Annual General Meeting 29-09-2013

Annual Report

1. IESL NSW Executive Committee IESL NSW Chapter’s fourth Executive Committee commenced its term on the 7

th of October

2012. Since then committee held eleven committee meetings, numerous working party

meetings and Skype meetings and worked on the strong foundation built by the three previous

committees. This year’s committee included the following:

• Kamal Fernando (Chair)

• Mahinda Karunaratne (Vice Chair)

• Maya Amaraweera (Past Chair)

• Waruna Kaluarachchi (Secretary)

• Priyadarshanie Weeraratne (Treasurer)

• Roy Abeygoonawardana (Editor)

• Dushmantha Thalakotuna (Webmaster)

• Udeshini Pathirage

• Maha Mahadeva

• Ananda Herath

• Sunil Wagasooriya

With the help of the members, well wishers and the sponsors, the committee was able to

deliver many outcomes as described below.

2. Memberships There is no separate membership for the Chapter. All members of the IESL living in NSW and

ACT are considered the members of Chapter. Since July this year membership renewals and new

memberships are undertaken via online through IESL website. Membership renewal notices are

automatically generated and sent to you by IESL.

At the moment there are 81 financial members in the IESL online directly who have been

registered as living in NSW and ACT. According to Chapter records there are over 100 members

registered in NSW. All members are encouraged to login to IESL website and update your

profiles to reflect your current situations.

NSW Australia Chapter P.O. Box 1239, Parramatta NSW 2124, Australia chapter_secretary@ieslnsw.org

ABN: 90 045 281 529

3. Knowledge sharing lectures

During the year the committee was able to arrange the following three knowledge sharing

lectures facilitated by the committee member Ananda Herath. These lectures were held at the

Engineers Australia auditorium at Chatswood.

• Indra Jayawardene (NSW Public Works) – Ocean Swimming Pools

• Asanga Wanigatunga (VMware) – Cloud Computing

• Methsiri Aratchige (Origin Energy) – National Electricity Market

In each of these lectures the audience was presented with a range on new ideas to expand their

horizon. A summary of these lectures can be found at our website under past events. The

members and well wishers are encouraged to continue to attend and share their knowledge.

4. IESL NSW Young Engineers day

This year’s Young Engineers Day facilitated by the committee member Udeshini Pathirage was a

great success. The following three presenters shared their research findings at the Engineers

Australia Auditorium. A summary of these lectures can be found at our website.

• Darshana Perera (PhD candidate, University of Wollongong) - “Soft Soil Improvement

using Vacuum Preloading”

• Lashika Medagoda (PhD candidate, University of Sydney) - “Ocean Observation and

Navigation”

• Chaminda Konthesingha (Research Associate, University of Newcastle) - “Cyclic In-Plane

Shear Behavior of Unreinforced Masonry Wall Panels strengthened with NMS FRP Strip”

5. IESL NSW Newsletters

The Editor Roy Abeygoonawardana with the assistance from Udeshini Pathirage and Nalin

Seneviratne were able to issue four newsletters this year. The newsletters carried specialist

articles on locomotives (by Udaya Peeligama), St Marys recycled water plant (by Wasantha

Wickramanayake), Chair’s message and current IESL news etc. Copies of newsletters can be

found at our website. The members and well wishers are encouraged to write articles to future

newsletters.

6. IESL NSW Engineering Conference The Engineering Conference 2013 was a great success with large member participation and

attracting key public and private sector sponsorships. The Engineering Conference on 31st May

at the Engineers Australia Auditorium in Chatswood showcased the professional excellence and

contribution to NSW by our members. Five excellent presentations, shortlisted from 13

submissions received for Engineering Awards 2013, made the well-attended Conference an

informative and interesting experience.

President of IESL, Eng Tilak De Silva, in his Keynote Speech, provided an insight into the recent

developments in IESL.

7. IESL NSW Engineers Gala Dinner The Engineers Nite Gala Dinner on 1st June at Castle Grand, Castle Hill, attended by 300 guests,

was graced by the Sri Lanka Consul General, and the Presidents of IESL and Engineers Australia.

The event was filled with highlights from start to end, including the entertainment by ‘Drum

Beats’, presentation of Engineering Awards to five outstanding submissions, music by Fusive,

and a sumptuous buffet dinner. The Master of Ceremonies Duke Ramachandran kept the spirit

of the Gala Nite right at the top.

IESL President Eng Tilak De Silva talked about the improvements at IESL; membership

management, head office building, financial management and web site. Tilak also provided a

progress report on the initiatives for a legal framework for setting standards for practicing

engineers - currently awaiting Cabinet approval and improving engineering education

standards. He also stated that some delegation powers for membership functions will be

transferred to Provincial Chapters to reduce travel/ inconvenience for members.

