The Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) breaks through the barriers of academic excellence once again by showcasing Sri Lankan talent to the world. The most recent endeavour includes SLIIT students' performances at the prestigious Sheffield Hallam University (SHU), one of the UK's most progressive and innovative universities.

SLIIT's long-standing affiliation with SHU, UK has resulted in students receiving valuable academic rewards in terms of their performance at foreign universities. The most recent batch to graduate from SHU, UK in Software Engineering and Computer Systems and Networks degrees all passed with flying colours, with sixteen students receiving First Class Honours passes. Commenting on the outstanding achievement by the students, SLIIT Chairman Professor S. Karunaratne expressed his exultation regarding the overall performance, talents and skills of SLIIT students at SHU, UK.

Combined with these landmark achievements, a team of the brightest students at SHU,UK were awarded the prize for a 'top secret' project, among them a graduate from SLIIT, Mangala Kodagoda, who has just completed his MSc in Games Development Software. Mangala and his group won the top prize to continue their research project for UK Sport's 2009 Ideas4innovation: New Researchers Award, outscoring 18 other projects from various disciplines submitted to UK Sports and 8 finalists to emerge overall winner of the competition.

The competition is aimed at Master’s-level and postgraduate students with innovative ideas that have the potential to enhance the performance of British Olympic or Paralympic athletes. The winning project presented by Mangala and his team was based on the development of a novel tool to assist athletes in their preparation for performing at competition venues, providing a means for the athletes to familiarise themselves with their competition arena and all visual cues to assist strategy prior to any competitive race.

The panel of judges who collectively decided on the prize-winning project were UK Sport's Head of Research and Innovation, Dr Scott Drawer, Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medallist Jason Queally, and UK Sport's Ideas4Innovation Project Manager Alison Macpherson. UK Sport will now invest £25,000 in the further development of the winning idea, allowing the students to continue their research.
Mangala Kodagoda stated that his enriching experiences at SLIIT paved the way for his academic success at SHU, UK. As a Sri Lankan student within a diverse academic environment, he is jubilant that the work conducted by his group is being recognised and supported by UK Sport, a prestigious accolade awarded only to the brightest minds in the field of IT.