News Releases

UWI partners with German university to launch Masters in Renewable Energy Technology

For Release Upon Receipt - September 13, 2013

St. Augustine


ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad & Tobago – On Tuesday, The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine welcomed its first cohort for the Master of Science (MSc) programme in Renewable Energy Technology in the Department of Physics of the Faculty of Science and Technology. The programme was developed through a partnership with the University of Flensburg, Germany, and the Flensburg University of Applied Sciences. 

Speaking at the launch, Campus Principal and Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor Clement Sankat, welcomed and thanked Professor, Dr Hermann van Radecke of the University of Flensburg for agreeing to share his expertise by teaching the course in Wind Energy as part of the new programme. He said, “On my recent visit to Flensburg, Germany just last month, I learnt that Germany is quite advanced in its development of renewable energy technology. It is therefore my hope, that as we partner with the University of Flensburg and Flensburg University of Applied Sciences, and by extension Germany, The UWI, will learn much and therefore will also have much to share with Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean region as we seek to develop sustainable energy technologies and in particular, renewable energy technologies.” 

This programme was developed by The UWI to address the need for the Caribbean region to become equipped in terms of building capacity in technologies which will support protection of the environment and also meet the challenges of escalating price of fossil fuels and their use. The programme’s emphasis is on providing new graduates and persons already working in various sectors of the economy with professional training and education in renewable energy technologies. It has been developed in tandem with another master‘s programme, an MSc in Renewable Energy Management and some of the courses will be common to both programmes. 

On August 22, The UWI signed an MOU with the University of Flensburg and the Flensburg University of Applied Sciences to undertake the development of collaborative research programmes, academic programmes and other activities in the area of sustainable energy systems and management. With the development of the MSc Renewable Energy Technology in the first instance, the MOU also governs the establishment of a common doctoral programme in Renewable Energy Technology, Policy and Management. 

Other partners in the development of this programme included the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany through the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology at UWI St. Augustine, Professor Indar Ramnarine, Head of the Department of Physics at St. Augustine, Dr. Ricardo Clarke, Programme Coordinator, Dr. Indra Haraksingh and colleagues at Mona and Cave Hill campuses of The UWI. 

The MSc in Renewable Energy Technology, commencing September 2013, is offered 15 months (full time) or 27 months (part time), including an Internship and Research Project component.

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About The UWI

Over the last six decades, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged University with over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest and most longstanding higher education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean, with main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Centres in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines. UWI recently launched its Open Campus, a virtual campus with over 50 physical site locations across the region, serving over 20 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. UWI is an international university with faculty and students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven Faculties, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Pure & Applied Sciences, Science and Agriculture, and Social Sciences. 

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.) 

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