The Keynote speech at the Gala Dinner was delivered by the National President of Engineers

Australia Dr Marlene Kanga. Dr Kanga talked about the important role of engineers and

engineering in Asian Century. She explained why the engineers with links to Asia especially

those who were born there have a major role in developing Australia’s strategy for greater

engagement with Asia. Dr Kanga also offered Engineers Australia’s assistance for Sri Lankan

Universities to obtain the full membership of Washington Accord.

8. IESL NSW Engineering Excellence Awards

Last year IESL NSW Chapter introduced Engineering Excellence Awards to recognise the

commitment of the engineers of Sri Lankan background living in NSW, for the wellbeing of the

community and the environment, and the innovative and excellent levels of engineering

solutions they deliver.

This year the Chapter extended Engineering Excellence Awards to three categories, namely Best

paper published, Best Innovation and Best Infrastructure development project. Thirteen very

high quality submissions were received from various fields of expertise. The submissions were

assessed by a selection panel based on the following criteria:

• Scope of the nominee’s involvement;

• Originality;

• Innovation;

• Value to the community;

• Solutions to an engineering challenge; and,

• Demonstration of excellence

This year’s Engineers Excellence Awards were presented at the Gala Dinner. The following

winners were selected by a panel comprising of Mahinda Karunaratne, Waruna Kaluarachchi,

Maha Mahadeva, Jayantha Katupitiya and Lal Wickramarachchi.

• Best paper published

Winner – Nayoma Tennakoon of University of Wollongong - The Role of Ballast - Fouling

Characteristics on the Drainage Capacity of Rail Substructure.

• Best Innovation

Highly Commended - Udaya Peeigama of Sydney Catchment Authority - Warragamba

Dam Crest Gate Upgrade.

Winner – Janaka Weeraratne of State Water Corporation - Fish River Water Supply

pipeline replacement project.

• Best Infrastructure Project

Highly Commended - Sanjeevi Sathianandan of RailCorp - Minnamurra railway bridge

retransoming.

Winner – Dilini Kumarasinghe, Rohini Ramachandran, Kandiah Tharumalingam of NSW

Public Works – Lithgow Sewerage Augmentation.

9. Our Sponsors This year the Chapter was able to attract very important sponsors from both private sector and

public sector. This is a recognition of IESL members’ contribution to NSW. This year’s sponsors

were:

• Gold Sponsor – NSW Public Works

• Silver Sponsor – Fulton Hogan

• Bronze Sponsors – Sydney Catchment Authority, SMEC, Aquatec-Maxcon, Dulux

10. First ever meeting between the Presidents of EA and IESL

One of the main objectives of the Chapter is to link with Engineers Australia and work towards

the mutual acceptance of the engineering degrees and charters between the two countries.

This year the Chapter was able to build a strong fruitful link with Engineers Australia.

Following the 2013 IESL NSW Engineering Convention on 31st of May and 1st of June, the

National President of Engineers Australia Dr Marlene Kanga arranged an official meeting

between the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka and Engineers Australia.

This is the first ever meeting between two presidents of the institutions and it opened doors for

further bilateral discussions in future. The meeting was held on 3rd of June at Engineers

Australia, Sydney office in Chatswood and attended by Dr Marlene Kanga, Eng Tilak De Silva, Mr

Rupert Grayston (EA Deputy Chief Executive Officer), Prof Robin King (EA Chair of Sydney

Accord), Dr David Robinson (EA Director Education and Assessment), Mr Richard Hanna (EA

Executive Operations Manager) and Eng Kamal Fernando. It was a very fruitful meeting and the

following topics were discussed.

• The process of getting the full accreditation of Washington Accord;

• Accreditation process in Sri Lanka and shortcomings;

• Engineers Australia’s E-charter process;

• Mutual promotion of activities and lecturers; and

• In long term mutual acceptance and recognition of degrees and charters.

During the meeting EA expressed the willingness to support the professional development of

the IESL members by running professional development workshops for them and to become

Chartered in Australia.

11. Working towards Washington Accord

The Washington Accord is an independent agreement for mutual recognition of accredited

engineering programs among a group of countries that was formed in 1989. There are two

levels of memberships in this group:

1. The Signatories – or full members – that consist of 14 countries including Australia,

UK, USA, Canada, and New Zealand.

2. The Provisional Members including Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Germany

and Russia.

Professional Engineers within the Signatory countries are mutually recognised as being of equal

status. This mutual recognition does not apply for Provisional member countries; however they

can work towards obtaining Signatory status.

As a result of facilitation by the Chair, IESL NSW Chapter, the National President of Engineers

Australia (EA) Dr Marlene Kanga, agreed to provide mentoring to IESL to work towards Sri Lanka

obtaining the Signatory Status. As the first step, EA allowed two IESL Observers to participate in

the assessment of several Engineering Programs of the University of Newcastle for

accreditation renewal for Washington Accord, held between 5th and 7th August 2013. Prof.

