Lytt til IQ Labs

You might remember Binura Perera from my DAAD scholarshipvideo. Today I invited him to share his views on what it takes to beuniversally ready. Initially, I wanted to talk about being “corporate ready” –things students should pay attention to before they enter the job market.However, Binura challenged my perspective and told me to look at the bigpicture, to take on the whole world instead of being the best in Sri Lanka. Binuracurrently works as a Sustainability Professional for a Multinational company inGermany. He received his Masters from Carl von Ossietzky University ofOldenburg through a DAAD scholarship. His undergraduate degree was inMechanical Engineering from Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology(SLIIT). 00:00 Intro 01:52 What is Universally ready and global citizen 06:10 Talking about migration in general 10:44 Migration has different reasons 16:58 Fundamental difference between developed countries andSri Lanka? 17:47 Binura’s analogy: Train Vs Helicopter 20:03 We are afraid to take risks 23:02 Age is not a barrier for education in Westerncountries 24:20 I don’t have to do the same degree was the rest of mylife 26:39 Sri Lankan’s don’t make useof our facilities                        30:30 Politicians reflect us 32:18 Is migration all beautifulas they say? 35:59 How to align our values andtargets 44:22 Skills#1 Decision making 50:19 Skills#2 Time management 54:02 Skills#3 Networking 1:00:10 Skills#4 FinancialDiscipline 1:03:21 Skills#5 Teamwork 1:11:04 Suggestion to audience 1:12:46 Skills#6 Empathy andsympathy 1:18:25 Closing question: Whatmakes a man?

In this podcast we will explore the Science behind BusinessManagement with Dr. Isuru Koswatte. Dr. Koswatte is an Assistant Professor inBusiness and Management at University of the West of Scotland. He is also anAdjunct Senior Research Fellow at NSBM Green University.  He also suervesas an external examiner at Northumbra University.   He completed his PhD from the University of Manchester in2020 at the age of 27 and is skilled in Mixed Method Research, StructureEquation Modelling and qualitative research. He holds a first class honours inMSc in International Business from the University of Manchester as well as donea BSc in Business and Management from the University of Birmingham.   Dr. Koswatte’s research interests are diverse and spans inthe areas of organizational resilince, crisis management, entrepnuership aswell SDG goals. He has published several international journals, book chaptersand taken part in conference as well as involved in funded internationalresearch collaborations.    He is also involved in several roles administrativelyholding responsibilities as the Deputy Programme Leader for the BA BusinessDegree programe at UWS as well as Co-Chairing the Staff Research Forum atUWS.      He is presently an associate member of National Centre forResilience, a cross sector partnership spanning Scottish universities,government and practice. He is also a member of the British Academy EarlyCareer Researcher Network in Scotland as well as a member of the Academy ofInternational Business (AIB).   Dr Koswatte is an experienced academic holding Fellowship inhigher Education (FHEA) as well as The Certified Management & BusinessEducator (CMBE) status for his recognition in the Business and Managementfield. You can check about Dr. Isuru Koswatte’s work from theselinks: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drisurukoswatte/?originalSubdomain=uk [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drisurukoswatte/?originalSubdomain=uk]  Isuru KoswatteUniversity of the West ofScotlandhttps://research-portal.uws.ac.uk › persons › isuru-koswatte [https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://research-portal.uws.ac.uk/en/persons/isuru-koswatte&ved=2ahUKEwjNsc-HpoaJAxW4XUEAHadOB5EQFnoECAgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1Sq6OTUqPinmstIyxMMRpE]  https://www.nsbm.ac.lk/staff/dr-isuru-koswatte/ [https://www.nsbm.ac.lk/staff/dr-isuru-koswatte/]   00:00 Introducing Isuru 01:01 Isuru’s journey after school 05:49 About Business Management 09:47 Our understanding of a businessman is very negative 11:14 Research on crisis management and resilience building 16:01 Sri Lankan companies are well ahead with their CSR 17:08 Resilience comes from being hospitable 18:25 Why are we behind in job creation? 22:51 Business management and entrepreneurship is not asubject but a skill 24:45 Sri Lankans are good in subject knowledge but not inapplication 27:33 How can we create a culture which fosters this? 31:17 Lack of role models 38:46 Politicians make the best brands 41:43 American parents teach their kids to be leaders 50:44 Problem with falling for political ad campaigns 52:11 Developed Asian companies focus on systems, westernculture focusses on personalities 58:15 How to make a brand? 1:03:52 Sri Lankans making poor choices with migrations

