Blitzen Night 2014

The most featured and anticipated event of the year, Blitzen Night 2014: annual get together of Alumni Association of Business and Technology was held on Sunday, 23rd November 2014 at the Amovin Reception Hall, Kiribathgoda. The event was hosted by the Students Association of Business and Technology (ABT) together the hands with Department of Commerce and Financial Management (DCFM) of University of Kelaniya. The alumni association was formed last year under the Bachelor of Commerce Special Degree in Business Technology programme of DCFM, University of Kelaniya. The ultimate goal of Blitzen Night 2014 was to help current business technology undergraduates to connect with alumni, provide an opportunity to network, and demonstrate the wide breadth of options available to business technology majors. 

Many guests were presented for the occasion including past business technology graduates, present students, and lecturers with the distinguished participation by Dean of the FCMS, Dr. D.M. Semasinghe as the Chief Guest and Head of the DCFM, Dr. C. Pathirawasam as the Guest of Honour. Dr. C.N. Wickramasinghe, Senior Lecturer of DCFM initiated the event with the welcome speech by pointing out the main objectives of the event. Further he emphasized the importance of having effective network and the evolving role of business technology thus its importance. It was a pleasurable evening where the patrons were treated with splendid music, scrumptious food, and gorgeous dances. 

Young Digital Marketers (YDM) Challenge 2014

The Students’ Association of Business and Technology (ABT) at the Department of Commerce and Financial Management (DCFM), University of Kelaniya hosted the Young Digital Marketers Challenge 2014 with the aim of showcasing marketing know-how blended with technological skills of the 3rd year undergraduates reading for the Bachelor of Commerce Special Degree in Business Technology. The event was held on the 31th October 2014 at the faculty premises and it was driven under the theme, Unleashing the New Era of Marketing.

The event was a successful outcome of the E-Commerce Technology subject taken by the 3rd year undergraduates in their Business Technology stream. The challenge enabled undergraduates to demonstrate their digital marketing pilot projects carried out for three Sri Lankan renowned companies: Nisaco Furniture, Softwave Printing and Packaging and Royal Paints, who haven’t adopted digital marketing strategies initially. 

The keynote was given by the Mr. V. Dinesh, Vice President – Product Strategy and Digital Marketing at 247 Techies. During the keynote he emphasized importance digital marketing in today business context and how it has impacted to the survival in the competition. Moreover, he appreciated such endeavor by the undergraduates. Subsequently, Mr. Gihan Ayatha, Account Manager – Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) PLC delivered a speech highlighting the applicability of digital marketing for telecommunication industry specially in SLT. Further, the event was graced by Dr. D.M. Semasinghe as the chief guest, Dean, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies including the Head, Department of Commerce and Financial Management Dr. C. Pathirawasam and the distinguished representatives from the above mentioned companies.

Initially, undergraduates were guided by the lecturers to select companies and develop the digital marketing strategies to be executed the pilot project. Afterward, project proposals were carried out liaison with company’s digital marketing requirements. Contestants’ digital marketing pilot projects were mainly judged and evaluated based on the criteria such as innovativeness, creativity, reachability, content and marketing orientation. Project evaluation was carried out by two phases where initially projects were judged prior to award ceremony by the panel of judges consisted of lecturers attached to the Department. At the same time projects were constantly monitored by the distinguished officers from each respective company to examine the compliance for company’s requirement. During the initial evaluation, judges gave their feedbacks and recommendations for further enhancement of the projects. The final phase of the evaluation was scheduled on the competition day and the evaluations were carried out by the panel of judges consisted of industry representatives and lectures to select the team who clinch the most effective digital marketing pilot project award while the pilot projects were being presented by the contestants. Dream Builders (Nisaco Furniture) dominated the competition by bagging the award, including the medals for group members. Additional certificates were awared to all the participants to commemorate the honor of effective partaking for such event. Representative Officer from each company who presented for the event extended their valuable thoughts and insights about the competition at the winding up of the event. 

