AU celebrates 2025 Governor General’s silver medal winner

Athabasca University has awarded the Governor General’s Academic Silver Medal to a Class of 2025 graduate who is making his highest contributions through scholarship and research. 

Supun De Silva (Bachelor of Science in Computing and Information Systems ’24) won silver as the top undergrad. The medals are given annually to outstanding scholars at Canadian universities, colleges, and high schools.

He has always been curious about how things work. During his first undergraduate degree in ecology, he often wondered how the learning systems and programs he used for his studies worked behind the scenes. That led him to AU’s Bachelor of Science in Computing and Information Systems, but also to even more opportunities to expand his knowledge in the world of academic research.

De Silva excelled in both—as AU’s top undergrad in his graduating class and as a research assistant with two published papers to his credit. Those experiences not only helped him land a job in his chosen field, they also continue to guide his future aspirations to study how artificial intelligence can improve teaching and learning.

Using AI for education is something I'm passionate about.

Supun De Silva

While De Silva’s first degree was heavy on theory, one of the major appeals of AU was the blend of practical, hands-on experience. He always felt most comfortable learning independently on his own time. AU’s flexible online learning model held a lot of appeal, as did the computing and information systems program itself.

“I’m more of a practical person. I like to build things and see them in practice.”

During his studies at AU, De Silva noticed a job posting for a research assistant with the university’s Research Office. The work involved supporting online research systems and environments and, eventually, led to working on AI projects with several AU professors, including Dr. Oscar Lin and Dr. Maiga Chang in the School of Computing and Information Systems.

Lin’s work focused on personalizing education through adaptive learning, while Chang’s project involved creating an AI-powered chatbot that allows students to ask questions and receive responses based on course content uploaded by instructors. His work with Chang, which is still ongoing, provided an opportunity for De Silva to co-write a peer-reviewed paper on their chatbot work, which is now being tested by a university in the United Kingdom. 

Now working in software development for a Canadian hotel chain, De Silva plans to return to AU and the research world in winter 2026 in the Master of Science in Information Systems program. He credits his AU experience not only for helping him understand how things work, but for setting him on a path to knowledge and discovery.

"When I got into research as an undergraduate student, I mainly thought that I would be helping out master's students and PhD students. So the opportunity to do my own research and end up writing papers has been a very rewarding experience."