In this podcast I invited my batchmate, Kaneru Vimantha Godagama from the Science Faculty of University of Colombo to talk about how a “Great Place to work” decides on screening the best companies in Sri Lanka. In this talk I wanted to highlight the science behind evaluating companies. Kaneru is the Head of Consulting Business Unit at Great Place to Work - Sri Lanka. When he was an undergraduate, he served as the Local Committee President - AIESEC in University of Colombo from 2015/16. He has an MBA from Cardiff Metropolitan University and is reading for his CMI UK Level 7 (Extended diploma is professional consulting). Kaneru is passionate about new experiences, love s traveling and roller-coaster rides (both literally and figuratively) and enjoys facilitating workshops and conducting trainings.  To get intouch with Kaneru you can connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaneru-vimantha-godagama [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaneru-vimantha-godagama]   00:00 About Kaneru 02:59 Kaneru as a project manager 03:53 Importance of clubs and societies: AIESEC Club 07:01 Kaneru’s awakening – introvert to extrovert 08:16 Try different clubs 12:44 AIESEC is like a kitchen – not like a restaurant 16:28 Origins of “Great place to work” 23:25 What makes a great place to work? What are the factors? 26:19 Employees and management is like the neck of the company 34:11 How important is statistics to your company? 45:27 Statistics is not enough – expert knowledge is needed 52:57 Mistakes Sri Lankan companies make 59:03 Importance of wellbeing 1:00:52 Advice to undergrads who enter the job market 1:10:24 Extracurricular activities and Emotional intelligence

Dr. Muditha Bandara is a senior lecturer at the Department of Nuclear Science at the University of Colombo. In this talk we will explore the field of Nuclear science, Medical Physics and his research in those areas. He received his PhD in Bio-Medical Imaging Physics from the University of Colombo under the supervision of Dr. Janaka Wansapura. For his post-doctoral training he has worked in the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Texas, USA. He has also served as visiting lecturer at General Sir John Kothalawala Defense University. 00:00 Muditha’s journey 02:24 Negative impression of Nuclear science Department 05:00 Medical Physics and Nuclear Science overlap 06:09 Meeting Dr. Janaka Wansapura 08:15 Paper qualifications can’t judge a person 09:43 People bloom in different times 11:16 Starting FOS blog and media unit and hobbies 15:36 Differences in students across generations 18:28 Differences in American students 19:55 American students like asking questions 23:00 Doing PhD in Sri Lanka – positives and negatives 30:26 Muditha’s research 39:58 Inter-disciplinary research 42:45 Post Doctoral experience in USA at UT Southwestern Medical Center 45:30 Did you doubt yourself when you came to the USA? 46:07 How broad is Medical Physics? 49:39 Last comments

You might remember Dr. Muditha Senarath-Yapa from my previous podcast. He was the head of John Keells Research and the Vice President of John Keells Holdings. This time I invited him to talk about innovation, how to foster it from a young age and how it can benefit Sri Lanka in the years to come. Muditha is a seasoned New Technology Development Consultant and thrives in managing cross-functional research teams and driving groundbreaking projects at the forefront of nanotechnology, biotechnology, and advanced technologies. His passion lies in fusing scientific exploration with business acumen to deliver transformative solutions that propel companies to the forefront of their industries. 00:00 What is Innovation? 07:06 Science/innovation brought prosperity examples 13:43 What National plan would you propose to achieve this? 24:11 How can we foster this mindset from the school level 28:33 American kids selling candy in the park 30:54 We lack people’s skills 33:34 Is spending money on R&D is a waste? 46:03 Can small scale businesses do R&D? 54:50 Things you can do in your home/garage 01:01:19 Encourage hobbies among people 01:03:38 Challenges in taking product to market 01:09:54 Information at our fingertips 01:10:40 Allocate time to develop knowledge 01:13:43 Time to make change in our country