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Umesh Moramudali is a Sri Lankan economist and a researcher, currently reading for his PhD in Develpment Policy and Managment at the Global Development Institute (GDI), University of Manchester. His research mostly focuses on Chinese loans, public finance, public debt, middle income transition and the political economy of middle class. He has done extensive research work on Chinese lending to Sri Lanka, and myth of Chinese debt trap. His research was published in International Affairs Journal, Asian Perspective Journal, Asian Journal of Political Science, Roultage, and China- Africa Research Initiative (CARI) at the John Hopkins University. Previously, he was attached to the Department of Economics at the University of Colombo where he was a lecturer. He holds a BA (Honours) in Economics from the University of Colombo and an MSc in Economics from the University of Warwick, where he was awarded a Chevening scholarship.Umesh received a studentship from Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) of North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP) in 2025.

Many thanks to Dr. Chameera De Silva for accepting my invitation to join the Science Talks podcast. He is a Doctoral Scholar in Artificial Intelligence from Australia and a Consultant in AI – Atos. He is passionate about popularizing AI and trying new teaching and testing strategies on his students. The present day testing methods in our education system does not prepare our students for success. We have lost the art of thinking and instead we only limit ourselves to calculations and memorization – tasks which are easy for computers to take on. What can we do to improve our thinking?

Mental health, suicidal thoughts, depression can occur to anyone. How can we build mental resilience to the point where we see our problems in a positive lens? Muslims across the world and in Sri Lanka have one of the lowest suicide rates (N. Thalagaha et al). What makes their worldview different from others? How do they process things when adversity strikes? In this podcast I invited Sheikh Nasik Farook to talk on this. In this episode we will dive into the Islamic worldview, practical teachings for anyone to do that enhances mental resilience.    Nasik Farook holds a BA in Arabic Literature and Arabic Language from the Islamic University of Madina, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He recently completed his MA in Pali and Buddhist studies from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Many thanks to Jayashan Bandara for hosting the discussion and preparing questions.    Nasik Farook is an experienced Islamic educator and language teacher since 2015, with expertise in teaching Islam and Qur'an to new converts, and instructing Arabic and Sinhala languages. He is skilled in Quran translation and creating educational content to promote cultural understanding. He is committed to supporting diverse learners and fostering cross-cultural communication. Nasik’s YouTube channel can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/@nasikfarookofficial   Reference: SUICIDE TRENDS IN SRI LANKA 1880- 2006; SOCIAL, DEMOGRAPHIC AND GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS  N Thalagala   Time-stamps 00:00 About podcast 01:13 About Sheikh Nasik Farook 06:51 Learn from each other 07:38 No clergy in Islam 09:13 About Jayashan 12:25 The Islamic world view  23:16 Life is test 25:21 Try your best – but Allah decides the result  29:05 Exam stress  35:32 There is good in failure 36:58 Death of a child    39:19 Life after death  40:22 Muslims have lowest Suicide rates  41:18 We all have the same problems 42:01 Raising children 43:17 Divorce  44:04 All matters are good  45:24 Everyone has problems  45:51 Problem: We are living for others  48:35 Intention behind actions 51:18 Charities are done Anonymous  52:14 Don’t seek praise from others  55:00 Ego is the enemy  56:31 Not sleeping on time 1:00:38 Waking up early 1:01:43 Start from a young age 1:05:25 Friday afternoon prayers  1:06:24 Identity plays a role in habits  1:08:55 Mindfulness – look at nature   1:13:54 daily prayers & fasting  1:17:25 Step by step 1:18:13 Small changes – make a big difference 1:20:46 Thank the people  1:22:51 Values come first 1:25:52 Be the first to greet others 1:27:17 How to be consistent 1:32:47 Addictions – drugs and pornography  1:41:01 Natural feelings are abused 1:44:38 Buddhist meditation techniques 1:48:03 Rat race and children 1:51:59 With hardship comes ease 1:54:05 We need to be better parents 1:56:19 Be content with what you have  1:59:56 Compare yourself others who have less 2:03:49 Prophet’s advice to a person who wanted to commit adultery

