News Releases

Campus Principal Lauds Awardees as Minister Pledges $10M for Research

For Release Upon Receipt - November 15, 2024

St. Augustine


 

ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago. November 15, 2024 – The University of the West Indies (The UWI), St. Augustine Campus, held its 2024 Campus Principal’s Research Awards and Conference on November 14, 2024 celebrating outstanding contributions from its top researchers. During the event, Honourable Minister of Finance, Colm Imbert, announced a significant $10 million investment from the Government to fund research at the University, reinforcing the government’s commitment to advancing academic and scientific pursuits.

"We know that the leading countries around the world have demonstrated the value of investing in research and development, which fuels creativity, entrepreneurship, and sustainability," said Professor Rose-Marie Antoine, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal of The UWI St. Augustine. "Relevant research propels society forward. The percentage of GDP invested in research and development is key. The most successful countries in the world understand this formula and invest in research and development—South Korea invests as much as 5.21%, and China and the USA are the highest spenders in terms of dollars. Similarly, with private companies, there is a direct relationship between the amount spent on RDI and success—Amazon, Apple, Huawei are listed in the top 5."

Professor Antoine emphasized the importance of moving beyond traditional sectors: "We need the private sector to recognize and grasp these opportunities for their own development as well. We must move away from the security blanket of an overly emphasized retail sector and move more assertively into investment in research, development, and innovation."

The evening ceremony highlighted UWI’s exceptional researchers, with prestigious awards presented in several categories, including the Principal’s Award for Best Researcher, which was shared by Professor Adesh Ramsubhag from the Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, and Professor Roger Hosein from the Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences. Professor Ramsubhag was recognized for his pioneering work in microbiology and biotechnology, which has had transformative impacts on health, agriculture, and environmental sustainability, while Professor Hosein was commended for his impactful economic research and contributions to Caribbean development, particularly in the context of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and disaster resilience.

Please find below the complete listing of awardees:

Principal’s Award for Best Researcher (Joint)

Professor Adesh Ramsubhag -  Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology

Professor Roger Hosein - Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences

Principal’s Special Innovation Award

Mr. Nishan Rampersad – Innovation: “Human Resources Promotion Tracking Solution”, Campus Information Technology Services (CITS)

Most Outstanding Faculty Researchers

Professor Michelle Mycoo – Faculty of Engineering, Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management

Dr. Ronald Roopnarine – Faculty of Food and Agriculture, Department of Food Production

Professor Jerome De Lisle – Faculty of Humanities and Education, School of Education

Dr. Justin Koo – Faculty of Law

Dr. Shastri Motilal – Faculty of Medical Sciences, Department of Para-clinical Sciences

Dr. Richard Taylor – Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Chemistry

Dr. Riann Singh, Senior Lecturer & Dr. Wendell Wallace, Senior Lecturer – Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Management Studies & Department of Behavioural Sciences

Most Outstanding Researcher of the Centre/Institute/Unit

Dr. Preeya Mohan – Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies

Most Outstanding Graduate Researcher Award & Mentorship Award

Graduate Student: Dr. Amanda Christine RamdassSupervisor: Dr. Shephra Rampersad, Senior LecturerThesis: Biochemical and Genomic Features of Hydrocarbonoclastic Microbes in TrinidadPhD in Biochemistry with High CommendationDepartment of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology

Most Promising Early Career Researcher Award

Dr. Preeya Mohan – Senior Fellow, Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies

Dr. Oshaine Blake – Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering

Best Team Research

Dr. Ricardo Clarke & Dr. Xsitaaz Chadee & Team – Project: Sustainable Futures: Building Resilient Communities through Health, Infrastructure, and Clean EnergyDepartment of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology

Most Outstanding Regional/International Research Project

Dr. Sandeep B. Maharaj & Team – Project: Connecting Climate MindsSchool of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medical Sciences

Award Committee’s Selection for Special Recognition – Most Outstanding International/Regional Research Project

Mr. Andreas Antonopoulos & Ms. Deboleena Paul – Documentary Film "CHEENEE"

Faculty of Humanities and Education

Most Productive Research Department Award

 Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences, Head of the Department –

Prof. Venkatesan Sundaram & Staff, Faculty of Medical Sciences

Most Productive Research Institute, Centre, or Unit Award

Seismic Research Centre, Director Dr. Erouscilla Joseph & Staff

Hurricane and Earthquake Alleviation Research (HEAR) Award

Dr. Karla Georges & Team – Project: Regional coordination for disaster preparedness and mitigation activities to relieve animal suffering and safeguard the agricultural and livestock sectorSchool of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences

Special Mention for Innovation under HEAR Award Category

Mr. Manoj Kollam – Project: Earthquake forecasting models through the Chaotic Chimp-Based African Vulture Optimization Algorithm (CCAVOA) combined with CUDA-accelerated Levenberg-Marquardt Backpropagation Neural Networks (LM-BPNN), PhD Scholar, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering

HEAR Award Certificate of Recognition for “Circular Housing for Hurricane Prone Areas”

Khaion Maitland – Secondary School Student, Queens Royal College

HEAR Award Certificate of Recognition for Proposing “Solutions for Hurricane and Earthquake Alleviation”

Joshua Maraj – Secondary School Student, Fatima College

 

Principal’s Award for Most Impactful Community Research

Professor Shirin Haque – Project: Women In Science for Hope Foundation, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology

For more information on the awards please visit: https://sta.uwi.edu/researchawards/.

About The University of the West Indies

The University of the West Indies (The UWI) is the Caribbean’s premier, higher education institution. One of only two regional universities in the world, it comprises five campuses across the English-speaking Caribbean and global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. The UWI has been consistently ranked among the best in the world by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE).

Learn more at www.uwi.edu

 

Contact