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Been attached to the Sri Lanka Utility, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) as a Transmission Planning Engineer (2004-2009), I was engaging providing sustainable network solution for the country’s need. Further I was engaged in research on finding sustainable power generation options which suit for the country.  Mean time I was selected to the Sustainable Energy Engineering Worldwide (SEEW) Mater degree program conducted by KTH-Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden and it helped me to have a better understanding of the sustainable power generation. The knowledge gain thru the program was backed me to do the transmission & generation planning exercises with better understanding. Further it opened a great opportunity for me to have the world best experts’ knowhow on the world best practices in system planning, their knowledge & experience. As a result my vision of having sustainable power options to Sri Lanka system was enhanced more and more.  The knowledge & experience gained from the SEEW Mater degree was helped greatly in all other research which I have done so far. Further it influence me to find sustainable solutions for the problems raised in my current working place-Broadlands Hydropower Project in CEB.

Though it is based on the concept of distant learning, I never felt any difference with the aspect of gaining knowledge & experience compared to my other degree programs. As a working mother, the SEEW program made me to manage my work better with all my responsibilities on work and home.

After some years of the program, I am in the process of sharing the knowledge & experience which I gained from the SEEW M.Sc program to the society in several working streams such as in my carrier as an engineer to Sri Lanka utility, as a member of various professional societies related to energy management and engineering, working on publications and social Medias and etc

Finally I would like to thank the personnel who worked hard to make the program a success and who facilitate this kind of program for the Sri Lankan students and would like to bless them to work to be continued in future as well.

Eng. Tharanga Wickramarathna (Ms.)
B.Sc. Eng. (Hons), M.Sc. (UOM), M.Sc. (Sweden), C.Eng. MIE (SL), MSLEMA
Project Engineer (P&M)
Broadlands Hydropower Project
Ceylon Electricity Board

I enrolled to the SEEW master program as a remote based student in 2010 through the OUSL. I
think that was the turning point of my graduate studies. I completed my studies exactly in two
years. I received a full scholarship to visit KTH and complete my final thesis studies as an on-
campus student at KTH, Stockholm, Sweden. Visiting KTH, studying at such a wonderful world
class university was a great opportunity to me.
I was searching for opportunities for doctoral studies after the completion of my MSc studies.
Truly saying, I received positive responses from each and every university I applied. Anyway, I
selected the EFZN – Energy Research Center of Lower Saxony – Germany as my research center
for doctoral studies. It was one of the leading institutes for energy studies in Germany which
formed with five technical universities at North Germany.
I was the one and the only student who got opportunity to follow doctoral studies in that institute
so far from Sri Lanka. I firmly believe that it is due to my MSc qualification in SEE. I could obtain
the qualification of Doctor of Engineering and the title of (Dr.-Ing.) within three years of my
doctoral studies. Generally, doctoral students had to take subjects in MSc courses, but at the
enrolment, after evaluating my master qualification, I didn’t have to take any coursework subject
for my doctoral studies. That is the significance of this master program in SEE.
I did my doctorate on the field of the integration of solar and wind based distributed generations
to the power system. Now, I am working as an Electrical Engineer, at National System Control
Center, Ceylon Electricity Board, Sri Lanka. I am working on special project of integrating
embedded generation (solar and wind) to national grid which is highly related to my MSc and
doctoral studies.

Dr. Chaminda Ranaweera
(DSEE – 2010 Batch)
Electrical Engineer – Ceylon Electricity Board

As an MSc student of Sustainable Energy Engineering at the KTH University, I am well-equipped to develop energy management and conservation practices at Wijeya Newspapers Ltd in Sri Lanka. I started my career as a mechanical engineer at Wijeya Newspapers Ltd in 2005 and assumed duties in mechanical maintenance department where I implemented productivity development techniques and maintenance management systems. As a result of the new techniques, the down time of the printing operation was considerably reduced and the total waste copy generation was reduced. In 2007, I got an opportunity to join Wijeya Newspapers Ltd’s state of the art factory designing project as a project engineer. In the same period, I was selected to pursue the master’s programme in SEEW at KTH University. As a professional who was eager to apply new energy management, conservation and improvement systems and technologies, the knowledge that I had been gaining from my MSc studies in SEEW was immensely helpful and I was able to initiate and implement some fruitful projects in the newly constructed factory. By implementing energy saving projects, I could improve the efficiency and productivity of the work place. Furthermore, I designed the factory in a sustainable way using maximum natural resources such as daylight for the entire factory operation about 12 hours a day, natural and passive ventilation systems to improve the efficiency of employees and sound proof technology in the building which was selected for the national award competition and won LKR 5 million grant for environmental friendly factory award from the Government of Netherlands in 2009.

