SUNDAY 6 AUGUST, 2017 – UWI TODAY
7
Speaking on innovation
, Jeff Bezos, the multi-billionaire
founder of Amazon who is closing in on the heels of Bill
Gates for the title of richest person on the planet, said: “One
of the ways to get yourself out of a tight box is to invent
your way out.”
With its weakening energy sector, Trinidad and Tobago
is in a tight box. With a 14% reduction in funding, UWI St.
Augustine is in a tight box as well. But, as Bezos says, the
Campus has its inventors. And they have been busy.
“There are products here that will shock the world,” says
NizamudeenMohammed, a technicianwith theDepartment
of Chemistry, as he leads me into an office. The space is
tiny but it’s not the space that matters. On display is a suite
of coatings – indoor and exterior paints, red oxide primer,
marine coating, 4-in-1 coating and plastic cement – many
of themmade from a combination of local asphalt and other
additives. All of them made by a Chemistry Department
team. Most importantly, many of these products will be
available to the public as UWI St. Augustine launches a start-
up company for asphalt coatings, a first for the Campus.
The asphalt-based products, as well as other innovations
coming out of the Department, were displayed at the
Innovation Conference held in late June at UWI’s Teaching
and Learning Centre. In his address at the Conference,
Campus Principal Professor Brian Copeland said he had
mandated St. Augustine to launch its first spin-off company
in 2017.
This is massive for several reasons. Firstly the products
themselves, representative of homegrown innovation that
use local raw materials and were specifically designed
to resist conditions like heat and moisture, are entering
a market which is dominated by foreign products. The
research team says the asphalt coatings are not only more
effective they are also much less expensive.
“The Caribbean climate is hot. We live and work in
coastal areas. We have flooding,” says Mr. Mohammed.
“These products were developed and tested to withstand
the heat, the salt-water, the rust. And we can bring them to
market at a much lower cost.”
If the asphalt coatings are so effective in the extreme
conditions of the Caribbean, then they will be even more
effective in temperate climates, says the research team. This
means there is potential for export business. In fact, Mr.
Mohammed says there has already been several expressions
of interest from regional and international parties.
INNOVATION-LED ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The start-up is also extremely significant because it
represents an evolution in UWI’s role. At the Innovation
Conference, Professor Copeland said UWI is “actively
expanding the current ‘education-for-jobs’ paradigm to
one that nurtures creativity and innovation.” The asphalt
coating start-up is essentially a blueprint for how it can be
done – from research and development to manufacturing
and bringing products to market, what Professor Copeland
has described as the innovation pipeline.
Innovation remains a much-desired but elusive goal for
Trinidad and Tobago. Currently the Government is working
on a draft national innovation policy. Principal Copeland
has made innovation a major priority for the Campus and
is actively promoting a cohesive innovation strategy that
includes input from government, the private sector and the
education sector.
The asphalt coating start-up also represents a very
effective use of the funding provided to the University.
“People need to see the result of investing in UWI and
in our research,” says Dr. SimoneWalcott, Chief Technician
in the Chemistry Department and a member of the research
team.
Nizam Mohammed (right) of the Chemistry Department at The UWI St. Augustine showed off some of the lubricants (velocity joint grease)
developed by staff to (from left) Campus Principal Professor Brian Copeland, Ronald Hinds, CEO of Teleios, (Professor John Agard is partially
hidden), Dr Simone Walcott, Beverly Khan, Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Planning, Mr. Robinson Constantine (who applied
the coating to the solvent bunker) and Dr. Terrence Farrell.
Among the coating products on display at the Innovation
Conference were a primer, marine coatings and plastic
cement, some asphalt-based and all with short drying times,
and lower costs than comparable items.
At the heart of the team are Dr. Lebert Grierson (Head
of the Chemistry Department) and Mr. Mohammed,
who have been working on coatings, lubricants and other
formulations for more than a decade.
“I looked at poor people who can’t afford to buy a
galvanize sheet for their roof or a can of paint at Christmas
time,” says Mohammed. “How do we use what we have in
the country to create affordable solutions for them that will
last? It was a challenge and I thrive on challenge.”
He recounted how he and Dr. Grierson would go to
residents of La Brea (the location of the Pitch Lake) and
buy waste deposits of asphalt to conduct their experiments.
Eventually, despite their extremely limited resources
and several other difficulties they developed a range of
formulations combining asphalt with other ingredients.
Several of their products have been tested and certified
by the Shriram Institute for Industrial Research in India.
This also includes two greases – a velocity joint grease and
a heavy red grease. Mohammed says there are many more
products in the works, some already completed and only
awaiting certification.
“We have a great team of researchers and we can make
a whole field of products,” he says.
At the time of this writing the Department is awaiting
additional funding for further research and expansion
of the chemistry lab to better handle a larger scale of
manufacturing. Despite the difficulties they have faced
in developing these products, the team is optimistic for
the future of the work, particularly under the leadership
of Professor Copeland and the new innovation paradigm.
“All we need is 10% of the Trinidad and Tobago market
and 10% of the Caribbean market and we can have an
extremely profitable business,” says Mr. Mohammed. “In
the entire Caribbean there is no manufacturing of these
kinds of products. The market is there. We can make an
impact and we can help to put UWI in the driving seat for
innovation in the region.”
A Fresh Coat of Asphalt
Campus to create first start-up company
using research-based natural products
B Y J O E L H E N R Y
UWI MATTERS
Joel Henry is an editor and writer.
“These products were
developed and tested to
withstand the heat, the
salt-water, the rust. And we
can bring them to market at
a much lower cost.”
