The Principal’s Research Awards and Conference was held on 14-15 November 2024. The Awards and Conference celebrated research that adapts to evolving social, economic and technological changes reflecting The UWI’s commitment to dynamic response mechanisms. It also honoured researchers whose work aligns with both UWI’s research priorities and regional development needs and incorporated the participation of diverse groups, including ministries, agencies and educational institutions. The Awards Ceremony fosters an inclusive environment where knowledge and achievements are accessible to the wider community.
Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine (right) and the Honourable Colm Imbert, Minister of Finance (centre) celebrate with the 2024 winners at the Principal’s Research Awards
There were 93 applicants for the twelve awards. The winners are detailed below:
| Principal’s Award for Best Researcher | |
| 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 |
CITS |
|
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 |
|
Best Team Research |
|
| Dr Ricardo Clarke & Dr Xsitaaz Chadee & Team
Project: Sustainable Futures: Building Resilient Communities through Health, Infrastructure, and Clean Energy |
Department of Physics
Faculty of Science and Technology |
|
Most Outstanding Regional/International Research Project |
|
| Dr Sandeep B. Maharaj & Team
Project: Connecting Climate Minds |
School of Pharmacy
Faculty of Medical Sciences |
|
Most Productive Research Department Award |
|
| Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences
Head of the Department – Prof Venkatesan Sundaram & Staff |
Medical Sciences |
|
Most Productive Research Institute, Centre or Unit Award |
|
| Seismic Research Centre
Director Dr Erouscilla Joseph & Staff |
Seismic Research Centre |
|
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 |
|
Most Outstanding Graduate Researcher Award & Mentorship Award |
|
| Graduate Student: Dr Amanda Christine Ramdass
Supervisor: Dr Shephra Rampersad, Senior Lecturer Thesis: Biochemical and Genomic Features of Hydrocarbonoclastic Microbes in Trinidad PhD in Biochemistry with High Commendation |
Department of Life Sciences
Faculty of Science and Technology |
|
Most Outstanding Faculty Researchers |
|
| Professor Michelle Mycoo | Faculty of Engineering
Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management |
| Dr Ronald Roopnarine
Senior Lecturer |
Faculty of Food and Agriculture
Department of Food Production |
| Professor Jerome De Lisle | Faculty of Humanities and Education, School of Education |
| Dr Justin Koo
Senior Lecturer |
Faculty of Law |
| Dr Shastri Motilal
Senior Lecturer |
Faculty of Medical Sciences
Department of Para-clinical Sciences |
| Dr Richard Taylor
Senior Lecturer |
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
Senior Fellow |
Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies |
|
Hurricane and Earthquake Alleviation Research (HEAR) Award |
|
| Dr Karla Georges & Team
Director, School of Veterinary Medicine Project: Regional coordination for disaster preparedness and mitigation activities to relieve animal suffering and safeguard the agricultural and livestock sector |
School of Veterinary Medicine Faculty of Medical Sciences |
| Mr Manoj Kollam
Special Mention for Innovation under HEAR award category 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 |
| Mr Khaion Maitland
HEAR Award Certificate of Recognition for Circular housing for hurricane prone areas |
Secondary School Student, Queens Royal College |
| Mr Joshua Maraj
HEAR Award Certificate of Recognition for Certificate of Recognition for proposing Solutions for Hurricane and Earthquake alleviation |
Secondary School Student, Fatima College |
|
Award Committee’s Selection for Special Recognition – Most Outstanding International/Regional Research Project |
|
| Mr Andreas Antonopoulos &
Ms Deboleena Paul For Documentary Film “ CHEENEE |
Faculty of Humanities and Education |