Eureka!The official magazine of the Faculty of Science and Technology, St. Augustine.

JANUARY 2014

4 11The Scientist and Society

6Toxic Relationship Beauty and the

Environment

7Win a Kindle Fire

Eureka! - From the editor’s desk2

Welcome to our inaugural issue of Eureka! the official magazine of the Faculty of Science and Technology.

The exclamation ‘Eureka!’ is famously attributed to the ancient Greek scholar Archimedes when he had a sudden insight into the solution of a scientific problem - reflecting our mandate in the Faculty. As a faculty we are still a babe barely a year old, but hope that we have hit the ground running. This initiative is among several others where our human side takes precedence over our professional day to day work. In the maga-zine you will learn of the initiatives by depart-ments and individuals including students who are making a difference. The magazine is about everyone who is a part of sharing the common passion for science and technology whether they are teaching or learning science or just curious about it. So, like any good exposition on science we invite you to explore and discover within our

pages what lie ahead - the serious side of us, and then importantly the child within us all inviting you to have a little fun.

We want you to be part of our upcoming issues. At this stage we are looking at the production of one magazine per semester and we would like you to join hands with us and let us know your thoughts and ideas as we embark on this journey together to make Eureka! a premier publication of the University of the West Indies. A special thanks to the editorial team, Kereen and Edward for their hard work, the contributors in this first issue and our dean, Prof. Indar Ramnarine for his unconditional support. Go, team Eureka!

- Shirin HaqueEditor

“Live long and prosper!”

Team Eureka!Dr. Shirin HaqueEditor

Kereen Olivier Roving Reporter

Edward RamkissoonLayout & Design

In this issue

3 A word from the Dean

4 Eureka! Feature Article:The Scientist & Society

Departments of the Faculty of Science and Technology

6 Contaminants and the en-vironment: a toxic relation-ship

Computing and Technolo-gy: getting the edge

7

8 Jason’s got talent! Novel style in teaching

Using Mathematics to improve S.E.A placement procedure

9

Smart and Green Future...?10

Leading the way through postgraduate research

Undergraduate

Postgraduate

11

11 Beauty and the environ-ment

Advising our peers10

3A word from the Dean

FRONT COVER: The Banwari Man is still the oldest skele-ton in the West Indies, and it is on display at the Faculty of Science and Technology’s Museum. Its unearthing 5000 years later, at 20 cm below the surface is quite a phenomenal discovery in this part of the world.

Our next issue will feature more on this amazing find.

Did you know?

The Faculty of Science & Technology (FST) of the University of the West Indies was established in August 2012 by the demerg-

er of the former Faculty of Science & Agriculture. The FST is poised to take the people of the region into the global hi-tech environment of the future via its teaching and research aimed at serving the needs and solving the problems of the region. This magazine is a celebration of who we are as a Faculty and the difference we are making. We formalize this by the official launch of the Faculty in January 2014.

Within our first year in existence, we have launched several new cutting edge programmes to better serve our students and the region. New offerings include BSc in Biomedical Technology, BSc in Environmental Science and Sustainable Technology, BSc in Biology with specializations, BSc in Chemistry, and a BSc in Statistics and Economics. A new MSc in Renewable Energy Technology has been launched. We are constantly revising our programmes to keep pace with global standards.

Science and technology have changed the world, and as a Faculty, we intend to maintain this tradi-tion of making a difference through cutting edge

technology and novel breakthroughs in Science. We will continue to deliver relevant, attractive, and up-to- date programmes in the FST.

Professor Indar RamnarineDean

4 Eureka! - Feature Article

“The Scientist and Society”Emmanuel Ciprian Amoroso Award for Medical Sciences 2013

Sabga Laureate Awardee 2013- Prof. Dave Chadee

The Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence (ANSCAFE) is now the En-glish-speaking Caribbean’s leading recogni-

tion Award in Arts, Sciences, and Public and Civic Work. Prof Dave Chadee from the Department of Life sciences in the Faculty of Science and Tech-nology was one of the joint recipients of this pres-tigious award in 2013 in the category of Science and Technology. Prof. Chadee is an entomologist and parasitologist, and an expert in vector- borne diseases whose work has positively impacted the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the world. He has published over two hundred papers in peer reviewed journals including Science and The New England Journal of Medicine. He has also led research into issues of great relevance to the region such as dengue fever, yellow fever, and ma-laria. His research interests cover a broad range of tropical epidemiology including public health.

The practical applications of his research can be found in areas like the relation between climate change and dengue outbreaks in the Caribbean. His work on mosquitoes has led to the develop-ment of mosquito traps, new disease surveillance systems, and new control strategies. His research achievements have earned him several UWI awards and he is also the recipient of a Bill and

Melinda Gates Foundation Grant. His expertise is highly sought after by international agencies such as the World Health Organisation, the Pan-Ameri-can Health Organisation, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and CARICOM.

Below is an excerpt from his speech delivered at the award ceremony for The Anthony N Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence 2013.

“Although many of my colleagues may appear as snobs or arrogant- scientists, they are not “snobs” or “conceited” and certainly “not mad as portrayed in Hollywood and Bollywood” but are human being with similar frailties, insecurities and emotions of human beings but in the ivory tower environment- their individual idiosyncrasies are exaggerated and “yes” many have been “nerds” all their lives and will happily continue to so be.

