News Releases

UWI introduces two new Departments

For Release Upon Receipt - August 23, 2010

St. Augustine


St Augustine Campus now has Department of Mathematics & Statistics and Department of Computing & Information Technology.

The University of the West Indies (UWI) St Augustine Campus has established two new departments from the former Department of Mathematics & Computer Science: a Department of Mathematics & Statistics, and a Department of Computing & Information Technology. This new structure is expected to allow greater flexibility and facilitate faster growth in two major disciplines.

 “Our new Department has an expanded vision for academic programmes at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. We intend to place greater emphasis on collaboration with industry, because we recognise the need to expand the education opportunities in Computer Science and Information technology to meet the demands of a knowledge economy,” said Dr Margaret Bernard, Head of the new Department of Computing & Information Technology.

Academic members of staff in the department are involved in several research areas, including e-Learning, Software Engineering, Human-Computer Interaction, Databases and Data Mining, Intelligent Systems, and Networking including Internet and Mobile technologies. The department offers Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree options in Information Technology, Computer Science and Management, as well as a B.Sc. General in which students can major in Computer Science and any other science discipline. A new B.Sc. degree in Computer Science is being offered beginning September 2010 which introduces courses in Intelligent Systems and Modeling & Simulation. The Department continues to offer a M.Sc. in Computer Science as well as M.Phil. and PhD research degrees.

Dr. Shanaz Wahid, Head of the new Department of Mathematics & Statistics, said, “This new Department must provide excellent graduate and undergraduate mathematics education to both science and non-science students that will enable them to make significant contributions to the advancement of region. We intend to encourage and advance links with industry and business that will make the department an important competence center for the country.”

The Department of Mathematics & Statistics offers B.Sc. in Mathematics, with minors in Statistics and Actuarial Science. A major thrust of the department is in the area of financial Mathematics with a new B.Sc. degree in Actuarial Science coming on stream. Current areas of research include Statistical Theory and Sampling Theory, Risk analysis, Optimization, mathematics of Finance, Graph Theory, and Fluid Dynamics.

For more information on the Department of Mathematics & Statistics, please call (868) 662-2002 Ext. 2048. For more information on the Department of Computing & Information Technology, please contact Salma Khan, Administrative Assistant, at Salma.Khan@sta.uwi.edu or 662 2002 Ext. 3798 or 645 7132 (Fax).

For the latest UWI News, click http://sta.uwi.edu/news.

 

About Shanaz Wahid

Dr. Shanaz Wahid is a Senior Lecturer in Mathematics and Head of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. He was the head of the previous Department of Mathematics and Computer Science from August 2005 to July 2010. He graduated from The University of the West Indies with a B.Sc. degree and an M.Phil degree, he was the first to obtained a Ph.D in Mathematics at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus.   He has over 24 years of teaching experience, at both the undergraduate and post graduate levels. His specializations include Combinatorics and Graph Theory. He has written over 39 research papers, most of which are published in international journals, and nine conference papers. 

 

About Margaret Bernard

Dr. Margaret Bernard is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science, Head of the Department of Computing and Information Technology and Coordinator of the M.Sc. program in Computer Science at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. She holds a PhD from The University of the West Indies. She has over 20 years experience in Computer Science Education. She is involved in research in the area of e-learning, the creation and use of technology to support teaching and learning. Her work on an open source Learning Content Management System earned her an award under the Prime Minister’s Awards for Innovation and Invention. Her special area of teaching expertise is Database Systems, at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. Dr. Bernard has been actively involved in curriculum development for the department, having spear-headed the B.Sc. in Information Technology and the new B.Sc. in Computer Science. She has supervised several graduate students, including Ph.D., M.Phil., and M.Sc. students. 

 

About 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.

 

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