SUNDAY 2 JUNE 2019 – UWI TODAY
13
CAMPUS NEWS
A new initiative has been created
to harness the energy,
imagination and knowledge of young economists from
the region. The Youth Economic Forum, held at the end of
March, brought together students from UWI St Augustine’s
economics programme to discuss two pressing global issues
- poverty and hunger.
The Forum, titled “Bridging the Gap to 2030:The Future
we want, No Poverty No Hunger”, was a collaborative effort
of the Department of Economics; the HEU, Centre for
Health Economics; and the Economics Society of The UWI,
St Augustine. It was attended by more than an estimated
95 people – largely comprising economics students. The
panellists were undergraduate and postgraduate economics
students.
The primary aim of the event was to create a platform
for dialogue among young Caribbean economists on regional
issues and progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN). This first forum
focused on two of the SDGs - No Poverty and Zero Hunger.
The organisers hope the forum will also strengthen youth
involvement in the dialogue on policy and bridge the gap
with current perspectives on the SDGs.
The inaugural Youth Economic Forum was attended by
current and past students of the Department of Economics,
economics lectures, personnel from the Ministry of Social
Development, NGO representatives, and other interested
persons. It took place on March 28 at the Faculty of Social
Sciences Lounge.
FIRST EVER YOUTH ECONOMIC FORUM FOCUSES ON POVERTY, HUNGER
A machine that lifts automobile
engines and transmissions,
a cocoa
butter press, and a weaving machine,
were some of the creative projects
on display at the Department of
Mechanical and Manufacturing
Engineering (DMME) Conference
and Exhibition 2019. The two-part
event, taking place on May 22 at the
St Augustine Campus, showcased
the department’s Capstone Projects
and selected postgraduate research
projects and presentations with the
aim of finding new ways to solve
everyday farming problems.
With the theme “Engineering
Innovative Solutions” the exhibition
att rac ted a crowd of pr imar y
and secondary school students,
representatives from government and
industry, and members of the campus
community. There were agriculture
and agro-processing projects on
display at the JFK Auditorium, such
as a cocoa bean grinder, cocoa pod
splitter, and a fruit pulp extractor.
A contest was held for student
Capstone Projects and the first place
went to Elisse Anjulie Ramsubir who
designed and built an electric-powered
tricycle for the beach. Second place
went to SamanthaMohammed, whose
project looked at alternative cooling
methods for solar modules. Joshua
Ramdeen took third place with an
accelerated weight drop for seismic
testing.
The DMME Conference and
Exhibition was created to expose the
wider society to the innovation taking
place in the department, which can
potentially lead to partnerships with
Government and the private sector to
develop new products and services for
entrepreneurial and other purposes.
The conference portion of the
event took place at the Engineering
Lecture Theatre.
Student engineers show their machines
PHOTOS: COURTESY
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND
MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING
Elisse Anjulie Ramsubir, winner of the Capstone Project
Contest, on her electric-powered tricycle.
Samantha Mohammed discussing her project with Professor John Agard, Director of the
St Augustine Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Joshua Ramdeen explains his project “The Design, Build and Test of an Accelerated Weight Drop for Seismic Testing” to the contest judges.
From left: Dr Daren Conrad – Lecturer, Department of Economics
and Youth Economic Forum Moderator, PhD student Benjamin
Ramkissoon, MSc student Najay Parke, and BSc students Rocyn
Vitalis and Ryhan Chand.
PHOTO: COURTESY HEU, CENTRE FOR HEALTH
ECONOMICS
