Kumuditha Achini Kariyawasam

I was fortunate to be a part of the University of Northampton family as an undergraduate student from 2008 – 2011. I came to England from Sri Lanka on a scholarship, which gave me the opportunity to experience a different academic culture, which is based on a student-centred system with a wide range of technical and academic exposure.

I was amazed at the first-year study options of how the university understood the importance of problem-solving skills which I could transfer to the industry. In the first year, they introduced the problem solving and programming module based on the robotics fundamentals which was immensely valuable to develop the foundation skills of a Software Engineer. Then in the second and third years, I could specialize in the Software Engineering pathway and gain technical and soft skills from the ground level to an expert level.

In the final year, I had the opportunity to participate in the research project with my supervisors at the University. The research outcome was published and presented at the 8th China – Europe International Symposium on Software Engineering Education (CEISEE 2012) in Shanghai, China. These opportunities and projects opened many doors in the field as a Software Engineer to set my foot into the industry when I was starting my first job at Matrix SCM in Milton Keynes, UK.

After working as a Software Engineer in the UK, I had an opportunity to move to Doha, Qatar and started my career as a Software Projects’ Coordinator for local and multinational clients like Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (FIFA 2022), Hamad Medical Corporation, Aspire Zone, Public Works Authority (Ashghal), and College of North Atlantic by managing the different software projects.

All these career milestones have been achieved with the successful foundation of my university course and under the guidance of immensely supportive academic staff. The course content provides valuable and industry-focused insights which students can transfer into practicality within any technology platform. Therefore, UON was a turning point in my career life and was the best experience I have had as a student.