Professor Brian Nigel Russell Copeland might be described as a practical academic; given the way his research seamlessly serves society's needs.
Much of that civic-mindedness was defined by his religious exposure, the general social setting of the day and the Black Power Revolution of the 1970s. A student at the UWI St. Augustine from the mid-seventies, he graduated with a MSc in Electrical Engineering in 1978. Even as he went on to do an MSc in Electrical Engineering, Control Systems (University of Toronto, 1981) and a PhD in Electrical Engineering, Control Systems (University of Southern California, 1990), his heart was always at the UWI.
When students brought their difficulties to him, it was his practical nature and his innovativeness that helped them find solutions. Those traits quickly led to him heading the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The UWI, St. Augustine from 1997 to 2007.
As a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the UWI from 2007 to 2015. He has lectured in Digital Electronics and Microprocessor Systems Design and Control Systems.
He was Coordinator of the Real Time Systems Group (RTSG), a UWI Unit developing university/industry liaisons through R&D Projects. At the RTSG, Professor Copeland was Project Leader for design and construction of the first Electronic Scoreboard at the Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, T&T. He currently coordinates the Steelpan Initiatives Projects (SIP) 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 (PHI), and electronic form of the steelpan. Professor Copeland is Convener of The UWI's Steelpan Research Centre, and a former member of the Board of Directors, CARIRI.
Professor Copeland has won 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 2001 BP/AMOCO Fellowship Award for Senior Academic Staff at The UWI, and a LASPAU/Fulbright Scholarship to pursue a doctoral program at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles in 1987.
On April 29, 2016 he was named Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal Designate of The UWI St. Augustine Campus. He assumed office on July 1, 2016 and will serve for a period of five years.
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