Niranjanie Ratnayake, Vice President IESL, and Eng Roy Abeygoonawardana, Committee

Member IESL NSW participated as observers. Following are the progress made as a result of

this participation:

1. A report on the lessons learnt from observation of the Accreditation Visit, provided

to IESL Chairman, Accreditation Board and President IESL. (August 2013)

2. A review of the IESL Engineering Program Accreditation Manual, and a report on

possible improvements. (6th September 2013)

3. Participation in a half day Program for IESL Accreditation Panel Members (for an

upcoming accreditation of several Engineering Programs in Sri Lanka). Both

Niranjanie and Roy (from Skype) shared their experiences from the observations of

the Accreditation Visit, with the aid of a PowerPoint presentation.

IESL NSW Chapter will continue its drive together with EA and IESL, until achievement of the

ultimate objective of Sri Lanka becoming a Signatory to Washington Accord.

12. Assistance for newly migrant Engineers

A key objective of forming the IESLNSW Chapter is to assist recently migrated engineers from

Sri Lanka in finding suitable employment in Australia. One of the main problems they face is

the lack of knowledge of the Australian job application process.

An action plan has been drawn up by the committee member Sunil Wagasooriya in consultation

with the committee to introduce a sustainable mechanism to assist new arrivals in finding jobs

and it is being implemented. A section in the Chapter website has been dedicated to providing

useful initial information regarding the engineering profession in Australia, government-funded

job skill training courses and details of companies providing insurance cover for voluntary

employment.

Further, in recognition of the need of proper guidance in managing the individual’s job search

process, the Chapter has undertaken to build a register of potential mentors among the Sri

Lankan engineering community in NSW. When this is in full operation, job seekers will receive

individual support of an experienced engineer in NSW. It is expected that the mentor will guide

them in analysing job advertisements, preparation of job applications and facing job interviews.

In addition, when there is a sufficient number of job seekers available, the Chapter intends to

engage suitable resource personnel to conduct seminars/workshops on the Australian

workplace culture and other current topics helpful for job seekers

13. Book donation to University of Jaffna Engineering Faculty As part of helping engineering education in Sri Lanka, the chapter delivered 26 much needed

Civil Engineering text books to the Library of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Jaffna,

Kilinochchi. The books were delivered by an IESL delegation comprising of the president, the

president-elect, chairman of ICT committee and the president of IESL Northern Province. The

VC of the University of Jaffna and staff accepted the books at a small ceremony. The Chapter

Chair also attended the ceremony via Skype. The Chapter would like to thank the committee

member Maha Mahadeva who made a huge effort to make this book donation a reality.

Discussions are now underway with the Engineering Faculties of Moratuwa and Peradeniya, as

to how the Chapter can help those Institutions with the proceeds available from Engineering

Conventions.

14. Attendance at IESL Council meetings During the year IESL president and Council invited Chapter to attend the first part of the Council

via video conferencing. The Past Chair Maya Amaraweera attended the first video conferencing

with IESL Council and other provinces. This gives an opportunity for Chapter to raise any issues

needing attention of the Council.

15. Donations to IESL headquarters With part of the proceeds from Engineering Convention 2012, the Chapter was able to donate

$5,100 worth of equipment to the headquarters. The equipment which have now been ordered

in Sri Lanka include the following:

• iMac for video editing and multimedia activities

• HP LaserJet printer for SLEN and Certificate printing

• Three node NComputing system with screens for the library

• Apple final cut X pro for video editing

16. Working with IESL headquarters During the year under the guidance of the President Eng Tilak De Silva and the ICT Chairman

Eng. Arjuna Manamperi, the IESL undertook a major upgrading of their systems. These uplifts at

the headquarters allowed the Chapter to work very closely with them and achieve several

milestones.

As a response to a request made by the Chapter, IESL is in the process of streamlining the

Charter process. As the first stage of this initiative the candidates can now sit for Paper B in

Sydney under the supervision of the IESL NSW.

In addition online membership renewals and new applications are now possible through IESL

website http://www.iesl.lk/.

17. Improvements to Chapter website

Building on the upgrading work done by last year’s webmaster Pamal Dias, this year’s

webmaster Dushmantha Thalakotuna further enhanced the features of the Chapter website

http://www.ieslnsw.org

The website now contains upcoming and past events, IESL NSW newsletters, SLEN, Advice to

job seekers, Members’ area, Multi media portal, Discussion forums, Recommended readings,

useful links etc.

There is now a facebook page and a Twitter account as well making IESL NSW completely

present in the cyberspace. Furthermore, you are also invited to submit your project information

and photos for sharing the knowledge with the wider engineering community.

18. Knowledge sharing through IESL live streaming

During the year, the Chapter Chair was honoured by the opportunity to deliver the first ever

IESL live streaming lecture through Skype to an IESL audience in Colombo and Kandy and

several other countries such as Australia, USA and New Zealand. If you would like to share your

experience through live streaming from anywhere in Sydney, please write to the Chapter

Secretary.