Dr. Chandima Pradeep is a Ceramic Processing Engineer working with electro ceramics for Fuel cell & Electrolysis cells, Piezoelectric transducers, solid batteries. He is currently working at Technical University of Denmark (DTU). In this episode we will talk about future of batteries and energy storage technologies. Dr. Pradeep did his Bachelors from University of Colombo (UoC), then he did a MSc in Analytical Chemistry from UOC. While in Sri Lanka, he worked at HayCarb, PLC. In year 2013 he went to Japan to pursue his PhD from Kochi University of Technology under the mentorship of Prof Kazuya Kobiro. The focus of his PhD was synthesis of metal oxide materials using supercritical fluids. After the PhD, he did his first postdoc on thin film electronics with Prof. Toshiyuki Kawaharamua. Then worked in Faculty of Technology, University of Ruhuna in 2018-19 as a senior lecturer and also as the Head of Department of Biosystems technology, before coming to Denmark to do his second postdoc in supercritical hydrothermal synthesis. From 2023 to date, he is working as a ceramic processing engineer and ceramic lab manager at DTU Energy.     Key words: green hydrogen, Power to X, and Ceramics   00:00 Childhood motivation 02:46 Why Chemistry? 04:32 About Ceramic Engineering 06:44 What is Power to X technology? 08:43 Discovery of steam engine 10:41 Renewable Energy  14:45 Are Hydrogen cells efficient? 17:24 Carbon capture technologies 18:28 Metal organic frameworks  21:04 Will Electric cars be the future? 22:45 Using Ammonia as a fuel 26:46 What are Redox flow batteries? 36:00 What is Green Hydrogen? 37:18 Ceramic Engineering – Tape casting 48:23 Academic journey  49:54 Valuable lessons 55:26 Advice for students Time stamps

Dr. K. R. Jaliya Manuda obtained his Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of Colombo. He received his education from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon, Nalanda College - Colombo 10, and Ananda Central College - Elpitiya.  He is an experimental physical chemist and a materials scientist who has published multiple international publications based on his doctoral research. Currently, he is looking forward to opportunities to further explore his research interests to make the world a better place. PhD Thesis title: Direct monitoring of photoinduced degradation of organic molecules at TiO2 and TiO2-rGO nanocomposite interfaces PhD Supervisor: Professor Dilushan Jayasundara   Email - [email protected] Google Scholar - https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=XNFobv8AAAAJ&hl=en LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/k-r-jaliya-manuda-72b41a174/ ResearchGate - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/K-R-Jaliya-Manuda?ev=hdr_xprf ORCID - https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3333-6649   Jaliya also has a YouTube channel where he talks about Chemistry: https://youtube.com/@thechemslayer?si=wIGX8bhpTiFQAhm3   00:00 About Jaliya 01:39 Chemistry is the central science 04:58 Educational journey  09:21 Deciding on research area 10:18 What is Physical chemistry? 14:20 Searching for PhDs in Sri Lanka 17:34 Picking a good supervisor 20:07 What qualifications did they look? 22:19 Research intro – Photocatalytic degradation  33:27 Quartz Chrystal Microbalance 45:23 Research question 56:17 Interesting side project 59:27 Accidental discovery 1:03:18 Conclusion 1:08:19 Discovery #2 1:14:49 Discovery #3 1:19:21 Collaborative study #1 1:22:16 Collaborative study #2 1:23:50 Collaborative study #3 1:25:54 Milestones 1:28:28 Royal Society of Chemistry backcover image 1:29:08 Outside lab experience

I had the pleasure of speaking for the Undergrads at University of Kelaniya. I shared what I knew about applying for scholarships, preparing for them and how to look for them. If you like to invite me to speak at your event, please use this contact form:http://iqlabs.edu.lk/contact/

In this podcast we will talking about Dr. Himesh Jayasinghe’s incredible journey of switching fields from Engineering to Plant Science. He is the author of the book "DISCOVERY: Additions to the Flora of Ceylon" where shares the discovery of more than 200 new native plant species from Sri Lanka. Dr. Jayasinghe received his undergraduate degree from the University of Moratuwa where he specialized in Civil Engineering. He was always passionate about studying nature and would always choose projects that took him close to the natural habitats of Sri Lanka. With mentoring of Dr. Syril Wijesundara he embarked on his PhD at the National Institutes of Fundamental Studies in Sri Lanka.      Time stamps 00:00 About Guest 01:13 Himesh’s story 02:09 Ambitions as a school boy 03:36 Importance of Plant Science 06:40 Changing from Engineering to Plant Science 09:56 Do Environmental people ruin Civil engineering projects 15:13 Inspiration behind the book: “Discovery” 18:55 Training the eye to identify plants 20:29 Purpose behind the book 21:34 How to classify plants? 29:59 Opportunities for Plant Science in Sri Lanka 34:16 Advice for future students 37:16 Fieldwork pictures 56:24 How to contact Dr. Himesh

