Dear Engineering Colleagues,

I thoughtfully added the adjective "Engineering." Engineers should be the torch bearers of any technological revolution.

Industrial Revolution took place between 1760 - 1840 transforming the manufacturing processes enabling very high productivity, better safety, etc. through inventions in mechanization, transport, power generation, materials, etc. Well, none of us who are reading this were there during the period and not even our parents! We were born to a world that benefitted from the Industrial Revolution.

Then came the concept of Information Revolution dating back to 1939 but really became the disruptive ( revolutions do disrupt the order of things) tsunami when the World Wide Web went live on August 6, 1991. It enabled anyone with basic reading and writing skills to carry out plethora of activities using Internet. In this revolution, the role of "information" in economy, society and technology became the key theme. You who read this was part of this revolution.

Now, the question to you as engineers is how have you faired in this revolution as individuals? Have you become a dinosaur in a matter of quarter century or have you thrived in the ever increasing possibilities created with the Information Revolution? Are you a grand parent who is connected to your grand children irrespective of where they live on earth through Internet? Are you a young engineer who still uses paper for everything and yet talk about protecting the environment? Do you care about your unborn children's future? Do you travel miles wasting energy, time, health for 5 minute input at wasteful meetings that you loath to go? Do you use teleconferencing feature of your mobile phone? Do you wait for months before the next meeting to act or do you use online collaborative tools to keep moving 24x365? I can go on...change is the only constant..choices are yours my friend.

To start with, let me get to few simple things that are available to you at IESL right now to improve your ( and your family's) productivity, knowledge, and social connectivity.

Since its introduction in June 2013, in 2014 around 20% of payments were made through IESL secure online payment gateway. You need a debit card or a credit card. It takes less than 5 minutes and you can do it from anywhere in the world any time. Steps:

	Login to MyIESL at www.iesl.lk. Go to your Member Profile ( if not taken automatically) by clicking Member Self Service link on MyIESL page. If your have dues, system will indicate.
	Read payment instructions and click Membership Fees and you will be taken to the payment gateway.
	Enter the requested information ( membership number, etc as per the exact format ) and select the correct membership level to transfer the right amount to the next step.
	Next step will be to enter your credit/debit card information ( number, exp. date, etc) including the 3 digit security code on the back of your card. Also enter the alpha numeric code shown on the screen ( this is a security feature to ensure only a human who could see and understand is allowed to operate). Submit the data you entered. If you entered inaccurate data, system will keep requesting you to do the right thing without proceeding to the next stage
	In the case of some banks ( which issue cards) you will be prompted to enter another security code (OPT code) normally sent to your mobile phone as an SMS or to your email ( what ever the method you have setup with your bank if this extra security step is activated). Enter the code to go to next step. You will see a message asking you to wait while input is being processed. In less than 1minute ( depending on your connection speed) you will receive an on screen success message and you can do a screen print or take a screen shot and save as a JPG file. (See the screen shot example)
	Within 24 hours you will receive an email with an official receipt from IESL, generated through the membership management system ( the delay is due to prevailing manual checks IESL cashiers have to do with Sri Lankan banks online system before crediting your account in the membership management system). If you don't get this email confirmation, please send the file you saved in step 4/5 to IESL Cashier ( praneeth@iesl.lk)

It is at step 4/5 that you actually commit funds. Any errors during those steps or before, will not take funds from your bank.

You could do payments for events, classes etc. the same way by selecting the right invoice from your profile after the registration.

Login to MyIESL at www.iesl.lk. Use Online Directories link on the right side menu. In the directories page, click the link to the directory of your choice. Members directory has the most comprehensive information and don't forget to use Charter Resource Personnel and other useful directories. There are advance searches available in some directories and its a great way to analyze data and get targeted information.

By the way, check whether your own profile indicates accurate; charter discipline, provincial center you belong to, your postal address including district/province, phone number, etc.

Login to MyIESL at www.iesl.lk. Click Our YouTube Channel on the right side menu. While on the YouTube page, click Play Lists to go your choice of lectures.

Benefit from the Information Revolution and become an active revolutionist of the current revolution - Knowledge Revolution. Then you can be proud of your engineering heritage.