Education

AeU MBA Graduates excel at the Convocation in Malaysia

Valedictorian Markandu Sivakumaran was amongst the first batch of Sri Lankan students who graduated with MBAs from the Asia e University (AeU), a dual-mode multinational university established under the Asia Corporation Dialogue.

Sivakumaran, who topped the batch delivered the valedictory speech in front of the distinguished audience assembled for the Convocation.

More than five hundred current and future leaders from around the world received their Phd, Masters & Bachelors level qualifications during the Asia e University convocation held recently at Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur.

Graduates from AeU’s School of Management (SOM), Education and Cognitive Science (SECS), Information and Communication Technology (SICT), Professional and Executive Education (SPEED) from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Bahrain celebrated their success with their teachers, family and friends.

During his valedictorian speech, Markandu Sivakumaran requested all graduates from different countries across Asia to uphold the strong bonds through the AeU alumni activities to create an academic and professional network that supports AeU as well as facilitate the sharing of experiences and expertise which can capitalize the opportunities across 60% of global population in ACD member countries.

Kapila Dodamgoda, Managing Director of the Asian College of Management, congratulating the students said, “It was an excellent academic performance by our students. This degree is an important stepping stone in their career paths and they deserve this hard earned MBA.”

Established under Asia Corporation Dialogue which includes 31 Asian countries, the Asia e University offers a MBA programme that enhances management and critical decision making skills which managers need to function effectively in an organization. “This is a key in handling current volatile economic conditions that requires agility and strategic problem solving,” said Dodamgoda, “The core subjects and specialisation areas offered at our programme will guide aspiring managers through rapid career growth.”

The MBA programme offered by the Asia e University is one of few fully accredited MBA part time programmes in the region and is fully accredited by Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA), Ministry of Higher Education. The University is listed in the Association of Commonwealth Universities and recognized by the University Grants Commission of Sri Lanka.

Based around a flexible schedule and supportive learning environment, excellent panel of lecturers complimented with e-learning material and journals, the programme provides the ideal platform for busy professionals to acquire a quality international MBA at an affordable price.

Spain’s Calatrava unveils green museum in Rio

World-acclaimed Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava unveiled Wednesday his “Museum of Tomorrow” planned as part of a major gentrification project for the Rio waterfront.

The “green” project is part of a series of major public works projects planned by authorities to give the city a facelift ahead of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

“Half of the design is occupied by the nearby urban area, such as the Sao Bento hill. We wanted to make gardens and an architectural walkway around the museum which will offer an ecology lesson, like filtering the water from the bay for use in (decorative) pools,” Calatrava said as he presented the design for the museum due to open in 2014.

“The museum is not only an object, but it is the city. The landscape becomesa fundamental element. the (17th century) Sao Bento monastery needed to be seen. The building needed to be horizontal.” The museum is built on a pier in the middle of a large green space of 30,000 square meters (322,900 square feet) with gardens, pools, a bike trail and a recreational area. Water from the bay will also be used for air conditioning.

The two-story structure features a cantilevered roof and facade with moving elements that extends almost to the full length of the pier. On the roof, large steel structures that move like wings will serve as a foundation to store solar energy.

The museum, the first to deal with prospects for building the future, “will encourage visitors to ponder the impact of their actions on the planet,” said physicist Luiz Alberto de Oliveira, an official involved with the project.

Calatrava's project will partner with Paris's la Villette museum or the Smithsonian Institution in Washington and the California Academy of Sciences.

“It will be an educational tool on our current actions that will build the world of tomorrow, on how we will live in 2050 when the world population reaches nine billion,” de Oliveira added. AFP