In this Science Talks episode, I invited my dad to discuss some of the Popular Science books he has read. My dad is Dr. M.C.M. Iqbal and he is a retired scientist from the National Institute of Fundamental Studies, Kandy. List of books can be found here:   ජනප්‍රිය විද්‍යා පොත් Books and authors mentioned: 1.        Isaac Asimov 2.        Bill Bryson a.        A brief history of nearly everything b.        The body 3.        Siddhartha Mukherjee  a.        The emperor of all maledies  b.        The gene c.        The song of the cell  4.        David Deutsch – The beginning of infinity  5.        Steven Strogatz  a.        Infinite Powers b.        The joy of finding “x” 6.        Manjit Kumar – Quantum  7.        Sean Carroll – The particle at the end of the universe  8.        Richard Thaler - Nudge 9.        Renee Engeln – Beauty Sick    Time stamps 00:00 About Podcast  02:19 Why should we read these books? 04:32 How my dad got interested 05:38 Isaac Asimov 08:09 Bill Bryson  11:19 Siddhartha Mukherjee  19:33 Use metaphors to simply things 23:30 Philosophy is essential to know Science 26:00 David Deutsch   27:07 Steven Strogatz  29:40 Alex Bellos  32:03 Manjit Kumar 37:54 Sean Carroll 38:50 Check for podcasts and lectures online  39:18 Richard Thaler  42:06 Renee Engeln

If you would like to support IQ Labs, please consider donating the price of a cup of coffee. It helps me cover up the running costs of this channel: https://buymeacoffee.com/iqlabs In this talk we will dive into the field of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), its applications and how it will impact the world. Chameera De Silva obtained his bachelor’s from the University of Colombo School of Computing. He is a Doctoral Scholar in Artificial Intelligence from Australia and a Consultant in AI – Atos. Please go through the time stamps to get an idea about the topics that were discussed.   Time stamps  00:00 Recap 01:58 Introducing Chameera 04:10 Self studying AI 06:22 How did you foresee the future of AI? 09:57 What is Generative AI? 13:45 History of GenAI 30:45 How does it work? 37:48 Don’t study AI. Do this instead 43:07 Is unethical to use AI tools to refine my own grammar? 50:16 Can we find out if someone used AI?  50:59 Benefits of GenAI 57:22 Dark side of GenAI 1:06:28 Comparison: ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, DeepSeek  1:12:19 DeepSeek Vs ChatGPT 1:13:56 Chain of Thought (CoT) How prompts work 1:16:56 Example – how ChatGPT makes mistakes 1:21:52 Loss of jobs due to AI

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  Isuru KoswatteUniversity of the West ofScotlandhttps://research-portal.uws.ac.uk › persons › 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   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

You might remember Dr. Nirma Jayawardena from my PhD advice video series. Today I invited her to talk about her research area – Marketing. A short bio/description about Nirma Dr. Nirma Sadamali Jayawardena is an Assistant Professor in Marketing at the University of Bradford, United Kingdom. She completed PhD in Marketing and Graduate Diploma of Business Research from Griffith University, Australia. She pursued a BSc in Business Management with a first-class honours from NSBM Green University, Sri Lanka, and MBA in International Business from University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. She has published her work in prestigious journals and has been the recipient of several national and international awards, grants, and scholarships. Links about her work, where people can reach out to her LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nirma-jayawardena-711502214/  University Website: https://www.bradford.ac.uk/staff/njayawardena/   00:00 Intro Dr. Nirma Jayawardena 01:05 About Nirma’s journey 05:08 Advice to those who enter Private Universities 06:36 Passion for teaching 08:14 Why did you choose Marketing? 09:38 How important is Marketing? 13:01 Visual memory on advertisements 14:44 Negative publicity is good publicity 15:33 We use marketing everyday: Job interview 16:23 Applying a marketing theory (Case study) 18:33 Lipton tea advertisement 24:04 Metaphorical framework on human judgement 25:56 What is Marketing? Nirma’s definition 28:05 Marketing after the rise of social media                    30:46 Common misconceptions about this field 31:54 Tools and skills needed for Marketing 33:23 Nirma’s publication 42:10 Misuses of marketing: social engineering, political campaigns, racism 47:18 Can a company recover after losing its reputation? 48:24 Future of marketing – interesting questions worth pursuing