19. Participation at Techno 2013

IESL’s Techno 2013 is due to be held in Colombo in October. The Chapter has decided to

sponsor a small booth highlighting road safety in Sri Lanka. This will include some printed

materials and videos borrowed from Transport NSW.

20. Financial Report

A separate audited financial report prepared by the Treasurer Priyadarshanie Weeraratne

forms a part of this Annual Report.

21. Suggestions for next year

The following is a summary of suggestions for next year. The successful delivery of these

outcomes should further improve the membership of IESL in NSW.

• Participate in Techno 2013 in October in Colombo

• Encourage members to use IESL and IESLNSW websites

• Maintain and strengthen the link with Engineers Australia

• Assist IESL to obtain the full membership of Washington Accord

• Actively assist migrant engineers

• Continue to recognise excellence in achievements

• Engage with sponsors and industry partners

• Continue to create opportunities for knowledge sharing

• Continue to work closely with IESL headquarters

The Executive Committee has once again lifted the bar at the Chapter. To be frank I was not

surprised by their professionalism but was amazed by their dedication and perfection. They are

a great team of engineers full of energy and talents and it was a great pleasure to work with all

of them. On behalf of all the members I would like to thank all of them and their families for

hard work they put in during the year.

Finally may I remind you that this is your Chapter and its relevancy depends on your

participation at all Chapter activities. It is a difficult truth to accept that the engineers are slowly

losing our place in the society. It can only be regained by making Engineering Institutions such

as EA and IESL more respected bodies. So renew your membership or re-obtain your

membership and come along with your colleagues to Chapter activities and be part of it.

I wish you all another great year.

Kamal Fernando FIEAust CPEng MIESL BScEng MEngSC

Chapter Chair, chair@ieslnsw.org, 0438 632 716

29/09/2013

Notes 2013 2012

Statement of Financial Performance

For the year ended 30 June 2013

Income A$ A$

Fundraising Events

1 14,770.99 (6.85)

Membership Fees 2 3,114.00 1,365.00

Volunteer Member Contributions 668.00 544.00

Interest and other 51.79 323.13

Sponsorships - 1,500.00

18,604.78 3,725.28

Expenditure

Lecture Series 1,372.87 1,057.71

Book Donation 1,500.00 -

Administration and other 1,567.46 1,742.21

4,440.33 2,799.92

Transfers to Sri Lanka 3 4,090.00 1,530.00

(Deficit) / Surplus 10,074.45 (604.64)

Statement of Financial Position 2013 2012

As at 30 June 2013 A$ A$

Cash at Bank 15,190.60 5,116.15

Hall Deposit 1,000.00 1,000.00

16,190.60 6,116.15

Represented by

Accumulated Fund 16,190.60 6,116.15

Notes to Accounts

1 IESL Dinner A$ A$

Income

Ticket Sales 35,730.00 1,420.00

Souvenir 1,275.00 800.00

Sponsorship money 26,500.00 -

Other 360.75 300.00

63,865.75 2,520.00

Expenditure

Dinner - Catering 20,661.00 -

Souvenir Printing 2,876.00 -

Other 25,557.76 2,526.85

49,094.76 2,526.85

Net Income 14,770.99 (6.85)

2 Membership Fees

Membership Renewal 3,114.00 1,365.00

3,114.00 1,365.00

3 Transfers to Sri Lanka are used for IESL Membership reinstatements and renewals

4 Accounts are prepared on Cash Basis

Priyadarshanie Weeraratne Checked By

Treasurer Prabath Amarasinghe

2-Sep-13 2-Sep-13

IESL NSW Chapter

2013 Annual Account

Net Contribution from IESL Dinner

2013 IESL NSW Engineering Conference

2013 IESL NSW Conference was held at the Engineers Australia

auditorium in Chatswood on the 31st of May. It was well

attended and a showcase of our excellence and our

contribution to NSW. IESL NSW Chair Eng Kamal Fernando

welcomed the attendees.

IESL President Eng Tilak De Silva delivering the keynote

address talked about the improvements at

IESL; membership management, head office building,

financial management and web site. Tilak also provided a

progress report on the initiatives for a legal framework for

setting standards for practicing engineers - currently

awaiting Cabinet approval and improving engineering

education standards. He also stated that some delegation powers for membership functions

will be transferred to Provincial Chapters to reduce travel / inconvenience for members.

The first presentation at the conference was delivered by

Udaya Peeligama of Sydney Catchment Authority. Udaya

explained how the Crest Gates of the Warragamba dam

was upgraded recently. As part of a comprehensive

program of works for augmenting the flood handling

capacity of the Dam to 100% Probable Maximum Flood

capability, an upgrade of the Crest Gates was carried out

recently at a cost of $36.5m. Many innovative features

and solutions were developed during the upgrade, including hydraulic locking systems for

the Drum and Radial Gates, which are thought to be a “world’s first”. The project was

successfully put to the test when the Dam effectively passed the floods of March 2012.

