IIT Graduate shines in software engineering
View(s):ITH over 3,000 graduates that are currently empowering over 250 multinational and local blue-chip companies, the Informatics Institute of Technology (IIT) is renowned for producing innovators, entrepreneurs and business leaders.
Ridmi Rangika is an all-round graduate from IIT who has achieved much success following graduation. Ridmi is currently employed as a Software Engineer at WSO2, which is a leading multinational company that specializes in open source technology. Following are excerpts of the interview with Ridmi who shared her thoughts on her journey towards corporate success.
“The main reason why I decided to follow the IIT degree was because they offered a sandwich degree programme which contains a one year internship opportunity during the third year of the degree. I realized the value of having both work experience and a degree which was recommended by industrial experts and IIT alumni”
Can you give a brief introduction to yourself?
I’m Ridmi Rangika. I was born and raised in Matara.
I went to St Thomas’ Girls’ High School, Matara. I followed the Software Engineering degree from the Informatics Institution of Technology, affiliated to University of Westminster and graduated in 2016. I am Currently working as a Software Engineer at WSO2 in WSO2 Enterprise Integrator product. Prior to this, I worked at Pearson Lanka.
What made you to follow your higher education at IIT?
As soon as I finished my A/L I was looking for a degree to pursue my higher education.
I had an interest in the software engineering field, so I was looking for related degrees offered by different institutions in Sri Lanka. Then I got to know about IIT degree programs from my brother and I was very interested in the degree content. The main reason why I decided to follow the IIT degree was because they offered a sandwich degree programme which contains a one year internship opportunity during the third year of the degree.
I realized the value of having both work experience and a degree which was recommended by industrial experts and IIT alumni.
3What was your student life and experiences like at IIT?
Student life at IIT was really fun. I got a lot of opportunities an there are too many memorable moments to remember. I made a lot of good friends.
I did a lot of extracurricular activities. Such as I was an AISEC member. I performed at Stage Craft events for two years. It is an annual talent show organized by IIT.
I participated in sports events. I was in the IIT choir and worked as an event organizing committee member and lot more. I was a very silent girl during my school days. But participating in those activities was really fun and engaging those activities improved my communication and leadership skills. Improving those skills are really matters to your career life. When I worked at Pearson Lanka I played leadership roles in my position. I did training for newly hired employees.
What are your notable achievements at IIT?
Achievement is associated with targeted goals or aims in life. In the academic side, my notable achievement that I am proud of is my final year project. ‘The VOTER’ is my final year project.
The VOTER is meant to predicate real-time sentiment analysis for Sri Lankan elections by using Twitter data. Streaming Tweets, data pre-processing, analysis by using algorithm/data classifications and finally present it with the predicate result for each candidate are the flow of the project VOTER. Research area contains Sentimental Analysis, Machine Learning Algorithms, Test Classifications, Data Pre-Processing and etc. I was able to successfully complete the final year project. And why it became the notable achievements is, I faced a lot of issues and there were lots of ups’ and downs’. With the help of the IIT lectures and the resource persons, finally I was able to finish my project successfully.
How has IIT shaped you for corporate success?
Yes of course. Because IIT providing a 1 year of industrial experience where you can get the real industrial experience helped me in my career. For me, it was really exciting to work in a real company during my third year of the degree. I learned a lot and gained a lot of experience. Doing an internship for 1 year is an added advantage and it’s really valuable once you graduated and join a company.
What are your reasons to recommend IIT to students from your school?
I would recommend IIT to any students not only because of the degrees that they provide but also because of the 1 year of internship opportunity.
IIT students are recognized as all-rounder in most of the IT companies. I’m working with lots of IIT alumni in the engineering field and they are recognized as passionate and multi-talented individuals.
Can you describe the support you received from the staff and the faculty of IIT?
Support from IIT lecturers was tremendous. They were really supportive. They always think to about the student’s academic progress and advise them when it’s needed. They always try to push us for the innovation competitions where they want IIT students to be recognized in the industry.
Especially in my final year project, I got immense support from my mentor. Thanks to their support I was able to successfully complete my degree.
IIT conducts internal postgraduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of Westminster (UOW), UK and Robert Gordon University. The University of Westminster degrees offered at IIT are Software Engineering, Business Information System, Business Management and Computer Science with specialization pathways in gaming and computer graphics development, mobile and web computing and multimedia computing.
IIT is an award winning campus, which has bagged many accolades for innovation in local and international competitions such as Microsoft Imagine Cup, National Best Quality Software Awards (NBQSA), APICTA, British Council-HSBC Youth Enterprise Award and e-Swabhimani.
With its strong international affiliations, outstanding resources and focus on quality higher education, IIT is without a doubt an ideal place for students to follow world renowned IT and Business degrees.
For further information, e-mail “admissions@iit.ac.lk” or call the hotline 0722 72 72 72 or visit IIT Main Campus at No. 57, Ramakrishna Rd,
Colombo 06.