ANALYSIS – 08
What makes us weak
An academic view
STRATEGIC PLAN – 06
The Innovation
Imperative
Re-engineering
education
PRESCRIPTION – 11
Diversification task
Job for the private sector
NURTURING – 15
Food for Art
Minding the children
GROWTH,
SURVIVAL,
LEGACY
Chancellor Designate, Mr. Robert Bermudez, gets a first-hand look at the Percussive Harmonic Instrument (PHI) as Campus Principal, Professor
Brian Copeland, explains its inner workings during a break at the Innovation Conference held at the St. Augustine Campus on June 27 and 28.
At the opening of the first Innovation Conference
to
be held at The UWI, Campus Principal and Pro Vice-
Chancellor, Professor Brian Copeland, told the gathering
that a major element of the day was that it had managed a
coalescing of vital forces, so to speak.
“What is significant about today, though, is the wide
cross-section of participants – a coming together of
individuals with differing perspectives – from the public
and the private sectors, from academia and government,
from international agencies. Yet, we come together with
one common cause: the need, no – absolute imperative – to
increase Research, Development and Innovation in (RDI)
Trinidad and Tobago.”
Professor Copeland, who was formally inducted as
Campus Principal yesterday (July 8), outlined his vision for
The UWI, saying students should be better equipped with
the tools for survival in a highly competitive and dynamic
world.
“We know that many UWI graduates are facing
hitherto unseen levels of underemployment, even in the
high-demand professions such as medicine and law. We
have accepted the challenge of utilising our resources to
help younger generations learn how to survive in the new
dynamically changing world. In such a world, we believe it
is of the utmost importance that our citizens be educated
and trained to meet and beat every challenge that nature or
humankind throws their way. They must be endowed with
the ability to spot and exploit commercial opportunities,
while deriving novel, ingenious, and workable solutions
to our economic, societal and ecological challenges. This
would be a legacy of self-sustainability.
“Such a legacy would be an enduring one. It would
completely obliterate the debilitating cultural impact
of slavery and indentureship. But, even more, it would
determine the ultimate survival and growth of our region
as a whole.”
(Professor Copeland’s address is on
Page 6
.)
