Becoming an entrepreneur is one of the best things for any engineer in professional life, as it is an ideal way to create, innovate and produce goods and services that benefit the economy, using one’s inborn talents and professional skills.
An entrepreneur is a creator; he adds value to the economy in production and thereby generate income and employment to others- so basically entrepreneurs create wealth, taking a great deal of risk, unlike most of other professions.
Recently we met such an entrepreneur and engineer - Duminda Naurunna who has created an engineering enterprise, and a large number of job opportunities.
Q : Duminda, tell me about yourself and your background?
A: I passed out as a civil engineer from the University of Peradeniya in 1998. My wife (Renuka) is too an engineer and passed out of the same university.
I read a postgraduate MSc degree in project management at the University of Moratuwa (2004), and also obtained an MBA from the American City University (USA) in 2005.
I started my career as a structural engineer catering to local and overseas projects (at A.G.S.A. Nanayakkara Associates in Kandy), then moved to Colombo as a construction engineer (at Access Engineering) and then joined the career-turning housing sector (Head of Engineering - Ceylinco Homes International Limited) to build luxury housing projects, self-contained gated compounds with 150-200 housing units, during this golden era (2000-2006).
I was fortunate to associate with the largest number of real estate professionals under one roof, and served a set of prestigious clients. I worked in all branches of the real estate sector such as management, finance, legal, sale, marketing and maintenance and enjoyed the path of a real-estate career.
Then I formed a company called Project Management Partners (PMP (Pvt) Ltd) to undertake turnkey commercial and residential projects. Our focus was mainly in the turnkey area and was a major success.
Today, PMP employs over 100 people directly in all skilled areas. We have more than 100 turnkey projects completed around Sri Lanka and PMP is a 100% Sri Lankan company and is an employee-centred organisation. We also apply and maintain green-building techniques.
As a turnkey builder-engineer, I am very conscious about the specific needs of the customer and customisation of the project. We use state-of-the-art methods to present engineering and architectural information which is very easy to understand.
We are very transparent in our project proposals which are comprehensive and graphical.
We are precise on cost projecting so that our clients living around the world can see their money being used efficiently and effectively.
Q: Can you elaborate on the work you have completed?
A: We have done some temple projects, housing schemes, individual residencies as well as high-end residential projects in Colombo 7 and places such as Diyatalawa and Nuwara-Eliya and most of the time the architecture and structure is totally different to one another. The completion of some of those projects was a very big challenge due to environmental conditions.
Q: What do you have to say regarding the needs of the present generation with respect to building designs and housing needs?
A: Today, clients need an end product that is different from tradition but remains within the basics of the building. Quality and sustainability of the building and the external environment are also important. Health and safety issues and easy maintenance come to the forefront in architectural design and planning of all constructions projects.
Q: What do you have to say regarding our economy and some strategies that should be followed?
A: The Sri Lankan economy certainly needs a big boost to push its growth rate.
The government has to develop and maintain an efficient physical and social infrastructure and manage its services well.
The government should encourage the private sector to be the engine of growth and promote innovations and new production sectors through tax policies and concessionary finance, there should be ample scope for private sector firms to operate without undue restrictions and of course within the law of the land.
Q: What scope do you see in your profession in the field of engineering in this context?
A: The role of engineers in pushing the economic growth rate is vital in few areas such as R & D.
Q: What do you suggest in this context?
A: We engineers operating in the private sector need to organize as a collective and PSES what was established last year, can mobilize the engineering community as some kind of collective operation to pressurize the government to take engineers in the private sector consideration and develop R &D for innovation and new production activities, we are in a position to make a big difference in various sectors where Operations and Management (O&M) and Training and Development (T&D) should come to play a decisive role more than in the past.
I should emphasize that engineers as entrepreneurs play an important role in production and production related operations such as transport and distribution services in the economy. Engineers can bring about efficient management in most operations involving stocks and flows.
Interviewed by Prof. Bernard Dissanayaka