Upwardly mobile
Ruwini JAYAWARDANA
Roshnal Lihinikadu, Adhisha Gammanpila and Chamath Palihawadana.
Pictures by Saman Sri Wedage
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Globalization has many aspects. The whole world is accepting and
adopting the ways towards the advancement of technology. The youth is
playing a vital role in this rapid pace and one of the devices which
have not failed to capture the interest of every possible youth is the
mobile phone.
Cell phones are more than mere accessories or gaming devices. They
are one of the prime means of communication. They allow people to work
on the go and stay in touch. However considering the nature of the
device, privacy has an important factor. You would definitely not be too
happy if you catch one of your peers or family members browsing through
your private messages, right?
Royalists Roshnal Lihinikadu, Adhisha Gammanpila and Chamath
Palihawadana have given some thought to this aspect. The tree youth came
up with a new mobile application which gives a considerably high amount
of privacy and allows only the correct owner of the phone to decrypt the
received text message and read it.
The trio’s discovery not only turned a new leaf in the information
technology (IT) field but also put Sri Lanka on the world map. Titled
‘Text, Encryptor and Decryptor’ (TED), the project won second place at
Oracle Education Foundation’s ‘ThinkQuest’ competition 2012. ThinkQuest
is an online learning platform which helps youth across the globe
enhance 21st century skills such as communication, technology and
critical thinking.
More than 51,000 participants from 59 countries have applied for the
competition and 27 teams were selected for the finals. China, Great
Britain, Greece, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Moldova, Pakistan, Puerto
Rico, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and the United
States (US) were among the countries represented by these teams.
The first place was won by the US team while the Indian team bagged
third place.
“We came upon the concept when we were in grade 10. We were highly
into mobile phones and their facilities during that period. As school
children we are not allowed to use mobiles in school but after school we
used it to communicate with each other. We were so immersed in the
object that we began studying its features. We soon realized that the
text messages have a low privacy level once they are delivered to
another phone. This dilemma inspired us to find an answer to the
problem. That was how TED was conceived,” Palihawadana recalled about
the origins of the application.
With Royal College Principal Upali Gunasekara and project coach
Inoka Samarakkody |
After much experimentation and they introduced the application to
their friends. Forming small groups the boys installed TED into their
accounts and began to enjoy the facility that it offered. It soon became
a hit among their peers.
“We did not think about sharing our discovery with the world until
ROYEX 2011, an annual exhibition held at Royal College, came along. It
was held a few months before our General certificate of Education (G C
E) Ordinary Level examination. We got together with our friends Dumendra,
Devaka, Charu, Mathanga, Thisal and Hashen and organized a stall. The
enthusiasm the visitors displayed towards our innovation amazed and
delighted us. It was a great motivating factor and we were able to
develop the application further using their suggestions,” Gammanpila
explained.
According to the three IT savvy students the application can be used
only in a Java compatible mobile. Both phones in which the short message
services (SMSs) will be exchanged should have TED installed in their
accounts. Once you install TED, you will be presented with a user
account and password. Once you receive an SMS, it will be delivered to
your TED account. Then only the owner of the phone will be able to read
the message. Though another person will be able to see the text, it will
be encrypted. The TED application is also compatible with any language.
Queried on how the boys submitted TED to ThinkQuest Lihinikadu said that
they got to know about the competition from their school.
Explaining how TED works |
“We uploaded the TED software and the report of the project through
the ThinkQuest account and uploaded our TED video on YouTube,” he said.
They had applied for the 17 and under division under ‘Application
Development.’ The results reached them on June 21. The boys jumped with
joy when they witnessed their names on top of the list.
“Our school always emphasizes on developing the skills of its
students in both co-curricular and extra curricular activities besides
academic work. This is another example which proves this fact. We thank
our principal Upali Gunasekara for his guidance and providing us with
the environment which enables students to bring out the innovators
within them. We are also grateful to the project coach Inoka Samarakkody
and our IT teacher K P M C Manage for their support,” the champs
chorused.
Lihinikadu, Gammanpila and Palihawadana will be heading to San
Francisco towards the end of the year to receive their award. The first
and second place teams of ThinkQuest 2012 will receive a trip to
ThinkQuest Live, a five-day event conducted by the Oracle Education
Foundation in San Francisco Bay. The event includes educational
workshops and activities, social events, sightseeing excursions and the
ThinkQuest Awards Dinner. The project coach and one adult chaperone per
student are included in the tour.
“We have already received several offers for TED but we have not
decided on our marketing strategies yet. We are in the process of making
further improvements on the developed module,” Palihawadana noted,
adding that he and his friends share the common ambition of inventing
devices for the betterment of the society. |