Colombo SIGCHI Townhall Meeting
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A new chapter of the Colombo ACM SIGCHI Chapter dawned with the session conducted on the 19th of March 2021 on Connecting HCI Projects Across the Country. This session primarily aimed to connect experienced researchers in the country along with young undergraduates — to collaborate on numerous HCI projects.
This meeting kick-started with an introductory session hosted by the Chapter Chair Dilrukshi Gamage in which newly joined members were briefed on what HCI entails along with the possible HCI projects that can be carried out via the ACM SIGCHI Chapter in order to uplift the research community in Sri Lanka.
In addition, participants were able to obtain a good grasp of understanding on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) related domains specifically centered towards South Asia and SIGCHI funding opportunities available for underrepresented researchers in our continent. We further discussed the code of conduct that members of this community must adhere to and the future goals of this community as well.
This introductory session was followed by a very insightful brainstorming session where members were given opportunities to bring numerous ideas in which a new initiative could be brought to empower young undergraduates and allow experienced researchers to collaborate to create ground-breaking research in the HCI domain.
As an outcome of the brainstorming session, an initiative of a community-led reading group will be spearhead by leading researchers in the country which will eventually lead these groups to engage in their own research projects.
Overall, the Colombo SIGCHI chapter proud of its ongoing sessions which have brought exciting initiatives that will contribute to uplifting the research community in Sri Lanka!
If you are interested in joining this upcoming initiative and being a part of a research group full of inspiring individuals, contact us — colombosigchi@gmail.com
We would love to have you onboard!
(Colombo SIGCHI chapter is grateful to have passionate volunteers helping the local community and acknowledging the blog contribution by Yashithi Dharmawimala and Image creation by Suvin Nimnaka from the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC), Sri Lanka. )
