelevant and must be valued byits members and by society. Butthat value will be perceiveddifferently according to differentcommunities as per theirdemands and expectations.

The exchange of technicalknowledge and problemsolving is the very stuff ofengineering.

The opportunity to share andlearn from one another is afundamental opportunity formembers of the Institution. Theapplication of knowledge todifferent problems in differentways, innovating on lastingsolutions, is the bread andbutter of an engineer’s workingday.

Engineers can have a limitedexchange with colleagues atwork, or instead seek a widerexchange with fellow IESLmembers across the Island inseconds using the Internet.This will only become quickerand easier.

The public pay for infrastructure- either as taxpayers,shareholders or customers ofutilities – they are the endusers of it, and are impactedby its construction. As a result,politicians are ultimately heldto account by the voter and arebound to interfere for good andbad. Engineers cannot changethis.

But we need a mechanismwhich provides dispassionateanalysis of our long-terminfrastructure needs and actsas a catalyst for reachingconsensus on those needs.The effects of achievingconsensus cannot beoverstated – it could enable thekind of infrastructure revolutionnot seen since our greatforbearers in the 19th Century.All would be pleased to seecross party support ofEngineers towardssustainable development.

Engineers, have to work withother professionals. They, havea responsibility to helpdecision makers answer the‘how, ‘what’ and ‘why’questions, and ensure thesustainable development withhas to have people’sparticipation and be based on,expert opinion of Engineers.

After completing my service inCouncil sessions, I deeply feelthat that I have done somethingfor my profession and as IESLmembers, all of us havetremendous responsibility toprotect our profession fromthreats and develop theprofession to deliver the serviceof Engineers to the nation tosustainably develop thecountry.

All IESL members in theCouncil and variouscommittees are performingvoluntarily and their Prime dutyis make correct decisions forbetter future of engineeringprofessionals through IESLwithin the overall objectives ofthe IESL. To achieve thosetargets, I feel strongly thatthemost important factorsare oursynergy, respect of each other,and patient listening toothers’views and takingdecisions collectively.I take this opportunity to pay myheartfelt respect to all IESLmembers fortheir sincereencouragement and ValuableCo-operation extended to meduring last sixteen years.


Drones Drones Everywhere.........................

This will be the first in theseries of upcomingarticles about remote

controlled aerial vehicles whichare also known as drones. Inthis article series I will betalking about the origins,theory behind operation, realworld applications,commercially available dronesand finally on regulation ofapplications/use of suchmachines.

It is well known to all of us that,US carry out manyreconnaissance missions andbombing missions over manyforeign soils. Currently, theirmissions involve bomb raidsand intelligence collection incountries such as Syria, Iraqand Afghanistan. Needless tosay, most of those missionsare top secret and with therising tension of world politics,the number of such missionsincreases day by day. Keepingthat in mind, it was rathersurprising to see that the USair force reducing its fleet offighter pilots recently.According to New York times,the Department of Defence, UShas taken a decision to replacepilots in a jet, with somethingelse. What is this somethingelse?

On the other side of the planet,yesterday was my neighbor’sson’s birthday, and the youngman has turned 15. I saw hisfather has gifted him a wrappedbox as the birthday present.After about 20 minutes, I sawthe kid is flying something. Hehad some kind of a remotecontroller in his hand and hewas looking at the sky. Whatis that thing?

What made US, the mostpowerful military power in thewhole world to reduce it’shuman pilot fleet and whatwould be their replacement fordefending the nation? Whatwas the kid flying?

The word “drone” is not anunpopular word anymore like itused to be about 10 years ago.The above examples are morethan adequate to describe thepopularity that they havegained and how much the worldis relying on them. Surely,there are many more examplesall around us and I assure youthere are too many than youwould have ever imagined.According to oxford dictionary,the “drone” is “a remotecontrolled pilotless aircraft ormissile”. If we get deep in tothe matter, it can be seen thatdrones have various categoriesand classifications based onmany grounds. Indeed, it isaccurate and common to allsuch categories that the

drones are remotely controlledor pilotless. As a matter of fact,they are also commonly knownas UAV (Unmanned AerialVehicles) and calling such willcover all the categories. Tounderstand drones in full, it isimportant to classify them into groups. But, classification ofdrones itself is a hard job dueto the extremely wide range ofdrones available today in theglobal context. Drones/UAVscan be categorized based onfollowing main criteria.

1) Orientation andDesign based

2) Size and Weightbased

3) Application based

Orientation and DesignBased Categorization

UAVs come in various designsand orientations. Those aredirectly proportional to thetheory behind their operation.By referring to severalexamples, this fact can beeasily understood. The mainparameters can be identified asnumber of rotors and take offmethod.

Based on the above two factorsthe designs/models availableare as follows.

Single rotor (Front or rear)Fixed wing

Dual rotor

Tri, Quad, Hex, Octo rotors

Single Rotor & Fixed WingDrones

This design and it’s theory ofoperation is very similar tolarge carrier aircrafts we see inairports. They consist of largegas turbine engines to providethe thrust required for forwarddirection and after reaching therequired speed they lift upusing Bernoulli’s theory. Toachieve the lifting wind speeds,they need large runways for thetake off. The two wings haveflaps which can be raised orlowered which will support lift,control turning and for speedregulation of the air craft.

The single rotor fixed wingdrones operate on the samephysical principles. Instead ofbig gas turbines, they havesingle propeller coupled toelectric motors powered bybatteries or small internalcombustion engines poweredby gasoline/diesel. The rotorsare fixed on the front or on theback of the aircraft. They alsohave flaps on their wings whichare driven by mini servo motors.Despite of their small size,they still need a runway toachieve lifting speeds just like

their scaled up versions. When these machines fly, they technically “glide” with the helpof the wind and hence they are also called “gliders” in short.

Dual Rotor Drones

The principle behind this design is much more different that those of fixed wing type.These have two rotors and there are several subcategories of them. A common feature inall of these subcategories would be that all of them are VTOL (vertical take-off and landing)type. The most common VTOL aero vehicle that we all know is the helicopter. As thename implies, VTOLs need no runways for the take off. Instead, they use vertical thrustto lift up the vehicle using single or dual propellers. The same propeller also can changethe pitch which will enable the forward motion through changing the direction of thethrust. There is a second rotor dedicated to turn the aircraft to left or to right. In somedesigns, both rotors are mounted on each other vertically. Although, the orientation of thetwo rotors is different in various designs, the theory of operation is almost the same.

Figure 1 : Front Rotor and Rear Rotor Versions of Fixed Wing Drones

Figure 2 : Different designs of Dual rotor Drones

Tri, Quad, Hex, Octo rotor Drones

These drones are multi rotors and contain a number of rotors as infered by their names.They share the same theory of operation.

Figure 3 : Rotor Configurations of Tri, Quad, Hex & Octo Drones

These individual rotors are driven by individual high speed (brushless type) motors. Thedirection of rotation is also shown in the figures. The propellers are mounted on motorshafts. The propeller twist angle is inverted in each adjacent rotors. For example, in aquadcopter drone, the two clockwise motors (CW) have identical props with the sametwist angle and direction, while the counter clockwise motors (CCW) have identical propswith same twist and direction, but inverted compared to CW motor props. The speeds ofrotation of each of these motors decide the movements of the multirotor drone. Front,back, left, right and yaw movements of the drone is implemented using the speed varia-tions of the motors. We will be discussing this further in detail in many articles to come.

by Eng. S R H MudunkotuwaM-7114


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