Join IIHS to be a Part of the 4th Revolution of the World: Biotechnology!
IIHS Student Irosha Pursues her dream to become a Biotechnology Researcher
International Institute of Health Sciences (IIHS) the premier healthcare education provider in Sri Lanka is the 01st institute to initiate an Australian Biotechnology programme in Sri Lanka. IIHS is an “Extended Campus of Box Hill Institute in Australia” and conducts the 1st year of the Diploma of Laboratory Sciences (Specialising in Biotechnology) programme and transfers the students to Box Hill Institute in Melbourne Australia to complete the final year. On completion of the Diploma the students can enter the 2nd year of the 3 year Bachelor of Biotechnology & Innovation programme at Box Hill Institute Melbourne or transfer to many universities across Australia to read for their Bachelors with exemptions.
Biotechnology is based on the science of living organisms. Some people predict that Biotechnology would become the fourth major revolution in the world, after the Agricultural, Industrial and Information revolution, by having a big impact on our lives and our communities as well as our economy. The field of Biotechnology is very broad and it includes areas that reach from Bio fuels, Nanotechnology, Pharmaceutics, Biomedical devices as well as Human health science. Modern use of similar terms includes Genetic Engineering, Molecular Biology, Hybridization, Cell and Tissue culture Technology etc. Thus students who peruse studies in the field of Biotechnology will have wide range of employment opportunities across many fields.
Irosha Devasigamani is one of the students in the 01st batch of IIHS Biotechnology programme. ‘’I am Irosha Devasigamani from Mattakkuliya, currently doing my first year of Diploma of Laboratory Technolo gy (Specializing in Biotechnology) programme at IIHS and will be finishing the Diploma next year in Australia. I had my initial education in India and then came to Sri Lanka and joined St. Nicholas International School for my London O/Ls and A/Ls. From my school age I had a dream of getting in to research which I loved so much and my preferred field was Biotechnology. So after A/Ls I was looking for an internat i o n a l l y re c o g n i z e d Biotechnology programme and at the same time I didn’t want to leave Sri Lanka immediately. So finally I came across the perfect match for me which is the Biotechnology programme at IIHS, an extended campus of Box Hill Institute- Melbourne Australia. I’m happy to say that I was the 01st student to register for the programme, and I’m really enjoying the excellent exposure we receive during our studies at IIHS.
This field has very high demand internationally and in Sri Lanka as well. After starting this programme I realised how much I could learn and how challenging it is to carry out many projects, but most importantly, I enjoyed doing it. Our first project was to formulate a pesticide for Mealy-bugs, which were harmful pests found in green houses and commonly on any plant. The project was carried out successfully with great support from the lecturers and the programme coordinators. We have already finished our own individual projects, and I worked on producing wine from Pineapple, and others did projects such as development of a Hand sanitization gel, water filtration system, green house project, compost project and so on. These group and individual projects are a very good method for us to express our own ideas and the skills in research.”
Irosha explaining further about the programme says, “The lecturers at IIHS are well qualified and always helpful and able to combine studies with a fun teaching environment. Our campus is a wonderful place, which operates under the green concepts. The culture of the campus is very friendly. The industrial placement we get during the studies at IIHS was great. We were placed in the laboratory settings of a large conglomerate in Sri Lanka and in few of the leading laboratory chains in Sri Lanka.
I want to complete my studies at IIHS and then to transfer to Australia to complete the Diploma and then the Bachelors. We will also get Industrial placements during the final year of the Diploma in Australia as well as during the final year of the Bachelors in Australia. This would be a great opportunity for us to get exposed to the best industrial practices in international settings.
There are ample of opportunities for qualified candidates in both local and International settings. Some of them are as fol- lows.
Research & Development - Scientific Director, Scientist, Research Associate, Bioinformatics Scientist/Engineer, Bio- informatics Analyst/ Programmer, Molecular Modeler and Forensic Scientist
Operations - Process Development Manager, Process Development Technician, Calibration Technician, Toxicologist and Environmental Engineers.
Quality - Quality Control (QC) Manager/ Supervisor, QC Analyst, Quality Assurance Manager/ Supervisor, Quality Assurance (QA) Documentation Specialist and Validation Manager.
Clinical Research - Clinical research is a main component of any job in Biotechnology. You can become a Clinical Research Manager, Bio- statistician, Clinical Data Manager/ Associat e, Manager of Regulatory Affairs or Medical Affairs Director.
Biotech Pharmaceutical Jobs - Clinical pharmacist, Clinical researcher, Pharmaceutical representatives and Process engineer.
In the long run I want to study further up to the PhD level in Biotechnology, gain valuable international experience and one day to start up my own research laboratory. I consider this a once in a lifetime opportunity to fulfil my future dreams says Irosha.
If you have the same passion to become a figurehead in the Biotechnology arena, join IIHS to make your dreams a reality.
Registrations are now on. For more information, contact IIHS on 0114 651144 / 0774 142398 / 0727 115114 / 0773 114381 or visit us at No. 704, Negombo Rd, Welisara or our website: www.iihsciences. com