International Research Symposium on Entrepreneurship 2021 (IRSE 2021)
The fourth consecutive research day of the Department of Entrepreneurship was redefined as the International Research Symposium on Entrepreneurship (IRSE) 2021 and was successfully held on the 31st of March 2021 through the online platform via Zoom. This first International Research Symposium on Entrepreneurship adds to the history of the Faculty and the University as the first International Research Symposium organized by a single department of the University. The above event was organized under the guidance of Dr. M.V.S.S. Udayanga, Head of the Department and Dr. R.N. Weerasinghe, senior lecturer of DoE as the advisory panel of the event, the academic coordinators Mrs. P.T.D. Liyanage, lecturer of DoE and Ms. D.C.H. De Silva, lecturer (temporary) of DoE and the symposium committee members Ms. H.N.R. Gunawardane, Assistant lecturer (temporary) of DoE and Mr. M.H.D.N. Perera, Assistant lecturer (temporary) of DoE. The event was graced by the Vice-Chancellor, Snr. Prof. Sudantha Liyanage and Dean of FMSC, Prof. P.D. Nimal. Moreover, the participants included members of the panel of lecturers from other departments of the FMSC as well as lecturers from various other state universities in the fields of Entrepreneurship and Management Studies.
The most awaited item of the agenda was the keynote speech, which was delivered by the Dr. Mohammad S. Khan, a senior lecturer, Associate Professor in Strategic Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Prior to this present appointment, he has worked in Business Development in the Strategic Organization Design Unit at the University of Southern Denmark. He has a PhD in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship from the University of Klagenfurt, Austria. With a foundational background in Mechatronics Engineering, he has experience in the oil and gas industry of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and UK. He has continued with his intellectual interests and studied Engineering Management and later received a Master’s in Management, Technology and Economics (MTEC) from ETH Zurich. As for his current areas of interest in Innovation Management, Entrepreneurship, Teams, Organizational Behaviour and Uncertainty, he provides many insights and thought-provoking advice to the audience which inspired the young researchers on reaching high on the research ladder. His international presence added great calibre to IRSE 2021.
The event consisted of two main sessions, i.e. research presentation sessions and a poster presentation session. The research presentation sessions created a platform for 12 researchers to publish their research findings along with their respective supervisors, while the poster presentation session enabled the final year undergraduate of DoE to obtain valuable suggestions for their ongoing research study.
The panel of reviewers of the event consisted of eminent academic members of both USJ as well as other state universities. The panel for the research presentations were Associate Prof. M. Saud Khan (Associate Professor in Strategic Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand), Dr. Dushan Chaminda (Senior Lecturer, Department of Marketing, USJ), Prof. Lalith Chandralal (Senior Lecturer, Department of Marketing, USJ), Dr. Asanka Darmawansaba (Senior Lecturer, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka), Dr. Buddhika Dharmaratne (Senior Lecturer, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka), Dr. Sheshika Kariyapperuma (Senior Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, USJ), Prof. Pushpa Madeniyage (Senior Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, USJ) Dr. Vilani Sachithra (Senior Lecturer, Department of Commerce, USJ) and Prof. Amila Jayarathne (Professor in Marketing and Head of the Department – Department of Marketing, USJ).
The panel for the poster presentations were Prof. Nishantha Bussige (University of Colombo), Dr. Pushpanathan (Wavniya Campus, University of Jaffna), Dr. Nalaka Wickramasinghe (University of Kelaniya), Dr. Chaminda Karunarathne (Wayamba University of Sri Lanka), Dr. Dinesha Siriwardene (University of Sri Jayewardenepura) and Prof. Sunethra Perera (University of Ruhuna).
