We are proud to share that ‘Team Trinity Lions’ from the Faculty of Technology, TCK, emerged as Champions in the School Category at IDEALIZE 2026, organised by AIESEC at the University of Moratuwa. More than 150 schools from across Sri Lanka participated in the competition, with eight schools reaching the Grand Finale. We also received the ‘Best Conceptualist – Overall’ award for GateLink, our smart school pick-up management platform, in recognition of its concept and innovative approach. The Grand Finale was held at the CIMA Auditorium, Colombo, on 20 September 2026.
IDEALIZE 2026 brought together young innovators to develop technology-driven solutions to real-world challenges. The competition required us to think creatively, work closely as a team, and continually improve our idea as we progressed through its different stages.
Our project, GateLink, is a smart school pick-up management concept designed to address traffic congestion, delays, and the lack of coordination during school dismissal. The idea was inspired by the organised systems used at airports. We wanted to create a platform that would bring schools, teachers, parents, and vehicles together through a coordinated digital system.
GateLink is a concept we developed to reduce parents’ waiting time through better coordination and help ease traffic congestion around school gates during dismissal. One of its key features is a TV display at the school gate showing the list of parents who have arrived to pick up their children. This helps students and school administrators follow the pick-up procedure in an organised manner. GateLink also features an Activity Management system.
We started by developing the concept and then worked towards creating a functional prototype. As the competition progressed, we refined the project and considered how it could work in an actual school environment. Presenting GateLink to the judges was an important part of the experience, as we had to clearly communicate the problem we were addressing, how our platform worked, its innovative aspects, and its potential through our business pitch and presentation.
I worked alongside Thimal Ranasinghe, Poojana Bandara, Adheesha Wickramasinghe, and Methira Jayakody throughout the competition. Each member contributed different ideas and skills to the project, and working together taught us the importance of communication, planning, and being open to change.
The experience also showed us that developing a technology project is a process of continuous learning. An idea may look simple at the beginning, but turning it into something functional requires testing, discussion, and a willingness to rethink different aspects of the project.
We are grateful to our teachers and mentors for their guidance throughout the competition, as well as to the Trinity College community for its encouragement and support. Their contribution helped us take our idea further and gave us the opportunity to represent the College at IDEALIZE 2026.
Winning the School Category and receiving the ‘Best Conceptualist – Overall’ award was a memorable achievement for our team. More importantly, the competition gave us an opportunity to learn from the process of developing a solution, presenting it, delivering a business pitch, and receiving feedback on our work.
We hope to continue working on GateLink and explore how the concept can be refined to better support schools, teachers, parents, and students.
Article by Arqam Ali Farsan (Team lead)