The second presentation was made by Sanjeevi

Sathianandan of RailCorp. The Minnamurra Railway

Bridge is located on the South Coast line and was

constructed in 1924. Due to life-expired timber transoms

a renewal project was required. The delivery of this

project was critical for the integrity of the track structure

on the bridge. A cost benefit analysis was conducted and

replacement with Fibre-reinforced Foamed Urethane

(FFU) transoms was selected as it was the cheapest option, having a design life of 50 years

and similar properties to timber. The delivery was made complicated as the track had to be

handed back every second night for 8 hours for freight trains. A single track without any safe

place to work from, as well as being above the environmentally sensitive Minnamurra River

made construction extremely challenging.

The third presentation was made by Nayoma Tennakoon of

University of Wollongong. Nayoma’s presentation

described track drainage impairment due to ballast fouling

(contamination), which is a common problem in many

countries. A new parameter, “void contaminant index” for

quantifying the ballast fouling is introduced. A series of

large-scale constant head hydraulic conductivity tests were

conducted with different levels of fouling to establish the

relationship between the void contamination index and the associated hydraulic

conductivity. Subsequently, a numerical analysis was executed to simulate more realistic

two-dimensional flow under actual track geometry. In the context of observed test data, the

drainage condition of the track could be classified into different categories together with a

classification chart capturing the degree of fouling. The contents of this paper have already

been considered in track maintenance schemes in the states of Queensland and New South

Wales

Janaka Weeraratne presented how he managed the Fish

River water supply pipeline replacement project from end

to end. State Water project managed the $8 million Fish

River Water Supply pipeline replacement project which

involved replacing 3.7km of pre-stressed, concrete pipes

with steel pipes in the upper Blue Mountains region of

NSW. Communication, planning, innovation and a focus on

safety enabled the project team to overcome unique

challenges including mountainous terrain; ensuring continued water supply; working next to

a live water main; and incurring more than 50 days of wet weather. The project was

completed in April, 2012, on time and on budget with no lost time injuries.

Dilini Kumarasinghe of NSW Public Works presented the challenges

they made and how they are overcome to deliver Lithgow sewage

treatment plant augmentation project. The Lithgow Sewage Treatment

Plant Augmentation presented NSW Public Works with the challenge of

delivering a $20M project in a regional location while managing

adverse site conditions and a significant scope change during

construction. This project had a direct and positive impact on the

environment by significantly improving the quality of effluent

discharged into the receiving waterway. This is particularly important

in this instance, as the waterway discharges to the Sydney water supply

catchment. The project combined augmentation of a plant based on traditional trickling

filtration technology with a state of the art Intermittently Decanted Extended Aeration

(IDEA) process.

The Conference was facilitated by the IESL NSW Vice President Eng Mahinda Karunaratne

and the vote of thanks was delivered by the Secretary Eng Waruna Kaluarachchi.

The following sponsors were introduced by the Treasurer Eng Priyadarshanie Weeraratne.

Gold Sponsor Bronze Sponsor

Silver Sponsors

NSW Australia ChapterNSW Australia ChapterNSW Australia ChapterNSW Australia Chapter

2013 IESL NSW Engineering Excellence Awards

2013 IESL NSW Engineers Excellence Awards were presented at the Gala Dinner by the

President of IESL, National President of Engineers Australia and Chair of IESL NSW.

The winners were announced by the chairman of the

selection panel Eng Mahinda Karunaratne. The other

members of the panel included Eng Waruna

Kaluarachchi, Eng Maha Mahadewa, Associate

Professor Jayantha Katupitiya and Eng Lal

Wickramarachchi.

This year’s winners are:

Best paper published

Winner – Nayoma Tennakoon of University of

Wollongong - The Role of Ballast - Fouling

Characteristics on the Drainage Capacity of

Rail Substructure

Best Innovation

Highly Commended - Udaya Peeigama of

Sydney Catchment Authority - Warragamba

Dam Crest Gate Upgrade.

Winner – Janaka Weeraratne of State Water

Corporation - Fish River Water Supply

pipeline repla cement project.

Best Infrastructure Project

Highly Commended - Sanjeevi Sathianandan

of RailCorp - Minnamurra railway bridge

retransoming

Winner – Dilini Kumarasinghe, Rohini

Ramachandran, Kandiah Tharumalingam of

NSW Public Works – Lithgow Sewerage

Augmentation.

NSW Australia ChapterNSW Australia ChapterNSW Australia ChapterNSW Australia Chapter

2013 IESL NSW Gala Dinner

This year’s Gala Dinner was held on 1st

of June. It

was attended by 300 people including the Sri

Lankan Counsul General Ambassador Bandula

Jayasekera, President of IESL Eng Tilak De Silva and

the National President of Engineers Australia Dr

Marlene Kanga. The Gala Dinner was opened by

lighting the traditional Sri Lankan lamp by the above

guests, Chair of IESL NSW and the gold sponsor.

