UWI St Augustine and The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) have signed a suite of Memoranda of Understanding to expand student opportunities and accelerate research in areas critical to national and regional development.
The agreements allow them to work together across disciplines such as mechanical and manufacturing engineering, mechatronics and innovation, chemical engineering, energy and the environment, biosciences, and veterinary medicine.
Senator Emeritus Professor Prakash Persad, Minister of Tertiary Education and Skills Training (MTEST), emphasised the need for both universities to partner for the benefit of the country, citing collaborations between the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture and the Eastern Caribbean Institute of Agriculture and Forestry, former iterations of The UWI and UTT respectively.
This view was shared by Emeritus Professor Selwyn R Cudjoe, ORTT, Executive Chairman of UTT, who, in his remarks at the ceremony, stated, “...both institutions possess significant expertise that can be leveraged for greater national good.”
Under the MOUs, The UWI and UTT will work together to increase research, educational, and training opportunities for students and graduates through joint academic programming, shared expertise, research collaboration, student projects, internships, exchanges, electives, practicum opportunities, workshops, and joint grant proposals. Overall, they intend on developing graduates who are better prepared for industry, entrepreneurship, innovation, and public service.
Extolling the benefits of the agreement, UWI St Augustine Campus Principal Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine stated that, “[The UWI’s] relationship with UTT has in fact been longstanding and fruitful, and this occasion marks a deepening of that relationship.... It is a partnership we are proud of—one in which the national interest takes precedence over institutional boundaries as we prepare our students, support industry, and shape solutions for the country and wider region.”
A central feature of the relationship is its emphasis on applied learning. In mechanical and manufacturing engineering, the partnership will support the design and delivery of new academic programmes, particularly in mechatronics, innovation, and related fields.
Commenting on the relevance of mechatronics, Professor Antoine shared that “it is one of the fastest growing fields shaping modern industry”, and that, “Collaboration in this area allows institutions like ours to pool expertise, strengthen research capacity, and better prepare students and policy makers to develop the technologies and solutions on which our country and region will increasingly depend.”
In veterinary medicine and biosciences, the MOU between The UWI’s School of Veterinary Medicine and UTT’s Centre for Biosciences, Agriculture and Food Technologies provides a platform for joint study and training, student internships and exchanges, education abroad, joint supervision and teaching, professional development, public education, and collaborative grant activity.
