“Speakopedia” won the 1st place at “Innoserve Awards 2019”

The final year project I carried out “Speakopedia,” the ultimate guide for speech and language therapy was shortlisted among many projects across different countries to take part in the Final Round of the contest. The project is conducted in the domain of speech and language pathology, with the aim of making a positive impact in the lives of children affected with speech impairments. It provides a platform with an array of features for parents and speech therapists to collaboratively treat stammering children and facilitate the whole speech therapy process throughout all phases. Some of the unique features developed utilizing cutting edge technologies such as speech recognition, natural language processing, and image processing includes “Capturing Stuttering” as well as “Emotional Status” of the children. Being the only project selected from Sri Lanka, I take pride in representing Sri Lanka and IIT at this international event, which had more than 2,000 students and mentors from over one hundred universities and colleges participating in this pioneering event.

The event was held on the 2nd of November at National Taiwan University, which is the national university in Taipei. The honorable vice president of the Republic of Taiwan, Mr. Chen Chien-jen, was invited as the chief guest of the event. Competing with 11 teams in the Asia Pacific Region including Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Cambodia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lankan Team was raised the bars winning the first place at Innoserve Awards 2019 for the project Speakopedia bringing pride to Sri Lanka as well as IIT. It is indeed an unforgettable experience and a great privilege to be gone to the global stage and bag the first place among many countries.

When glancing back at the series of the event, there were a lot of remarkable memories in addition to the winning moment. The event was organized exceptionally well, where there were many networking and product benchmarking opportunities alongside entertainment. I was able to connect with many students and mentors representing several universities from different countries who had innovative projects presented. Further, the friendly and supportive atmosphere created by the team Innoserve is exceptional. The event was followed by a dinner out, and a sightseeing tour were some of the memorable moments that made the overall experience a remarkable one.

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Mr. Prassanna Pathmanathan, who devoted his time and knowledge in providing me with the immense support and guidance to reach my fullest potential. The credits go to my parents for being the pillars of strength throughout the journey, and the support is given by my sisters, which indeed shaped me who I am today. Furtherly, a special thanks go to IIT staff for providing me with valuable feedback and support for the project. Last but not least, I highly appreciate the support given by my friends towards the successful completion of this project.