Moratuwa grads win fame at Google

Ramani Kangaraarachchi

The University of Moratuwa has become the number one University worldwide to have the most number of projects accepted for the Google Summer of Code programme this year.

Head of Computer Science and Engineering University of Moratuwa Vishaka Nanayakkara said 24 student projects have been accepted for the programme placing Sri Lanka among the top ten who submited the most number of applicants.

She said the country has come a long way from the four awards received three years ago. On completion of their tasks all 24 students will get a reward of US $ 4500 each. Google has accepted 1125 applications by students to work on Free and Open Source Software projects during the summer, she said.

The Computer Science and Engineering Department of the Faculty of Engineering received 18 projects from the total of 24 accepted projects with the other six projects from other departments of the Faculty of Engineering and the Information Technology under the guidance of visiting Lecturer and the Founder of the Lanka Software Foundation, Dr Sanjiva Weerawarna. Vice Chancellor, University of Moratuwa, Prof. Malik Ranasinghe pointed out that achievements of this nature bear testimony to the comparability of the University of Moratuwa undergraduates with those of the developed world.

He said local universities are producing these graduates at a cost of less than US $ 5,000, obviously without world class facilities.

The University of Moratuwa is known as a trendsetter for its innovative approach to undergraduate education aimed at producing not only employable but also globally competitive graduates. Google, the Internet search engine giant hosts an annual worldwide competition on Free and Open Software development projects.