On the opening panel, as experts and mentors, and as master trainers leading the workshops and masterclasses. They came from Sri Lanka and from India, the United States, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Zanzibar, and several stayed for the whole week.
The opening panel
The panel on building a support system for education, innovation and entrepreneurship in the Eastern Province, on 20 February.
Mrs J. J. Muraleetharan
Government Agent
District Secretariat, Batticaloa
Prof. Vallipuram Kanagasingam
Vice-Chancellor
Eastern University, Sri Lanka
Captain Sri Segaram
Veteran Captain
SriLankan Airlines
Mr N. Thananjeyan
Commissioner
Batticaloa Municipal Council
Rishaana Sarangan
Assistant Director
Department of Rural Industries
Rajan Bala
Tech for Good mentor
Aravanai, Canada
Rinujan Kananesan
Impact investor
Canada
Experts
Specialists who led sessions, spoke, judged or advised during the four days.
Agyatmitra Sifar
Play for Peace trainer, leadership and teaching methods
Play for Peace, India
Aravinth Panch
Co-founder
DreamSpace Academy
Dr Christoph Andreas Neusiedl
Senior Consultant, Impact and Communication
ChanceMaker Foundation, Germany
Gachi B
Music director, music hackathon co-lead
Zanzibar
Heminda Jayaweera
Innovation ecosystem leader
TRACE, Colombo
Imaad Majeed
Multidisciplinary artist, curator and writer, Sufi music
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Karthik Subbaraj
Film director
Stone Bench, India
Manish Jain
Educationist, author and filmmaker
Shikshantar / Swaraj University
Marten Rauschenberg
AsiaBerlin Ambassador, startup ecosystem mentor for DreamHack
AsiaBerlin, Germany
Nagalingkam Ruparaj
Pottery and sculpture trainer
A1 Manufacturing
Navaratnam Sivaratnam
Annaviyar, Koothu
Navz-47
Independent artist, music hackathon co-lead
Canada
Pradeep Canagasuriyar
Illustrator and cartoonist
Prasanna Vithanage
Film director
Sri Lanka
Prof. Raja Schaar
Product design
Drexel University, USA
Robert Rajeswaran (DJ Rob R)
DJ, DJ masterclass
Sri Lanka / UK
Dr Sankalpa Gamwarige
Digital transformation specialist
TRACE
Someetharan
Documentary filmmaker, screenplay masterclass
India
Dr Sriashalya Srivathsan
Computer science academic
SVIAS, Eastern University, Sri Lanka
Swati Bhatt
Experiential educator, leadership and teaching methods
Play for Peace, India
Mentors
People who mentored participants, sat on the pitch jury or worked with the teams.
Abhivarman Paranirupasingam
Businessman and investor
Canada
Ajith Kanes
Rap and lyric writing
Sri Lanka / Switzerland
Angela Paul Nirmalini
Advisor
Visions Global Empowerment
Harren Selvakumar
Co-founder
The Aram Initiative, UK
Kabilan Thavachelvan
Co-founder, handicraft workshop and export session
tara, Germany
Martin Christoph Preis
Social entrepreneurship practitioner, handicraft workshop and export session
tara, Germany
Matt Alesevich
Documentary filmmaker, journalist and writer
New York, USA
Mumtaz Aroos Faleel
Country Director
WUSC Sri Lanka
Navayuga Kugarajah
Writer, director and actor
Nevindaree Premarathne
Founder and CEO
Makers Global
Prihesh Ratnayake
Data scientist
Sri Lanka
Stela Bergan
Co-founder
tara, Germany
Master trainers
Practitioners who taught the workshops and masterclasses.
Arzath Areeff
Co-founder, cybersecurity masterclass
Digizen Sri Lanka
Kemilo Danith
Violinist, music masterclass mentor
Batticaloa, Sri Lanka
Kirithika Thushyantha
Founder and Managing Director, Entrepreneurs Next Level
TechnoBrain International, Sri Lanka
Rishi Selvam
Cinematographer
Sulaxshi Rajah
Carnatic singer, music masterclass mentor
Vakeesan Rathikaran
Founder and CEO, Entrepreneurs Next Level
Upbold
Valanshiya Thevatharsan
Palmyra crafts trainer
Vidu Shaan
Rapper and singer
More from DreamShot MakerFaire 2025
Overview
The four days at a glance, day by day.
Frontline Innovation
Robotics, AI with electronics and 3D printing in the MakerSpace, and the innovation showcase.
Inspiring Entrepreneurship
More than fifty stalls, the Entrepreneurs Next Level workshops and the pitch winners’ stories.
Creativepreneurs
The filmmaking bootcamp, music and the DreamShot Music Festival, media and illustration, Koothu and traditional crafts.
Reimagining Education
Play for Peace leadership training, school visits, the school project competition and a cybersecurity masterclass.
Short talks and panels
The opening panel on support for education, innovation and entrepreneurship, and short talks each morning.
AI for Good
The DreamHack AI hackathon, its mentoring and an exhibition of our AI projects.
Partners
The sponsors and partners who made the event possible, in their four tiers.