SLIIT Final-Year Innovators Secure Global AI Victory

Team Akura- a group of four students from SLIIT’s Faculty of Computing- emerged champions at the 2026 AI Tool Building Challenge on OneEarth. This virtual competition was organized by the School of Computing of Goldsmith’s University, London. Seeing that their fourth-year project fits the brief which calls for using AI-driven solutions to address real-world challenges, their mentor Dr. Dinuka Wijendra guided the team and supervised their application to the competition.

The team consisting of Mihiran Nanayakkara, Dinithi Piyathilaka, Dhuwindhu Rathnayake and Rahul Nanayakkara designed a mobile, multi-modal learning platform for children aged 3-6 to support learning Sinhala. Although the world is divided about allowing screen-time for young children, Team Akura’s approach is to make this exposure productive.

Initial research, according to Team Akura, showed that most digital learning aids and tools focused on rote learning leaving the process of internalizing knowledge unaddressed. In response they built an adaptive tool which combines handwriting guidance, pronunciation assessment, gesture-based numeracy and emotion-aware learning to deliver personalized real-time education support.

Competing under the theme of AI for Inclusive & Quality Education, they faced two rounds of presentations-defending their work to panels of seasoned international experts. Admittedly an unnerving experience for the team, they faced judges ranging from experts in cloud systems, cyber security, Generative AI, and data security.  Confidence levels improved, the team reports, after presenting their work in the first round. Seeing their ideas resonate with industry professionals from all over the world they say was deeply rewarding and inspiring.

When Team Akura was pronounced as the winners earlier this year, most team members were preparing for their final exams at SLIIT. Not only did this win encourage them to finish their degrees strongly- but it also came with further mentorship from a few judges from leading tech and education organizations.