The department has commenced a mentoring programme "Stepping Stones", starting from the students of the 2009 intake. This programme was begun with the aim of helping to mould young minds into what the industry expects of them after graduation. 16 mentors, were assigned to 16 groups of students. The groups each had mentoring sessions with their mentors at their workplaces. This provided the students to get a broad idea about the working environment of a professional organisation. Besides the mentoring sessions, common lectures were done for the students by many personalities in the industry on topics such as "leadership" and "What Industry Expects from Fresh Graduates"

Structure

Introductory Session by Dr. Thushara/ Mr. Chamuditha 

1. Three Panel Discussion Sessions on “Career Opportunities for Chemical Engineers”
   1. Research and academic careers for Chemical Engineering graduates
   2. Chemical Engineering Job opportunities in the industry for Chemical Engineering graduates
   3. Inter/multi-disciplinary job opportunities for Chemical Engineering graduates in the industry. 
2. Mentor Selection
   1. The students will be given the opportunity to choose their mentor based on the experience they gained from the previous three sessions. 

3. Three Mentoring Sessions by the Mentors
   1. Career: The mentor will introduce themselves, and their career pathway. Then the students will reveal their interests and passion, and the mentor will guide them on how they can develop their early careers in relevant fields. The mentor can also share any resources, or reference that the students can access themselves for exploring the field of their interest.
   2. Grooming & Etiquettes: The students will come to the session dressed as they should be in a professional environment. The mentor will explain the importance of Grooming and etiquette in a professional environment, and how the students can learn and improve on those aspects. Then Mentor will ask scenario-based questions from students on how to act/react in such scenarios to guide them on present professional etiquette.
   3. Career Coaching: Students will come to the session with a CV prepared (to be used in industrial training position application) according to a template(s) shared previously shared by the mentor. The mentor will comment on students’ CVs and how they can be improved, and what extracurricular activities and qualifications they should and can follow to be qualified as they enter the world of work as fresh graduates in their fields of interest. The mentor will also cover finding job opportunities and facing job interviews. 
4. Final Day
   1. Each group of students will do a short presentation sharing what they learned and their independent discoveries during the mentoring program.

List of Mentors