Conferences and Workshops

Workshop on "Exploring IoT and Embedded Systems"

The IEEE Computational Intelligence Society Student Branch Chapter of the University of Jaffna, in collaboration with the Zonal Education Office, Valikamam, conducted a workshop on “Exploring IoT and Embedded Systems” on 19 September 2024. Held at the Department of Computer Science, University of Jaffna, the workshop targeted high school ICT teachers from the Valikamam zone, with around 40 participants attending.

Mr. S. Suthakar (Senior Lecturer, Department of Computer Science, UoJ) introduced the basics of IoT and embedded systems, along with practical demonstrations, supported by Level 3S students as instructors. Participants gained valuable technical knowledge and practical skills to enhance their teaching.

A workshop titled “Mastering Deep Learning with Hands-On” was organised by the IEEE Computer Society Student Branch Chapter of the University of Jaffna and held on August 17, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., supported by a $300 Chapter Grant from the IEEE Computer Society. The workshop covered the following topics:

  •  “From Machine Learning to Deep Learning” by Prof. M. Siyamalan
  •  “Deep Learning with Convolutional Neural Networks” by Dr. (Ms.) R. Nirthika
  •  “Deep Learning Architectures and Applications” by Dr. T. Kokul

Additionally, a session on “Hands-on Training: PyTorch for Image Classification” was conducted by Prof. M. Siyamalan. The event attracted approximately 80 students from the University of Jaffna and other institutions, including the University of Vavuniya and SLIIT Northern Uni., who gained valuable insights and practical experience.

The IEEE WIE Student Branch Affinity Group of the University of Jaffna hosted GeSSoMI-2024: Cybersecurity Bootcamp, under the theme “Empowering Diversity in Cybersecurity through Gender-Inclusive Education.” This event, held on June 17, 2024, from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM at the Department of Computer Science, University of Jaffna, was organized as part of the three-day summer school programme, Google exploreCSR Summer School on Machine Intelligence (GeSSoMI). It was funded by the IEEE R10 WIE and the Google exploreCSR Award 2023/2024 at the University of Jaffna. The bootcamp attracted approximately 100 attendees from the University of Jaffna, the University of Colombo School of Computing, the University of Moratuwa, the University of Vavuniya, and the Open University of Sri Lanka.

The day featured a well-rounded programme covering four key topics in cybersecurity: Zero Trust Architecture – a keynote talk and networking session, Emerging Trends in Cybersecurity Research – a keynote session, Security Monitoring with Wireshark – a hands-on demonstration and networking session, and Tracing Digital Footprints – a panel discussion

In addition to the sessions, the event included networking opportunities, refreshment breaks, group photos, and a lunch session. The day concluded with the distribution of certificates to all participants. Throughout the bootcamp, attendees engaged with industry professionals and academics, gaining valuable insights into the dynamic field of cybersecurity. More details can be found here.

Resource Persons: Mrs. Mithulan Renusha (Lecturer, Human Resource Management, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce, UoJ) and Ms. Thasika Yogeshwaran (Lecturer, Human Resource Management, Faculty Of Management Studies And Commerce, UoJ)
Held: 14th August 2022 from 1.00 p.m. to 3.00 p.m. in CSL-I@DCS.
Flyer: Click here

The first student-focused national workshop in Computer Science referred to as “Sri Lanka Student Workshop on Computer Science (SL-SWCS)” was organized by the Department of Computer Science, the University of Jaffna which was held on 8th of December 2011 in the Faculty of Science, University of Jaffna. The first workshop was well attended by 100 participants including final year undergraduate and postgraduate students studying in Sri Lanka. Since then SL-SWCS is conducted as a biennial workshop. The first event was co-sponsored by 99X Technology and the University of Melbourne. The second national SL-SWCS’13 workshop was held on 14th of December 2013 which was attended by 125 participants and co-sponsored by Virtusa, 99X Technology, and the University of Melbourne. The SL-SWCS’15 and SL-SWCS’17 was held on 7th of November 2015 and 9th of December 2017, respectively and were well attended by around 150 participants. The third and fourth national workshops were co-sponsored by WSO2 and 99X Technology along with the University of Melbourne, Australia.

The Department of Computer Science at the University of Jaffna hosted the International Conference on Information and Automation for Sustainability (ICIAfS) Post Conference Workshop which was held from 21st to 22nd of December 2010 at the Faculty of Science, the University of Jaffna with the support of the University of Moratuwa. The event was the first ever international workshop held in the Faculty of Science since its inception. The event was well attended by around 100 CS and IT students from the University of Jaffna and it had 14 keynote speakers from the University of Melbourne, University of Leeds, University of Southampton, and the University of Moratuwa.

The Department of Computer Science at the University of Jaffna hosted the first “Jaffna IT Conference” held on 6th of December 2014 along with Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM) and supported by the Export Development Board (EDB), Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), Ministry of Education (MOE). The event attracted over 200 students from State universities all over the country, who were exposed to the core of Sri Lanka’s IT industry, for them to understand the skill sets and expertise required of them, and to open up avenues and opportunities that were previously hard for them to access. A line-up of some of Sri Lanka’s leading personalities in the IT/BPM sector shared insights on the latest developments in the local and global IT industry – topics discussed included a mix of technical, trending topics in the industry (Development, Internet of Things, Mobile), as well as more business-related themes, with both a local and global outlook.

The panel of speakers included ICTA CEO Reshan Dewapura, WSO2 Founder, Chairman and CEO Dr. Sanjiva Weerawarana, CodeGen CEO and Chief System Architect Dr. Harsha Subasinghe, Motorola Solutions Sri Lanka Country Manager Anuradha Tennakoon, Microsoft Sri Lanka Country Manager Imran Vilcassim, Zone24x7 Vice President – Engineering and General Manager Dr. Sankalpa Gamwarige, Microimage Founder/CEO Harsha Purasinghe, Calcey Technologies Founder and CEO Mangala Karunaratne, 99X Technology Co-Founder and CEO Mano Sekaram and IFS General Manager/Director Sales and Consulting South Asia, IFS Pakistan Country Director and IFS Global Academy Project Consultant Poorna Bandara. Additionally, the Jaffna undergraduates hosted their counterparts from other parts of the country in their own homes, giving the visiting students a real feel of life in the North, forging lasting friendships between the youth – a small yet sure step forward in the process of reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

The UoJ-Hack was initiated by the Department of Computer Science at the University of Jaffna and the first competition was held in 1st of December 2014 which is a premier mobile technology competition open to all Universities. The intent of the competition is to nurturer skills, innovation, and creativity, fostering a spirit of studentship among the entrants. The best and the brightest young minds are given a chance to join hands to utilize technology, taking on some of the world’s toughest problems. While competing with their peers, participants had an opportunity to work alongside to make new friends, expose their abilities to the global IT industry and transform their ideas into reality. After a elapse, the second UoJ-Hack was amalgamated with HackaDev that is conducted by the UNDP with a partnership with Dialog and Ideamart, together with supporting partners Ministry of Disaster Management and UNV Sri Lanka. The event was held on 28th of October 2017 at the Faculty of Science, University of Jaffna.