The Faculty Internship Committee and the Undergraduate Research Committee collaboratively organized the Management Undergraduate Internship & Research Symposium – 2022 on 21st of October 2022 at the Faculty of Management. This symposium is a unique event in the Management Faculty’s annual calendar as it creates a great platform to select the ‘Best Intern’ and the ‘Best Undergraduate Researcher’ of the year among the final year undergraduates of Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Honours and Bachelor of Commerce (B. Com) Honours degree programmes offered by the Faculty. Vice Chancellor, Prof. M.D. Lamawansa, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof. W.M.T. Madhujith, Dean, Faculty of Management, Prof. E.M.A.S.B. Ekanayake, and the distinguished guests from both industry and academia graced the event. Dr. Dinesh Hamangoda, General Manager - Sales, Hemas Holdings PLC delivered the keynote speech on the value of research exposure for corporate success.
Parallel to the symposium, the maiden issues of ‘Peradeniya Management Student’ (PMS), the official student newsletter and proceedings of the ‘Working Paper Series’ the collection of research articles presented by the academic staff members of the Faculty of Management were launched. Also, the inaugural session comprised the presenting of faculty awards for the year 2021 and Prof. R.H. Kuruppuge, Department of Operations Management and Ms. W.A. Edirisooriya, Senior Lecturer, Department of Human Resource Management were awarded for research excellence in Category I and II respectively. Also, the excellence awards for non- academic staff were awarded to Ms. N.R. Ekanayake, Management Assistant, Dean’s Office and Mr. A.M.C.S.B. Aththanayaka, Work Aid, Department of Operations Management for Category I and II respectively.
Ten selected students from the BBA Honours degree programme were given the opportunity to present at the ‘Internship Diaries’ and industry experts representing different business functions, Mr. Vidhantha Attanayake, International Marketing & Sales Manager, Noritake Lanka Porcelain (Pvt) Ltd; Mr. Eranga Hettiarachchi, Employees Relations Manager - Asian Paints Causeway; Mr. Yanaka Jayasinghearachchi, Assistant Manager - Lean Manufacturing, Hela Clothing Pvt Ltd; Mr. Kaushal Mendis, Director - People & Culture, Gamma Pizzakraft Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. and Ms. Gelani Tissera, Freelance Financial Consultant evaluated the presentations. The following winners of the Internship Diaries were awarded medals and certificates at the awarding ceremony.
The Best Intern / Winner : Ms. A. N Kulatunga, Department of Management Studies
First Runner Up : Ms. G.P.R.P. Karunarathne, Department Operations Management
Second Runner Up : Ms. M. Senevirathne, Department of Human Resource Management
Further, the research session was conducted with the participation of both BBA Honours and B.Com Honours presenters and an esteemed panel of judges representing different faculties of the University of Peradeniya, Prof. Asela Kulathunga, Department of Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering; Prof. H.M.W.H.A. Herath and Prof. K.M.R.Karunarathna, Department of Economics and Statistics, Faculty of Arts; Dr. L.N.A.C. Jayawardena, Department of Agricultural Extension, Faculty of Agriculture; Dr. P.K. Seelagama, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts contributed for the evaluation of presentations. The following winners were awarded for their excellent performance in undergraduate research presentations at the symposium.
The Best Researcher / Winner : Mr. K. Sachin - Department Operations Management
First Runner Up : Ms. P.P. Abeykoon - Department of Business Finance
Second Runner Up : Ms. N. T. Kavindi - Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree Programme