The entire programme, from the initiation, was guided by the lecturers of the DCFM; Dr. C.N. Wickramasinghe, Dr. Kaushalya Yatigammana, Ms. L.C.H. Jayarathna, Ms. B.C.P Jayarathna and Mr. H.A.H. Hettiarachchi with special commitment of ABT alumni member, Mr. M.A.P Wimukthi as a resource person. Initiated by the Students Association of Business and Technology (ABT), the competition was designed to elevate the standards of learning excellence on E-Commerce Technology education thus embracing the ICT for modern day business studies. Besides, having multi skilled graduates are undeniably essential for modern day business world. Further, such events pave the way to Outcome Based Learning and Industry Affiliation. The competition was a success with a courtesy of Siyapatha Finance Ltd as a sponsor. It was a highly successful competition and met with much enthusiasm by participants as well as the audience.

Workshop on Web Designing with Joomla

Students’ Association of Business and Technology (ABT), Department of Commerce and Financial Management at the University of Kelaniya successfully organized a workshop on Web Designing with Joomla. The main objective of the workshop is to provide fundamental web designing knowledge which is indeed essential for Digital Marketing. The undergraduates reading for the Bachelor of Commerce Special Degree in Business Technology participated the workshop which went on for three days. HTML, CSS and Joomla were the main areas that were taught under the workshop. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Pradeep Wimuthi, a freelance software and web designer, also an alumna of ABT.

Workshop on Graphic Designing and Video Animation 2014

Students’ Association of Business and Technology (ABT), Department of Commerce and Financial Management at the University of Kelaniya successfully organized a workshop on Graphic Designing and Video Animation. The main objective of the workshop is to provide the technical hands on experience to enhance creativity and fundamental knowledge regarding the Content Marketing practices in Digital Marketing. The undergraduates reading for the Bachelor of Commerce Special Degree in Business Technology participated the workshop which went on for two days. Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe and After Effect were the main software that were taught under the workshop. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Kamal Abeykoon, UI Engineer from IT services and consulting firm in Sri Lanka.

The Field Trip to Sri Lanka Institute of Nano Technology (SLINTEC)

The Field Trip to Sri Lanka Institute of Nano Technology (SLINTEC) was organized by the Association of Business Technology of the Department of Commerce and Financial Management of University of Kelaniya. As an integral part of the Bachelor of Commerce Special Degree in Business Technology, the organized field trip to SLINTEC was very supportive for the Business Technology undergraduates for widening their subject knowledge in the area of innovation and technology management. The field trip also provided the excellent opportunity for the 3^rd year, 2^nd year, and 1^st year undergraduates to interact with practical researchers who are involving in finding solutions for the most urgent and important problems in Sri Lanka. These include affordable food security, safe drinking water, health care and sustainable economic development. And also the field trip consist of valuable workshop conducted by Dr.Dilushan Seneior Scientist of SLINTEC. Along with the undergraduates the Lectures of Business Technology degree programme and Senior Lecturers Dr.Nalaka Wickkramasinghe and Dr.Kawshalya Yattigammana were participated for this field trip.

Web Development Workshop Series by Microsoft Sri Lanka

A special workshop series of web development was organized by Association of Business and Technology (ABT) of University Kelaniya with the collaboration of Microsoft Sri Lanka. Final year and third year undergraduates of the Bachelor of Commerce special Degree in Business Technology were the beneficiaries of this series of workshop. In fact, this workshop was mainly focused on providing fundamental knowledge in Microsoft .NET Framework, especially ASP.NET for web developing with hands on experience in Microsoft Visual Studio. The Workshop was conducted under the patronage of Key Resource Person Mr. Wellington Perera, Director at Microsoft Sri Lanka.

