Event

The UWI Open Lectures Committee invites you to attend the Professorial Inaugural Lecture by Professor Boppana Chowdary on the topic, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Manufacturing Engineering: Towards Sustainable Manufacturing in Trinidad.

The lecture takes place on June 27 at 6pm at the Faculty of Engineering, Max Richards Building, Block 13, Ground Floor, Lecture Theater 1.

To RSVP please email uwistaevents@sta.uwi.edu or call 662-2002 ext. 83996/85012.

Abstract

Developments in innovative practices in recent times provide opportunities to achieve significant improvements (effectiveness & efficiencies) in manufacturing enterprises. However, efforts are often hindered by perceived high costs and lack of local training in these new technologies and techniques. In this inaugural lecture, methods available for enhancing manufacturing performance in Trinidad relating to Rapid Manufacturing Tools to support SMEs will be reviewed. Considerable scope exists for the introduction of CIM technologies to boost productivity and quality. Lean Technologies enable efficient and cost effective processes. Integration of Re-engineering, Rapid Prototyping with CAD/CAM practices will facilitate a strategic means to attain manufacturing sustainability. Furthermore, parametric refinements of virtual prototypes through CAE analysis will strengthen the manufacturing operations. Design for manufacturing using these tools will also be emphasised in this lecture.

About Professor Boppana Chowdary

Boppana Veeraiah Chowdary currently holds the positions of Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Deputy Dean (Postgraduate Student Affairs and Research); Chair, Faculty Sub-Committee on Graduate Studies and Research; Member, Campus Research & Publication Fund, Head, CAD/CAM laboratory at The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine.

Prof. Chowdary obtained his PhD in Manufacturing Systems at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India in 1998, his MTech in Industrial Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India in 1990 and his BTech in Mechanical Engineering at Nagarjuna University, India, 1986.

He joined the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering in 2003 as a Lecturer and has also served as Senior Lecturer; Deputy Dean (Outreach & Enterprise Development) and Head of Mechanical and Manufacturing Department in the Faculty of Engineering. Prior to his joining UWI, he worked as Senior Research Associate, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor and Head of Mechanical Engineering Department at several institutions in India; and also worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands. Prof. Chowdary had rigorous industrial training in a Heavy Machinery Engineering Company where he was exposed to planning, scheduling and operations of various heavy & light machinery sections as well as operation of several metal casting and joining equipment. In addition, he worked as a Senior Workshop Superintendent for several years at an enterprise where he gained experience in managing a typical engineering workshop as well as several engineering personnel with different skill sets. Further, he was exposed to operations of industrial CNC Machining Operations at a state owned organisation, Torsional Spring Manufacturing Equipment, and operations of a Steel Manufacturing Company.

Prof. Chowdary has visited many leading academic institutions, such as Nyenrode University, Breukelen, the Netherlands; Stevens Institute of Technology, NJ; Wichita State University, Wichita, KS; University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, UK; Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK; University of Exeter, Exeter, UK, among others. He has also delivered seminars at some of these Universities.

His research interests include CAD/CAM, Rapid Product Development using Reverse Engineering, Re-engineering and Fast Prototyping Tools, Design and Simulation of Manufacturing Systems, Design of Virtual Cellular Manufacturing Systems, Manufacturing Planning & Control Practices, Neural Networks and Expert Systems.

Prof. Chowdary has skills in using CAD/CAM software packages: SolidWorks, and Mastercam; Reverse Engineering Equipment, Geomagic Studio and Geomagic Qualify Software; and Rapid Prototyping Equipment.

Prof. Chowdary has organised several public seminars and workshops in the areas of CAD/CAM, Advanced and Lean Manufacturing. He has also conducted several AutoCAD training sessions through the Engineering Institute to various organisations in Trinidad such as Housing Development Corporation, Ministry of Works, WASA, Tunapuna-Piarco Regional Corporation, among others and generated revenues of approximately one million dollars to The UWI, St. Augustine campus.

Prof. Chowdary has executed several R&D projects: Integrated Manufacturing Technologies in the Caribbean Firms; CAD/CAM Support for the Development of Products in Trinidad and Tobago; Design and Development of Products Commonly used in the Caribbean; Design and Development of Bottling Unit Maintenance Spares. He has three peer-reviewed book chapters to his credit and over 110 papers in various refereed journals and conferences. He is the Associate Editor of Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management and serves on the Editorial Boards of leading international journals.

Prof. Chowdary has served as a Core Member of National Technical Committee (NTC) on Metrology at Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS). He was a Member of Planning, Information, Knowledge & Operations Research programme at SOM Research School, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands. Prof. Chowdary was a recipient of a National award for the 'Best Case Study' paper published in Indian Institution of Industrial Engineering Journal on Integrated Manufacturing Performance Measure for Advanced Manufacturing Systems.