News Releases

Lake Asphalt to market UWI Plastic Cement and Primer

For Release Upon Receipt - June 14, 2019

St. Augustine


Chief Executive Officer of Lake Asphalt of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd., Mr Roger Wiggins and Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal of The UWI St Augustine, Professor Brian Copeland sign the licence agreement. Looking on are Dr. Richard Fairman, Head, Department of Chemistry, Mr. Stephen Mc Clashie, Director, Lake Asphalt and Mr. Julian Henry Programme Manager, The Entrepreneurship Unit.

Building upon its strategic goal of creating an entrepreneurial university with a diversified revenue base, The UWI’s St. Augustine Campus on Tuesday signed a licence agreement with Lake Asphalt of Trinidad and Tobago to commercialise two asphalt-based products developed by The UWI – “UWI Plastic Cement” and “UWI Primer”. 

“For several years, Lake Asphalt has walked this road with us and has now taken the bold step of partnering with us in commercialising technology developed on this Campus,” UWI St. Augustine’s Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal Professor Brian Copeland said in commending Lake Asphalt on their strengthened partnership with The UWI.

The licence agreement follows a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between The UWI and Lake Asphalt in 2015 to collaborate on research, development and commercialisation of asphalt and asphalt-based products.

Addressing the gathering of University and Lake Asphalt senior executives, Professor Copeland said the agreement is a reflection of The UWI’s focus on creating and embedding a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. He added that licencing is one mechanism through which the Campus can assist organisations to increase their competitiveness. Under the terms of the agreement, The UWI grants Lake Asphalt an exclusive, royalty-bearing licence of the two UWI-developed products for manufacture, distribution and sale within the class of primers and sealants.

For Lake Asphalt, the signing represents an important milestone in realising its vision of maximising the value of Trinidad and Tobago’s asphalt for company, community and country. Speaking at the signing, Lake Asphalt’s CEO Mr Roger Wiggins said that while the agreement is really just the first step in bringing these products to market, the company is motivated by the joint successes the venture represents for both parties.

“There is work to be done in understanding the technical aspects, such as the proof of process (and) the marketing strategy to name a few. Rest assured we remain committed to partner with UWI in this strategic alliance…. Our success is their success and vice versa,” he said.

 

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Notes to the Editor

Please download photographs here: https://we.tl/t-zrX6Wp8GV4

 

About The UWI

For the past 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and four campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, and an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Asia, and Africa such as the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Centre for Leadership and Sustainable Development, the UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences and Sport.  

As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. Times Higher Education has ranked The UWI among the top 1,258 universities in world for 2019, and the 40 best universities in its Latin America Rankings for 2018, and was the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists.  For more, visit www.uwi.edu.

(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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