Lankan engineers, world standard - Tilak De Silva

Sri Lankan engineers were of world standard and they can plan and execute any contract to world standards, said President, Institute of Engineers Sri Lanka (IESL), Tilak De Silva.

Speaking to Daily News Business, he said that over a period of time the education in this regard was of very high standards and the end result is that the country today has world class professionals in this area.

He said that credit should also go to local universities and even some private sector institutions whose education standards were of high esteem. He said that even during the troubled times in Sri Lanka the standard of engineering educations studies were never compromised or relaxed.

With the ending of the war Sri Lanka is attracting many foreign investors and also the local entrepreneurs were investing heavily. In addition the government to provide better infrastructure has under taken mammoth development projects including building of international harbours, airports and power dams and other mega construction projects.

“These have resulted in a construction boom. Though many of the government projects are being funded by other countries they have opened up lucrative opportunities for or engineers who are highly respected by foreigners,” De Silva said.

He also mentioned the contribution made by the IESL in the past towards helping the economy of Sri Lanka. “Most of our members like Dr. Priyath Wickrama who heads the Sri Lanka Ports Authority are involved in the country’s biggest development projects and their dedicated service too should be commended.” Eng.

Tilak De Silva graduated in 1984 with a B.Sc degree in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering. He obtained an M.Sc in Data Communication from the Brunel University in the United Kingdom in 2004.

He is a Chartered Engineer & presently is the President of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL).

He is also Fellow of the Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET) United Kingdom and a Chartered Engineer of the Engineering Council, United Kingdom. He is also a Fellow and a Chartered IT Professional of the British Computer Society and a Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, USA.

He commenced his career in 1984 with the Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) and held the positions of Operations Engineer, Maintenance Engineer and Station Manager at Padukka Satellite Earth Station during the period 1984-1993.

He was promoted to the post of Deputy General Manager/IT at SLT in 1993 and became the General Manager/IT at SLT in the year 1998.

In the year 2005 he was appointed to the post of IT Expert at SLT.

In the year 2008 the he was appointed as Chief Global Officer of SLT. Then again in year 2009 he was appointed as Chief Network Officer (SL).

Since September 2010 he holds the position of Advisor to the CEO on Technology Strategies of SLT. In addition he has been the Chief Executive Officer of SLT Hong Kong since 2008.

He is also a visiting lecturer of SLIIT. “We also conduct engineer’s excellence awards and the annual tecno exhibition which is one of the most looked forward events in Sri Lanka.”

(SS)