The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Emeritus Professor Brian Copeland, Ph.D. served as the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal of St. Augustine from 2016-2022, the last two years of which saw him navigating the campus through the COVID-19 global pandemic lockdown.

 In his tenure at The UWI, he has served as Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, and Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His focus areas have been in Digital Electronics and Microprocessor Systems Design and Control Systems.

 As Coordinator of the Real Time Systems Group, a UWI unit for developing university/industry liaison through impactful R&D Projects, Professor Copeland was the project lead for design and construction of the Electronic Scoreboard at the Queen’s Park Oval. He co-ordinates the Steelpan Initiatives Project which saw the development and patenting of the G-Pan, a re-engineered form of the traditional steelpan, as well as the Percussive Harmonic instrument (P.H.I.), an electronic form of the traditional steelpan. Professor Copeland is Convener of the Steelpan Research Centre, UWI and is a former Member of the Board of Directors, CARIRI.

 Professor Copeland is the holder of many prestigious awards. In 2008 he was the first recipient of the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and in 2007 he was joint recipient of the Chaconia Medal Gold as a member of the G-Pan development team. He received the Guardian Life Premium Teaching Award in 2002, the BP/AMOCO Fellowship Award for Senior Academic Staff at The UWI, 2001 and a LASPAU/Fulbright scholarship for Doctoral program at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 1987 among others.