The Ray Award to Commercialise Lankan Inventions
Colombo, Sri Lanka: 20 June 2012
The Ray Wijewardene Charitable Trust (RWCT), in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Inventors Commission (SLIC) and Commercial Bank, are pleased to announce “The Ray” Award for Innovation.
This biennial life-time award is given in memory of the late Ray Wijewardene, the foremost inventor produced by Sri Lanka, to help a state recognised inventor to commercialise his or her invention.
The Trust invites all past winners of the Presidential Award presented by the Sri Lanka Inventors Commission to apply for this award by or before 31 July 2012.
“The Ray” is presented to encourage on-going innovation and enterprise in areas of public interest and continue Ray Wijewardene’s vision of innovation among Lankans, especially the youth.
The RWCT, which has appointed an independent panel of judges, would award a plaque and a citation to the winner of “The Ray” while the Commercial Bank would award a substantial credit line (worth LKR 1 million) to assist the winner to prepare the invention for commercialisation.
The University of Moratuwa would provide the technical support to convert the winner’s invention to a product or process ready for the market. In addition, the Commercial Bank would consider raising the required funds if the winner prepares a bankable project.
The inaugural Ray Award ceremony is scheduled for mid October 2012.
The Commercial Bank, the most internationally awarded Lankan bank, has incorporated corporate sustainability strategies that hinge on innovation and technology, collaboration and networking, continuous process improvement and stakeholder engagement.
The overall goal of the bank's social policy is to generate measurable and sustainable social dividends for different segments of the society, in particular those which require empowerment most urgently.
The Commercial Bank’s CSR Trust was established in 2004 and focuses mainly on projects aimed at uplifting standards of IT and English education. The CSR Trust commenced with a start-up capital of LKR 25 million and the Bank contributes up to 1 per cent of its after tax profits every year. The Bank sees this initiative as another opportunity to nurture talent that will change the future of the country.
The RWCT was established in January 2011 to promote and sustain the vision and ideas of Ray Wijewardene. It aims to recognise and support innovations in sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, engineering and aeronautics – disciplines and pursuits that were close to his heart for over half a century.
In December 2011, the RWCT together with the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka, organised the inaugural Ray Wijewardene Memorial Lecture on “Grassroots Innovations for Inclusive Development”. It was delivered by Professor Anil Gupta, Professor at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmadabad (IIMA) and Executive Vice Chair of the National Innovation Foundation of India.