Re-engineering From Business Technologists: YBTER Congress 2014

The Students’ Association of Business and Technology (ABT) of the Department of Commerce and Financial Management (DCFM), University of Kelaniya hosted the Young Business Technology and Entrepreneurial Researchers (YBTER) Congress for the 3^rd consecutive year with the aim of showcasing the innovative and technopreneurial skills of undergraduates reading for the Bachelor of Commerce Special Degree in Business Technology and Bachelor of Commerce Special Degree in Entrepreneurship. The congress was held on the 06^th June 2014 at the faculty premises of FCMS and it was driven under the theme, The Re-engineer: Towards Technological Development in Sri Lanka and hence the congress enabled undergraduates to demonstrate their re-engineered products at the congress.

The event was a successful outcome of the Innovation Management and New Product Development subject taken by undergraduates in their final year syllabus where they were encouraged to develop re-engineered products. Throughout the semester, lecturers were guiding them to develop their desired products more efficiently. During the congress, all the products were presented by the respective teams and subsequently the products were being evaluated by the distinguished lecturers representing the Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies (FCMS) joined by Keynote Speaker, representing the industry. The products were evaluated under several criteria i.e. Creativity, Value Creation (usability), Market Potential, Innovativeness, Finishing and Packaging. Certificates were awarded for the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd Place respectively. The rest of other competitors were awarded with certificates for participation.

Reengineered products and their brands were:

	Product and Brand	Product Details	Place
1	SMART Umbrealla	Umbrella equipped with torch, MP3 Player and watch	1st Place
2	PheliaPlus – Desktop Manager	Multitasking portable device with cooling fan, MP3 player and LED lights	2nd Place (co)
3	GLACE Mini Cooler	A portable mini cooler with thermoelectric cooling	2nd Place (co)
4	Trovex Multi-Function Adaptor	Multi-Plug with USB power port	3rd Place
5	Refresh on The Way (ROW) Tea Bag	To easily make Tea, Tea Bag and Tea Spoon are attached together	Participation
6	PureDrop mini water filter	Tap nuzzle purifier with active carbon water purification embedded	Participation
7	Maru Roti	Homemade healthy meal	Participation

Besides of these re-engineered products, the 3^rd year undergraduates were involved in this congress by presenting their new product concepts (idea extensions) such as Handy Ruler, Smart Tag Detector, Laptop Table, Tiptop Tippex Pen.

The event was graced by Mr. H.K.S. Dhampriya, Director, Super Neat Technology (Pvt) Ltd as the Keynote Speaker. During his key note he emphasized how he developed his business while facing lot of obstacles and enlightened the importance of being your own boss in a company. Further, he elaborated the importance of uplifting and enhancing the courage of these young re-engineers and agreed to extend his fullest support to assist them to materialize their true potential.

Dr. C. Pathirawasam, Head of DCFM during his speech stated that, it is especially pleasing that ABT is at the forefront of empowering the undergraduate inventors who will definitely pave the way for the future growth of Sri Lanka. Further, he emphasized the need of product commercialization since it is an area we conceive to be the most difficult that the inventors step into when they arrive at the product commercialization stage.

Undergraduate student from the 1^st place said “it was very challenging for us to prepare such products since in some situations we faced various technical faults. However, we never concern them as hardship yet we learnt so many things from different sources. In fact still we were amazed because we were originally commerce undergraduates.”

Throughout the past two years, YBTER Congress was held with an academic orientation. The uniqueness of YBTER is undergraduates are always encouraged to provide innovative solutions to the burning issues facing by Sri Lanka especially in terms of technological dimensions. Hence, as a result YBTER 2012 was driven to identify missing technologies which can be adopted in Sri Lanka and YBTER 2013 was driven to signify the controversial issues and proposing sustainable solutions to Sri Lankan Vegetable and Fruit Industry. Being radical rather conventional this initiative by YBTER has marked an evolutionary milestone in the university education.

The event was spearheaded by the lecturers of DCFM; Dr. C.N. Wickramasinghe. L.C.H. Jayarathna, Ms. B.C.P. Jayarathna and Mr. H.A.H. Hettiarachchi. The event was enormously successful with the courtesy of Access International (Pvt) Ltd (Platinum Sponsor), AAT Sri Lanka (Gold Sponsor), My Computer Pvt Ltd and CEAT Sri Lanka (Silver Sponsors).