Towards Establishing Business Incubators in Collaboration with USA Symposium on “Active Learning and Innovation Strategy” Houston, Texas

A group of academic delegates from University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJP) including Prof. Sampath Amaratunga, Vice Chancellor, USJP, Prof. Ranil De Silva, Director, World Class University Grant Project, USJP, Dr. U. Anura Kumara, Dean, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, Prof. M. Pathmala, Head/Department of Zoology and Mr. Rukmal Weerasinghe, Head/Department of Entrepreneurship participated for a symposium on ‘Active Learning and Innovation Strategy’ at Houston, Texas, USA from June 26th to June 28th, 2018, organized by Prof. Reginald DesRoches, Dean, School of Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas, and  Vidiojothi Prof. Bandula Wijay, Ambassador for Science Technology and Innovation of Sri Lanka, who is an Engineer by profession and one of the pioneering inventors of the present day vascular stents with more than 30 US patents top his name in the United States and internationally.

The symposium was organized at Rice University, Houston, Texas (World Rank: 99) following a visit to Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Medical Center (the largest children’s hospital in the world), MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas Medical Center accelerator (TMCx) for Device Innovation and Access DX Laboratory, for the establishment of business incubators in USJP linking academia and industry and to gain firsthand experience in active learning and novel research and development strategies of the world’s top Universities and Research Institutes.

From right: Prof. Ranil De Silva, Dr. U. Anura Kumara, Prof. Sampath Amaratunga, Prof. Bandula Wijay, Prof. M. Pathmala, and Mr. Rukmal Weerasinghe