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The annual convocation ceremony of the Informatics Institute of Technology was held on 24th October 2009 at the BMICH. The convocation is a significant event in IIT’s academic calendar that is eagerly awaited by graduating students who consider it a milestone in their lives. Invitees to the event included eminent persons from various walks of life, including professionals from prestigious companies in and around Colombo.

The convocation was declared open by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Westminster, UK, Prof. Erica Charlotte Morgan-Tamosunas. The evening’s proceedings commenced with a welcome address delivered by Associate Professor Alfred Perera, Dean of IIT, in which he focused on the contribution made to the industry in Sri Lanka and abroad by those graduating from IIT.

This was followed by the awarding of degree to graduands by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Both in respect of the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. It was noteworthy that 40% of the students in the BSc(Hons) Software Engineering course had obtained First Class passes.

The Chief Guest, Mr. Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to His Excellency the President, addressed the distinguished gathering, emphasising on the importance of information and communication technology in the modern world. His inspiring and thought-provoking speech was well received by the audience.

Highlights of the evening included the presentation of The Dr. Gamini Wickramasinghe gold medals for outstanding achievement to Mr. Nuwan Bandara and Mr. Pathmanathan Prasanna for their performance at the BSc(Hons.) in Software Engineering and BSc(Hons.) in Information Systems with Business Management respectively. The Dr. Gamini Wickramasinghe gold medal in respect of the MSc in Advanced Software Engineering was awarded to Mr. Wahalathanthrige Arthur James Dilan Perera for 2008 and Mr. Venushka Nuwan Perera for 2009 respectively.

Lahiru Lakmal Priyadarshana and Amani Soysa, students at IIT, were also felicitated for their outstanding success at the National Best Quality Software Awards (NBQSA) 2009. Lahiru won the coveted gold medal in the tertiary category as well as the award for the Best Product for his final year project, iDisplay, while Amani won the Bronze medal for her final year project, Chord A Tune.

Special mention must also be made of Dr. Gamini Wickramasinghe, Managing Director of Informatics Group of Companies, who was felicitated at the convocation for his untiring efforts in developing tertiary education in Sri Lanka and for his contribution to society in the fields of IT and business, which earned him the "Life Time Achievement Award for ICT 2009" by the British Computer Society (BCS) Sri Lanka Section for his outstanding contribution made to the ICT Industry of Sri Lanka during the last 26 years.

The vote of thanks was delivered by a proud graduate, Ms. Dakshitha Rathnayaka, who spoke for all the graduating students when she said that she would cherish the unforgettable memories of her amazing four years at IIT. Her speech was studded with anecdotes from the time spent by the graduates as students at IIT and an emotion filled thank you to all the staff at IIT and the parents who had helped them along during the four long years without which help and guidance they would not have achieved what they did.

By Kalharie Pitigala