IQ Labs

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?