 |
 |
 |
|
June 2010
|
A first in long distance wireless networking
This is the first time this type of low-cost long-distance Wi-Fi based networking technology has been implemented in the Caribbean. This technique can be utilized by newly trained personnel at The UWI St Augustine to create and maintain similar long-distance Wi-Fi network links to service the rural areas of Trinidad and Tobago at a minimal cost. Earlier in the week, the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science from the Faculty of Science and Agriculture facilitated a wireless workshop on “Low Cost Wireless Computer Networking.” Dr. Donna Comissiong and Mr. Naresh Seegobin were the principal organizers. Ermanno Pietrosemoli and three of his associates from the ICTP (International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy) were the instructors. The funding agencies that facilitated this along with The UWI were the ICTP, EsLaRed, ISOC, NSRC and WirelessU. During the training week, a Wi-Fi link between UWI’s St. Augustine Campus and the St. David’s R.C. school was activated. The basic infrastructure, including poles and network connectivity, was set up during the first days of the workshop. Later, adjustments to the antennae were made and network routing configurations were validated. The 158 Standard Three students who were exposed to the demonstration were thrilled, particularly the boys (there are one hundred of them), said Principal Kathleen Pierre-Holder. “In that group of children, I saw the change in attitude in the boys,” she said. “Not that the girls are not interested, but the expression on the boys’ faces was something.” Saying that one of the challenges they face is to find strategies to keep the boys excited, she wished for more of that technology.
The transformation it can bring was tingling in their eyes, and as Pierre-Holder beheld it, she was moved. “It was an awesome moment,” she concluded. The purpose of this workshop was to train local staff and graduate students to create and successfully implement and maintain this low-cost Wi-Fi technology. Participants are now fully prepared to train others to do the same. The Department hopes to build on this initiative to create similar wireless network links around the country, especially in rural communities where internet connections are not currently available. This initiative can later be expanded to include the rural areas of Tobago, and later on, the rest of the Caribbean islands. |
The official launch of the long-distance wireless network link created from the UWI St Augustine Campus to the St David’s RC primary school in Kelly Village took place on Friday 11th June 2010. A demonstration of the capability of the wireless network was carried out in a classroom setting at the school. Students used the internet on laptops in a classroom to find information about hurricanes via the National Geographic website. 
“I really want to see the technology in the classroom. I can see our boys coming alive and they can do something if they have the technology.”