UOM students to drive country towards achieving SDGS

Compass 2016, Sri Lanka’s first-ever national chemical and process engineering conference and showcase, organised by the University of Moratuwa (UOM) Chemical and Process Engineering Department, is to focus on how the country should achieve its sustainable development goals (SDGS) in the next few years.

Over 20 presenters will be part of the conference including top government and non-government organisation representatives, academics of the highest eminence and industry professionals with vast knowledge and experience. The conference will be held on November 25 at the BMICH.

UOM Chemical and Process Engineering Department Senior Lecturer Professor Ajith De Alwis said that sustainable development cannot be achieved without sustainable consumption and sustainable production.

“It is good to see that the students are taking charge of this initiative. Chemical engineers have a big role to play as they did when they contributed immensely to the rapid industrialization of developing countries back in the 60s and 70s,” he said.

“Now it is about green engineering. In Sri Lanka, we have found out that 50 percent of monthly income goes to food consumption and in western countries it is around 15 percent. So we have to change this. What we are trying to do is to take the country forward in introducing sustainable technology to cure these problems. There are so many resources in Sri Lanka and we have to utilize them with new technology and research,” he noted.

UOM Chemical and Process Engineering Department Head Dr. Sanja Gunawardena said that this is a new area for the university to touch upon and the contribution of the chemical engineers in achieving sustainable development goals is crucial for a country like Sri Lanka.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Policy Specialist Tharuka Dissanayake said that this initiative taken by the UOM is mostly welcomed by the UNDP as Sri Lanka has a lot to do in meeting the SDGS.

“Sri Lanka was one of the countries which was able to achieve most of the millennium development goals. We have had problem but we need to face them with new approaches and that is why it is important to get the brainpower of the UOM involved,” she said.

“Sri Lanka gives only a little attention on academic research so therefore we hope that the country will be able to retains these smart brains though many of them have left the country,” Dissanayake highlighted.

The UNDP and Central Environment Authority (CEA) are the main partners of the Chemical Engineering Students Society of the UOM in organising the conference.

The conference will focus on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with a specific emphasis on four goals: Zero hunger, clean water and sanitation, clean energy and industry, innovation and infrastructure.