General Notices

On Wednesday, November 22, the Principal’s Research Awards were held. This award ceremony celebrated the outstanding achievements of The UWI scientists and researchers for their contributions during the period 2018-2023 and formed part of the commemorative events for the 75^th Anniversary and was themed '75 Years of Relevance, Responsiveness, and Research Innovation for a better life, environment and sustainability.’ Following the Principal’s Research Awards, the campus showcased its research and innovation at its Research Festival on Thursday, November 23. The Festival included faculty booths, interactive displays, seminars and an oral poster competition.

Below is a list of the winners from the Principal’s Research Awards and the Oral Poster Presentation Competition.

PRINCIPAL’S RESEARCH AWARDS

Most Outstanding Faculty Researcher

Faculty of Engineering – Professor Kit Fai Pun

Faculty of Food and Agriculture – Prof Mark Wuddivira

Faculty of Humanities and Education – Dr Freddy James

Faculty of Law – Dr Emma Perot

Faculty of Medical Sciences – Prof Chris Oura

Faculty of Science and Technology – Dr Sreedhara Rao Gunakala

Faculty of Social Sciences – Dr Talia Esnard

 Most Outstanding Researcher of the Centre/Institute/Unit

Institute of International Relations – Professor Michelle Scobie

 Most Outstanding Graduate Researcher Award & Mentorship Award

Graduate Researcher - Dr. Stephanie Mohammed 

Mentors - Dr. Nikolay Zyuzikov and Dr. Venkatesan Sundaram

 Best Team Research

Prof Christine Carrington & Team

For the team work on “COVID-19: Infectious disease Molecular epidemiology for Pathogen Control & Tracking (COVID-19 IMPACT)”

Most Outstanding Regional/International Research Project          

Prof Christine Carrington & Team

For the regional project on “COVID-19: Infectious disease Molecular epidemiology for Pathogen Control & Tracking (COVID-19 IMPACT)”

Team: Dr. Nikita Sahadeo and Dr. Arianne Brown-Jordan; lab technicians Messrs. Vernie Ramkissoon and Nicholas Mohamed; and research assistants Anushka Ramjag and Soren Nicholls.

 Most Productive Research Department

Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering – Head of the Department - Dr. Jacqueline Bridge

 Most Productive Research Institute, Centre or Unit

Cocoa Research Centre - Director- Prof. Pathmanathan Umaharan

Team: Dr. Lambert Motilal, Geneticist and Dr. Naailah Ali, Food Technologist

 Principal’s Award for Most Impactful Community Research

Dr. Angelique Nixon - Institute for Gender and Development Studies

Lead Researcher for the project “A Sexual Culture of Justice: Strengthening LGBTQI and GBV Partnerships, Capacity and Efficacy to Promote and Protect Rights in Trinidad and Tobago”

Receiving the award with her were

Team:  Jeremy Stephan Edwards, Executive Director, The Silver Lining Foundation and Rae Alibey, Director, Transgender Coalition.

 Principal’s Special Innovation Award

Mr. Nizamudeen Mohammed & Dr. Lebert Grierson for the development of asphalt-based sealants, coatings and lubricants

Principal’s Award for Best Researcher

Prof. Christine Carrington – Faculty of Medical Sciences

ORAL POSTER PRESENTATION COMPETITION

Best Oral Presentation Awards

Theme I: Agri-Food Technologies for Food and Nutrition Security

Omar Ali, Adesh Ramsubhag and Jayaraj Jayaraman

Seaweed extracts of Acanthophora spicifera and Sargassum vulgare as phytoelicitors

Theme II: Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation and Disaster Management

Letetia Addison and Patrick Hosein

A comparison of traditional and machine learning models for flood risk assessment in the Caribbean

Theme III: Regional Health Issues and Advances

Andrew Dhanoo and Brian Cockburn

An investigation of novel non-invasive methods for diabetes mellitus screening

Theme IV: Science, Technology and Engineering Solutions for Sustainability

Llevan Ramharrack, Stephen D. B. Jr. Ramnarine, Adesh Ramsubhag and Jayaraj Jayaraman

Phytoremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons in soil employing vetiver and an inoculated bacterial consortium

Theme V: Social, Educational and Cultural Issues, Policies, Justice and Practices for Improved Life and Sustainable Environment

Lynne Parks

Spaces between: Evaluating ideas of nation and nationhood through the documentary lens

Theme VI: Communication and Digital Technologies Including AI and its Applications and Impacts

Amit Ramkissoon, Koffa Khan, Kwasi Edwards, Nicholas Mendez, Shareeda Mohammed and Wayne Goodridge

Severe warning and resilient network of Trinidad and Tobago

Best Poster Presentation Awards

Theme I: Agri-Food Technologies for Food and Nutrition Security

David Forgenie, Sharon D. Hutchinson and Andrew Muhammad

An aggregate food import demand function for the Caribbean: A Cointegration analysis. 

Theme II: Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation and Disaster Management

Sunshine A. De Caires, Chaney St Martin, Mark Wuddivira, Kegan Farrick and Bernie Zebarth

Comparative analysis of soil depth prediction in a humid tropical watershed: Regression vs. Geospatial models. 

Theme III: Regional Health Issues and Advances

S. Mohammed, V. Sundaram, B. Cockburn, S. Ottey and R. Azziz

The PCOS Epidemiology and phenotype in Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad-pep) study: Preliminary results 

Theme IV: Science, Technology and Engineering Solutions for Sustainability

Zaffir Mohammed, Ricardo Clarke and Gregory Gouveia

Expansive soil behaviour: Insights and innovations

Theme V: Social, Educational and Cultural Issues, Policies, Justice and Practices for Improved Life and Sustainable Environment

Keisha Samlal

An exploration of ‘Fat Women’s’ experiences with education in T&T

Theme VI: Communication and Digital Technologies Including AI and its Applications and Impacts

Sabina Gooljar, Kris Manohar and Patrick Hosein

Performance evaluation and comparison of a new regression algorithm

Best Research Seminar Presentation

Faculty of Engineering: Farrah Bridget Mathura 

Isolation and functional characterization of cellulose from decellularized Calathea lutea and Ravenala madagascariensis leaves from Trinidad for paper for food packaging applications 

STA RESEARCH DIGEST 2023

At the Principal’s Research Awards, the STA Research Digest 2023 was unveiled. Click here to download the publication.