This is not a stock image. This photo shows postgraduate researchers Reco Phillips and Luke Benjamin hard at work in the chemistry lab at The UWI St Augustine Campus’ Teaching and Learning Complex (TLC). In addition to fully-equipped lecture theatres, TLC also houses state-of-the-art labs for chemistry and biotech research as well as teaching. Chemists such as Reco, Luke and others work in areas like liquid crystals (used in display screens for devices such as smartphones), solar cell technology, and synthetic polymers with potential uses in the medical industry. “We can do anything here that can be done anywhere else in the world,” says researcher Imran Lourenço, speaking of the potential for scientific breakthroughs at the UWI labs. And breakthroughs can lead to new opportunities for entrepreneurship and innovation, one of the main goals of The UWI. This May, TLC also hosted the first Science and Technology Week, an initiative of the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST). Themed “Science in Communities”, the event focused on the ideas and research coming out of FST, other faculties and the wider society, and the finding solutions to challenges faced by communities throughout the region and world.
PHOTO: ATIBA CUDJOE |
