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According to Napoleon Hill, who is an American author,”Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle. A person who struggles to realize their ideas through continuous effort will definitely grow and become a strength to others.”

As the world’s largest professional organization for the advancement of technology, IEEE fulfils the responsibility of recognizing individuals for their extraordinary achievements and efforts rendered to the IEEE region they belong to. Among the IEEE awards, the award for most outstanding volunteer of the year, the Larry K. Wilson Regional Student Activities Award is in the forefront in the hearts of student volunteers.The award is designed to recognize the Student member most responsible for an extraordinary accomplishment associated with Student Activities. It is awarded on behalf of sustained hard work of a volunteer that makes a section vibrant and beneficial to its members. It is sponsored by the IEEE Member and Geographic Activities (MGA) Board.

This award encourages the members to excel in their efforts and continue the dedication shown throughout the period they were actively involved with IEEE. Such acknowledgements help others to follow the guidance of exceptional members and also it will enable a region to strive for excellence.

Marking a significant turning point in history, Sri Lanka being a part of the IEEE Region 10″, has successfully managed to produce the second winner of the prestigious  Larry K. Wilson Award from the section. Yasitha Harshanath, a member of the IEEE Student Branch of the University of Peradeniya won the Larry K. Wilson Award for the year 2018.

Yasitha holds a reputed volunteering career in IEEE which unfolded over the past few years as an active member. Crucial points among those include being part of the team from the University of Peradeniya who won IEEE MGA award for Best Student Branch Website when he was the Vice Chair of the IEEE Student Branch in 2016. He initiated the process and served as content manager of the web site, he was the Co-chair of the fifth IEEE SL SYW Congress that was held in December 2016, which was a milestone Congress in Sri Lanka Section with a 200+ delegation and over 20 speakers.

As the SSR he made a significant contribution for the betterment of the section. Securing two R10 funded projects namely IEEE Technology Awareness Program (TAP) and IEEE Educational Activities Support project for Sri Lanka was among those major contributions. Yasitha was selected for the IEEE MGA SSR subteam 2017 that was formed to develop a strategic plan to elevate the Student Branches in all IEEE regions. This team was led by Ms. Shreyna Scott, Student Branch development specialist of IEEE MGA. Furthermore, in 2016, he served as the student branch coordinator for IEEE Region 10 SAC.

Yasitha is an active IEEE member since April 2015 with engagement in a multitude of IEEE activities in Student Branch level, Section level and even Region level. He was among the three members who represented IEEE Sri Lanka Section in IEEE Sections Congress 2017 held in Sidney, Australia under his term as SSR. He continues to drive the IEEE volunteering landscape as the Vice Chair of IEEE Young Professionals Sri Lanka in 2019.