The Chair of the IESL NSW Chapter Eng Kamal Fernando

welcoming the attendees explained the objectives of the

2013 IESL NSW Convention. He explained that the

Engineering Conference is a showcase of our excellence

and our contribution to NSW and the Gala Dinner is the

time for celebration.

Ambassador Bandula Jayasekera pointed out the

relevancy of the convention’s theme; “Bridging

Colombo and Sydney”. He also made a commitment

for promoting increased participation of Engineers

from Sri Lankan diaspora in the development projects

in Sri Lanka.

IESL President Eng Tilak De Silva talked about the

improvements at IESL; membership management,

head office building, financial management and web

site. Tilak also provided a progress report on the

initiatives for a legal framework for setting standards

for practicing engineers - currently awaiting Cabinet

approval and improving engineering education

standards. He also stated that some delegation

powers for membership functions will be transferred to Provincial Chapters to reduce travel

/ inconvenience for members.

The Keynote speech at the Gala Dinner was

delivered by the National President of

Engineers Australia Dr Marlene Kanga. Dr

Kanga talked about the important role of

engineers and engineering in Asian Century.

She explained why the engineers with links

to Asia especially those who were born there

have a major role in developing Australia’s

strategy for greater engagement with Asia.

Dr Kanga also offered Engineers Australia’s

assistance for Sri Lankan Universities to obtain the full membership of Washington Accord.

IESL NSW secretary Eng Waruna Kaluarachchi

delivering the vote of thanks acknowledged the

generous support of the sponsors NSW Public

Works (gold), Fulton Hogan (Silver) and Bronze

sponsors Sydney Catchment Authority, SMEC,

Dulux and Aquatec-Maxcon.

2013 IESL NSW Engineers Excellence Awards were also presented at the Gala Dinner by the

President of IESL, National President of Engineers Australia and Chair of IESL NSW.

After a Sri Lankan spicy dinner, the

attendees were entertained by Drum Beats

with an African drum play. Then the floor

was open for the engineers and the spouses

to dance to the vibrating rhythm of Fusive.

The Master of Ceremonies Duke

Ramachandran kept the spirit of the Gala Nite

right at the top.

The IESL NSW Executive committee with the IESL President and the National President of

Engineers Australia at the Gala Dinner.

NSW Australia ChapterNSW Australia ChapterNSW Australia ChapterNSW Australia Chapter

First ever meeting between the Presidents of the Institution of Engineers

Sri Lanka and Engineers Australia

Following the 2013 IESL NSW Engineering Convention on 31st

of May and 1st

of June, the

National President of Engineers Australia Dr Marlene Kanga arranged an official meeting

between the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka and Engineers Australia. This is the first ever

meeting between two presidents of the institutions and it opens doors for further bilateral

discussions in future.

The meeting was held on 3rd

of June at

Engineers Australia, Sydney office in

Chatswood and attended by Dr Marlene

Kanga (National President of Engineers

Australia), Mr Tilak De Silva (President,

Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka), Mr

Rupert Grayston (EA Deputy Chief

Executive Officer), Prof Robin King (EA

Chair of Sydney Accord), Dr David

Robinson (EA Director Education and

Assessment), Mr Richard Hanna (EA

Executive Operations Manager) and Mr

Kamal Fernando (Chair IESL NSW).

It was a very fruitful meeting and the following topics were discussed.

1. The process of getting the full accreditation of Washington Accord;

2. Accreditation process in Sri Lanka and shortcomings;

3. Engineers Australia’s E-charter process;

4. Mutual promotion of activities and lecturers; and

5. In long term mutual acceptance and recognition of degrees and charters.

During the meeting EA expressed the willingness to support the professional development of

the IESL members by running professional development workshops for them and to become

Chartered in Australia.

EA also offered to arrange training for IESL members to become assessors for IESL Chartered

process (and possibly accreditation) for members in Sri Lanka. This would enable IESL NSW

Chapter members to support Sri Lanka in number of ways.

NSW Australia Chapter P.O. Box 1239, Parramatta NSW 2124, Australia chapter_secretary@ieslnsw.org

ABN: 90 045 281 529

Following the above meeting Dr Kanga

also arranged a detailed discussion

between Mr Tilak De Silva and Mr Kamal

Fernando with Prof Robin King with

regards to the reviews and accreditation

processes. This discussion was very

informative for Mr De Silva and Mr

Fernando in understanding the

accreditation processes.

Prof King also advised that it may be possible to arrange two IESL representatives to attend as

observers at the next accreditation review undertaken by Engineers Australia in August. IESL

NSW Chapter in consultation with Engineers Australia staff will facilitate this process. The

following brief list of actions has been prepared for further action.

