Vidya Jyothi The Vidya Jyothi ( si, විද්‍යාජෝති; ta, வித்யா ஜோதி, translit=Vityā Jōti) is a Sri Lankan national honour awarded "''for outstanding scientific and technological achievements''". It is the highest natio ...

Dr Wijaya Godakumbura is the President of the

Safe bottle lamp The Safe bottle lamp, called sudeepa or sudipa for ''good lamp'', is a safer kerosene lamp designed by Wijaya Godakumbura of Sri Lanka. The safety comes from heavier glass, a secure screw-on metal lid, and two flat sides which prevent it from rolli ...

Foundation and was formerly a

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

in Sri Lanka.

Early life

Wijaya was born in Pelmadulla in

Ratnapura District Ratnapura ( Sinhala: රත්නපුර දිස්ත්‍රික්කය, Tamil: இரத்தினபுரம் மாவட்டம்) is a district of Sri Lanka in the Sabaragamuwa Province. The gem-mining centre of Sri La ...

. He passed his advanced level with high marks in 1959 from

Nalanda College Colombo ''Āpadāna Sobhinī Panñā'' , motto_translation = Character Illumines Wisdom , established = , founder = Patrick de Silva Kularatne , type = National , grades = 1 ...

and entered

Ceylon Medical College Ceylon Medical College was a public medical school in Ceylon. The college was established in 1870 as the Colombo Medical School. The college was based in Colombo. The college was merged with Ceylon University College in 1942 to form the University ...

to study medicine. In 1964 he completed

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

and passed out as a doctor. while at

Nalanda Nalanda (, ) was a renowned ''mahavihara'' (Buddhist monastic university) in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India.United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

for further studies and training. After being specialized in the treatment of

Burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...

s, Wijaya returned to Sri Lanka and worked as a

Surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

in many hospitals.

Invention of Safe Bottle Lamp

After seeing and treating many patients who had burn injuries due to unsafe kerosine bottle lamps he developed the Safe Bottle Lamp in 1992. He established the

foundation in 1998 after winning the Rolex Awards for Enterprise. Then in 2009 his development won the first place in The World Challenge competition held in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

.Safe and small wins the race
/ref>

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Godakumbura, Wijaya Sri Lankan surgeons Alumni of Nalanda College, Colombo Sri Lankan Buddhists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Vidya Jyothi