With my continuous dedication, leadership and application of the best practices in the plant, I moved up the corporate ladder being promoted to the post of Plant Engineer at the newly constructed factory and the Assistant General Manager in 2010 and the Chief Operations Officer in 2014.

Wijeya Newspapers Ltd has received many national and international awards and certifications for the factory operations such as National Energy Efficiency Award, National Green Award, National Cleaner Production Award, and National Productivity Award during last eight years in recognition of our efforts in energy and environment management. ISO 50001-2011 (Energy Management System) Certification and ISO 14001-2004 (Environmental Management System) Certification have also been awarded for energy efficiency and environmental friendly business practices at Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.

As a result of my efforts in boosting interest on energy management and renewable energy technologies in the top management of the company, I started the research feasibility on electricity generation from Dendro power for industrial printing press machine at Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.

While working in the Wijeya Newspapers Ltd, I extend my services as a professional in the field of Quality Management, Energy Management and Environmental Management Systems. I serve as a lead auditor for ISO 9001-2008, Consultant for ISO 14001-2004, ISO 50001-2011, and auditor for Energy Management, Cleaner Production Practice and Productivity Development. I have conducted presentations and speeches in national and international symposia and conferences on energy improvement and management, sustainable practices and productivity enhancement. In universities, schools and other institutions, I have been sharing the knowledge and experience that I have received from SEEW. I believe the backbone of a successful career is a comprehensive knowledge of the subject matter and the field and my MSc studies at KTH have contributed to make me an accomplished professional.

Eng.Janaka Rathnakumara
Chief Operations Officer/AGM,
Wijeya Newspapers Ltd,
No.08, Hunupitiya Cross Road,
Colombo-02,
Sri Lanka.

In 2010, after sixteen years of service as an Engineer in the Sri Lanka Air Force in aeronautical and mechanical Engineering spheres, I was thinking of switching my career into academia and a way of bridging these two careers was a need then. ‘Energy systems’ as an Engineering discipline has fascinated me right from my undergraduate days and I knew that would be my destination. Owing to the thirst of knowledge and interest for Energy systems I opted to read my MSc studies specializing in the Sustainable Energy Utilization stream under SEEW program at the University of Gavle, Sweden (which was conducted by the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm) because the core of the curriculum was focused on finding sustainable energy solutions to the current global issues such as climate change and energy security.

Each component of the SEEW MSc program provided me an in-depth, clear and crisp knowledge on the subject scope. Furthermore, I became quite familiar with various analytical techniques and procedures, specially to determine the behaviour of thermodynamic models through computer based analysis and modeling them by using different software tools.

The post graduate exposure has not only provided me a solid and firm foundation in understanding the concepts in the field of Energy Engineering but also molded me to carry forward the invaluable skills to manage and collaborate with people through different projects that I carried as a part of the course.

I have hardly felt that I was following MSc as a distance based student because of availability of online literature, virtual lectures through live streaming facility and the tremendous support extended by the local facilitator, OUSL. Working on computer software platforms such as Compedu, bilda and centra were invaluable for me to reach enough and more course materials.

Profound reputation of high quality work environment, standards, international recognition and extremely distinguished team members, were experienced throughout my MSc study experience. Furthermore, the same was highly valued by KDU (General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University) during my professional enlistment procedures. I always benchmark my MSc experience to guide my undergraduate students in KDU to inspire them.

Whilst being humbly proud to be a product of SEEW program, with great pleasure, I would wish all the success for the future students of the SELECT program.

Eng. (Ms) Kumudu Amarawardhana
AMIE (Sri Lanka) BSc (Eng)(Hons) in Mechanical Engineering (Peradeniya), MSc (Eng) in Sustainable Energy systems (Gavle,Sweden)
Squadron Leader (Retd)- Sri Lanka Air Force
Senior Lecturer Grade II
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Faculty of Engineering
General Sir John Kothelawala Defence University
Ratmalana
Sri Lanka.