Standing at just 4’11, Thilini Gunasekera is used to being dismissed. It happened when she wanted to join the Air Force and study aeronautical engineering – she didn’t meet the height requirement. It happened again when she stepped into a classroom full of men to study how to become an automobile mechanic – except this … Continue reading
For a change, Kevin Sanders has decided to let someone, or more accurately, something else count the apples in his orchard. This isn’t the first time his idyllic farm down in Australia’s Yarra Valley has played host to robots and their handlers, so Sanders knows what to expect. Moving soundlessly down the corridors between trees, … Continue reading
Puhudiwula, Sri Lanka – In the district of Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka, Puhudiwula is a village of abandoned wells. Though new and well-built, these wells can be found in every garden, costing around 100,000 rupees ($700) to build. The villagers, however, will not drink or even cook with the water, which they believe is driving … Continue reading
To Ajit P. Yoganathan a malfunctioning heart is also an engineering problem. To a select group of surgeons, he is the man they visit before they enter the operating theatre. They are looking to him to understand what to expect and to help them make the smartest possible choice. Currently the Regents’ Professor in the … Continue reading
It was 2008 going on 2009 when Sharad Amalean turned to his elder brother Mahesh Amalean and said, “This is going to unravel completely.” It wasn’t news to Mahesh, who as Chairman of MAS Holdings had watched as the company reeled under the economic downturn. As orders dropped, they had had to lay off people … Continue reading
At the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC), today is someone’s birthday – the riot of pink and yellow post-it notes decorating Prof. K.M Nalin de Silva’s door single him out. For the Science Team Leader it’s a fine day to meditate on the world of his ancestors and to imagine the one his children will … Continue reading
A decade ago to this day, Srinath Jinadasa wasn’t particularly surprised to hear that a plane had crashed into the building he worked in. When the North Tower reeled under the impact of the collision, it seemed to stagger upon its very foundations, swaying up to 20 feet back and forth, groaning and convulsing in … Continue reading
Smriti Daniel 