1. Prof King to discuss with Dr David Robinson the logistics of IESL representatives’

attendance as observers;

2. Mr Fernando to contact Dr Robinson and obtain confirmation for IESL representatives’

presence at the review to be undertaken in August at the University of Newcastle;

3. Mr De Silva to brief IESL staff and nominate one representative from Colombo. NSW

Chapter will nominate the second representative;

4. Following the review meeting, IESL representatives are to prepare guidelines in

consultation with Dr Robinson and Prof King on going forward for IESL;

5. All travelling arrangements of IESL representatives are to be made by IESL;

6. All costs involved in IESL representatives’ visits are to be borne by IESL.

The above two meetings have opened doors for further bilateral discussions between two

institutions and is a very important juncture for the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka. IESL NSW

Chapter wish to thank Dr Kanga for taking this initiative and arranging these two very important

meetings.

Prepared by

Kamal Fernando FIEAust CPEng MIESL MEngSc BScEng

Chapter Chair, chair@ieslnsw.org, 0438 632 716

20/06/2013

IESL NSW donates text books to University of Jaffna Engineering Faculty

As part of helping engineering education in Sri Lanka, the IESL NSW Chapter delivered 26

much needed Civil Engineering text books to the Library of the Faculty of Engineering,

University of Jaffna, Kilinochchi. The Chapter Executive committee member Maha Mahadeva

in consultation with Dr. S.S.Sivakumar of the University of Jaffna coordinated the purchasing

and delivery of the books.

The books were delivered by an IESL delegation comprising of the President (Eng Tilak De

Silva), the president-elect (Eng Shavi Fernando), chairman of ICT committee (Eng Arjuna

Manamperi), the president of IESL Northern Province (Eng. N Suthakaran) and Secretary ( Eng. T.

Barathithasan). The Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna Prof. (Ms) Vasanthy

Arasaratnam and her staff accepted the books at a small ceremony. The NSW Chapter Chair

(Eng Kamal Fernando) also attended the ceremony via Skype. Eng. Kandiah Mahadeva of the

NSW Chapter who meticulously selected the most useful books and coordinated its purchase in

Australia and transfer to Colombo couldn’t participate in the event, due to prior commitments.

Discussions are now underway with the Engineering Faculties of Moratuwa and Peradeniya,

as to how the Chapter can help those Institutions with the proceeds available from

Engineering Conventions.

NSW Australia ChapterNSW Australia ChapterNSW Australia ChapterNSW Australia Chapter

IESL NSW Chapter Lecture Series

The IESL NSW Chapter organised a successful series of lectures by engineering

professionals as well as young engineers in NSW.

The lecture series commenced in November 2012 with an inspirational presentation by

Eng. Indra Jayawardena titled “Ocean Swimming Pools”.

This attracted several engineers from non-Sri Lankan backgrounds, together with our

regular membership. The different layouts and the wave mechanics that contribute to

the functioning of these pools and the hydraulics and mathematical equations that

govern their behaviour were no doubt news to a lot of the audience. The case studies

of upgrades to several ocean swimming pools in NSW managed by Indra, provided

an insight to the intricacies involved, not only on the hydraulic and structural aspects,

but also on the human aspects such as the tolerable forces and wave heights for

average users. The physical modelling to determine the wave characteristics and

forces, used as input to the designs of these upgrades, were carried out at the Manly

Hydraulics Laboratory of NSW Public Works.

With Sydney being home to 29 ocean swimming pools, and the whole of Sri Lanka

having only two, one could not help but wonder how effectively Australia has

harnessed these forces of nature to the benefit of its citizens, compared to Sri Lanka.

This was amplified by the fact that, according to Indra’s assessment, there are

dozens of locations ideal for ocean swimming pools around the island. It was

heartening to see photos of some of Indra’s past adventures in Sri Lanka including

diving, boating, and long treks along the beach.

The second event in February 2013 on “Cloud Computi ng” was delivered by Asanga Wanigatunga Asanga gave a glimpse of what would happen in the future, with the opportunities

Cloud computing creates, and the exponential rates at which businesses are taking

up such opportunities. The audience, with a good number of engineers of non Sri

Lankan background, were eager to listen to the new developments happening with

the increasing use of smart phones and tablets, and the applications (apps) that

provide customised solutions by tapping onto various large data sets. The making or

breaking of business models due to changing (Disruptive) technology was

exemplified by the demise of encyclopaedia due to the spread of Wikipedia and

several such examples. The evolution of collaboration technology from telephones in

1950s, to faxes in 1970s, to emails in 1990s, and social media in 2010s, pointed to a

trend of paradigm shifts in technology roughly every 20 years. The ability of

businesses to tap into Cloud for data storage and for readily available apps for

functions such as administration, HR, and finance, provides both cost savings and

mobility, and the failure to do so may lead to business downturn due to non

competitiveness. Information security and the governance frameworks to mitigate

associated risks was also discussed, both in the context of Government policies, as

well as industry self regulation to win customer confidence.

