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<span style="font-size:10.5pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">***** Seminar *****</span><span style="color:#1F497D"></span></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:16.0pt; color:#1F497D">Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering</span></b><span style="font-size:16.0pt; color:#1F497D"></span></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:16.0pt; color:#1F497D">Materials Engineering Program</span></b></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt; color:#1F497D">Center for Integrated Bio and Nano Systems</span></b></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt; color:#1F497D"> 10:30 a.m., April </span></b><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt; color:#1F497D">24</span></b><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt; color:#1F497D">, 2020</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt; color:#1F497D"></span></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt; color:#1F497D">Join Zoom Meeting</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D"></span></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt; color:#1F497D"><a href="https://zoom.us/j/845619943?pwd=QlZvYUV6M2dxNDkvNWxBd3F2YzdJZz09">https://zoom.us/j/845619943?pwd=QlZvYUV6M2dxNDkvNWxBd3F2YzdJZz09</a></span></b></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt; color:#1F497D"> </span></b></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt; color:#1F497D">Meeting ID: 845 619 943</span></b></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt; color:#1F497D">Password: 016104 </span></b></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:20.0pt; color:#1F497D">“Slow Dance of Molecules” for Higher Crop Yields</span></b><b><span style="font-size:20.0pt; color:#1F497D"> </span></b></p>
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<span style="font-size:18.0pt; color:#1F497D">Nilwala Kottegoda</span><span style="font-size:18.0pt; color:#1F497D"></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:16.0pt; color:#1F497D">Department of Chemistry</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:16.0pt; color:#1F497D">University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka
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<b><span style="color:#1F497D">Abstract</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D">:</span><span style="color:#1F497D">.</span><span style="color:#1F497D">The compulsion of advanced materials is timely imperative
for the upgrade of current agricultural systems in the coming decades. Our work discloses a unique and novel nanohybrid based on hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles decorated with urea which is competent in slow and precise delivery of Nitrogen. The high surface
area to volume ratio and the rich surface chemistry of HA awarded at the nanoscale permit urea molecules to bound with HA via disparate bonding modes. The aptitude of nanohybrids for the slow release avert the premature loss of urea to the environment, ultimately
leading to greater agronomic use efficiencies. The high nitrogen (N) content of 40% and slow-release properties realize these nanohybrids as a propitious candidate in future sustainable agriculture applications. </span><span style="color:#1F497D"></span></p>
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<img width="186" hspace="12" height="186" align="left" data-outlook-trace="F:2|T:2" src="cid:image002.png@01D61834.36CB56B0"><b><span style="color:#1F497D">Short Bio</span></b><span style="color:#1F497D">:</span><span style="color:#1F497D"> Nilwala Kottegoda
obtained a first class BSc Special Degree in Chemistry from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka and the Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry from the University of Cambridge, UK. She is a Professor in Chemistry, and the Head/Department of Chemistry at the University
of Sri Jayewardenepura. She was a founder member and the principal scientist at Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC} which emerged as the first ever private-public partnership research institute in Sri Lanka.
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<span style="color:#1F497D">She has significantly contributed to the fields of smart agriculture and materials science through her ground breaking innovation of nano-urea fertilizer which improves the efficacy of current global agricultural output, and value
addition to commercially important natural minerals. Her pioneering research work on nano-urea fertilizer has been highlighted as the “Global First” and the innovation has been awarded three US patents extending to six other countries. Her smart agriculture
solution was sold to Indian fertilizer Company for commercial production in 2012. She is a co-author of nine US patents, and many high-indexed journal publications. As a result of her exceptional contributions to the field of materials science she received
the world academy of science young scientist award 2013, national award for the best innovation with commercial potential 2010 and she was nominated as one of the nine most inventive women scientists in the world by World Intellectual Property Organization
in 2018. Her contributions to nanoagriculture were further recognized by rewarding the “Iron Citizen award for contribution to economic development of the country” in 2019. She was also offered a Fulbright Fellowship to Rice University, Houston, USA in 2018.
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