Several real life examples from Asanga’s career in VMware were given where

considerable time and cost savings have been achieved in a variety of activites such

as law enforcement, health, and aviation.

The third lecture in September 2013 was on ‘nation al Electricity market (NEM)”

by Eng. Methsiri Aratchige.

This was a very informative session on a utility that is essential in our lives. Methsiri

explained the key components in getting electricity to our houses and industries –

from generation, transmission, to distribution - and also the evolution of the National

electricity market, from a fully Government owned enterprise in 1990, to the current

mix of private and public owned assets and operations. Interestingly, the first to

introduce competition by involving private sector was Victoria in early 1990s, which

then was adopted by NSW, Queensland and South Australia, encompassing all of

the Eastern States, and Western Australia and Northern Territory left out due to

tyranny of distance. The governance structure for the NEM, headed by the Council

of Australian Governments (COAG), operated by Australian Energy Market Operator

(AEMO) and regulated by Australian Energy Regulator (AER), looked quite robust in

assuring that all the activities and pricing is undertaken in a well controlled

environment.

The concept of electricity being traded through wholesale spot market called a “Pool”

was new information for most of the audience. Of more interest was the process of

bidding by the Generators, the Pool Price set every 5 minutes by the generator

supplying the marginal increase in demand, and both the customer paying and

generator getting paid this Pool Price. In addition to the complexities that Methsiri

illustrated such as: generator response times, minimum load levels, and failures; and,

transmission losses and limitations; one could only imagine the many other

complexities involved when he mentioned that the Pool Price is set by a series of

algorithms with about 30,000 equations! The other mechanism for buying and selling

electricity – Contract For Difference – or CFDs (which most of us knew applied in the

share market, but not for electricity) – enabled a level of price certainty for both the

buyer and the seller than the spot market, but carried some inherent financial risks in

case of even short term breaches to contract (such as generator failure).

A lively discussion followed, with the audience raising many difficult questions and

Methsiri answering them with his expert knowledge on the subject.

This year’s lecture series was coordinated by Ananda Herath

IESL NSW Young Engineers’ Day

IESL NSW Young Engineers’ Day is an opportunity for our young engineers to

showcase their talents. Three young engineers conf idently and articulately

delivered very high quality presentations providin g insight into three very

different areas of engineering. The lively Question & Answer sessions that

followed the presentations benefited both the audie nce - in getting more

information, and the presenters - with suggested im provements to their

research areas.

Darshana Perera, a PhD candidate at the Centre of Geomechanics and Railway

Engineering, University of Wollongong, gave the first presentation on “Soft Soil

Improvement using Vacuum Preloading”. Starting with some examples of historical

buildings that suffered irreversible damage due to ignoring soft soil improvements,

Darshana explained the benefits of using preloading, vertical drains, and vacuum

pressure to rapidly disperse pore water pressures thereby expediting consolidation

and improvement of soft soils. Darshana’s research work on secondary consolidation

/ creep settlement, and the analytical and numerical modeling using Finite Element

method to develop predictive models was also explained, with model outputs

validated through experimental results.

Lashika Medagoda, a post-defence PhD candidate at the Australian Centre for Field

Robotics, University of Sydney, gave the second presentation on “Ocean

Observation and Navigation”. Lashika explained the advantages of using

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AVU) for ocean observations over the more

conventional methods such as ships, buoys etc, however alluded to the issues

encountered with positioning and navigation of AVUs. Lashika’s research into

improving the positioning, navigation and ocean measurements by AVUs using a

combination of Ultra Short Base Lines and Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers was

explained using diagrams and graphical presentations. The benefits from these

works to marine research, both in terms of cost savings and improved accuracy, are

enormous.

Chaminda Konthesingha, a Research Associate at the Centre for Infrastructure

Performance and Reliability, University of Newcastle, gave the final presentation on

“Cyclic In-Plane Shear Behaviour of Unreinforced Masonry Wall Panels strengthened

with NMS FRP Strips”. Chaminda demonstrated the vulnerability of unreinforced

masonry to seismic loadings using examples from the recent earthquake damaged

buildings in Christchurch, New Zealand. The methods of Fibre Reinforced Polymer

(FRP) strengthening using either external bonding or Near Surface Mounting (NSM),

and out of these the advantages NSM in maintaining aesthetics was explained with

diagrams. Chaminda’s experiments on cyclic lateral loading of NSM FRP on

damaged and new walls, and the resulting impacts on shear strength, displacement,

energy dissipation, and ductility proved that substantial improvements can be

achieved in strengthening existing unreinforced masonry against earthquake

loadings.

Young Engineers’ day was facilitated by two committ ee members Udeshini Pathirage and Dushmantha Thalakotuna