However, all researchers have a responsibility and through their research there is the individual pur-suits in their area of interest and which brings joy and career paths for the researchers- what seems odd to many are the subject of many “lifelong” in-terest --whether it is the mosquito, coral reefs, roots of plants or biochemical pathways etc.

Professor Dave Chadee and Dr. Karen Polson

5Interestingly, since most scientist are funded by taxpayers- there is an implicit responsibility to con-duct research relevant to the needs of society and should ensure that their results impact the welfare, rights and treatment of the community and the wider application for society including future gen-erations and the biosphere.

It is therefore essential that 5 Mertionan principles be followed:

1. Communalism- which suggest that the results of pure and applied research be considered as pub-lic knowledge- with open access

2. Universalism- democratic nature of scientific activity which does not tolerate discrimination on the basis of gender, race, religion or social or aca-demic standing

3. Disinterestedness- which suggest that scientist should have no vested interest in the results of their scientific investigation- no family or close-friends to capitalize on their results- to remove “bias”

4. Originality- scientists should contribute some-thing new, new theories or new explanations- i.e. fostering creativity and

5. Skepticism- this represents the counterbal-ance to the drive for originality- adopting the Karl Popper approach, a 20th century philosopher of science and society who advocated that “all knowledge is provisional” so, therefore as new circumstances, new technologies are developed- the results may change.

Therefore, nothing remains static and as we go for-ward we should have an open mind- ego, conceit, arrogance and hubris – have no place. This ap-proach will remove “conceit” and therefore leads to recognition and admiration of “equal for equal.”Professor Chadee was further honoured with the gold medal “The Emmanuel Ciprian Amoroso Award for Medical Sciences” 2013 for excellence in Science and Technology.

Doctors of Philosophy at Graduation Ceremony 2013Of the twenty Ph.D graduates from UWI in 2013, forty percent were from FST.

The Faculty of Science and TechnologyAnnual Prizes Award Ceremony 2012 / 2013

6

One pressing problem in Trinidad and Tobago and the region is the negative

impact on the environment and human health due to pollutant emissions from landfills. Pres-ently, the ability of the current landfills to safely store waste is uncertain. To fill this data gap, a project entitled “The impact of the contaminants produced by the Guanapo Landfill on the surrounding environment” was spearheaded by a group of researchers under the lead-ership of Dr Denise Beckles in the Department of Chemistry and received funding under the Trinidad and Tobago Research and Development Impact Fund (RDI Fund) which is funded by the Government of the Repub-lic of Trinidad and Tobago, and administered by the University of the West Indies.

The goal of this project is to assess the extent of contamina-tion from the Guanapo Landfill to the air, water and soil, as well as identify the potential impacts of this contamination to eco-logical and human receptors. The results of this study will be used to guide recommendations to address the environmental and public health issues in the Heights of Guanapo district.

A highly skilled team of re-searchers from the Faculties of Science and Technology, Engi-neering and Medical Sciences at the UWI-STA and the Caribbean Institute of Metrology and Hy-drology in Barbados, along with partner institutions the Solid Waste Management Company Limited of Trinidad and Tobago and the Water Resources Agen-cy was put together to address the variety of issues that were

expected to crop up during the investigation. The research project is currently underway, with researchers making field visits, collecting analytical and other data to assess the concen-trations of a variety of chemical pollutants in the air, water and soil of the Guanapo Landfill and its surroundings. Supporting these researchers are a num-ber of postgraduate students; a bonus in terms of knowledge transfer and capacity building. This project is unusual in the breadth of its coverage, and at its conclusion will provide a comprehensive picture of the environmental situation in the Guanapo Landfill. This informa-tion will not be left in isolation, as it is intended that this infor-mation will guide future activi-ties at other landfills in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as in the wider Caribbean region.

Contaminants and the environmentA toxic relationship

7

The University Of The West Indies (UWI) Computing Forum 2013 was an initiative hosted by the Department of Computing

and Information Technology which showcased the research and development within the broad area of Information and Communication Tech-nology as a means of strengthening the Universi-ty’s and the industry’s responses to the needs of society.

The Computing Forum provided an opportunity for participants to share their experiences, high-

light achievements and discuss challenges. It pro-vided the ability to engage a wider audience not only for feedback, but also provided opportunities for future collaboration and extension.

The forum brought together academic staff, re-searchers and technical expertise not just within Trinidad and Tobago, but had representatives from the wider academic and computer industry within the Caribbean.

Computing and TechnologyGetting the edge

A teenager returned home from a party very late. Not wanting anyone to hear him, he removed his shoes and crept silently to his room. No one saw or heard him come in. The next morning, his mother asked him what time he came home and he replied, “About one o’clock.” How did she know that he had, in fact, come home much, much later than that?

Entrants are to email their answer to eureka@sta.uwi.edu. Contest is open until March 31, 2014. All correct entries will be placed into a random draw.

Answer the brainteaser below for a chance to win a Kindle Fire

8

Jason Matthew is an Instructor for the Life Sci-ences Department, UWI, with a passion for the tough subject area of Biochemistry and sharing

that passion with students.

In 2011, he was faced with the shared challenge of large class sizes with many students having difficulty grasping the course material. How could face-to-face time be freed up? What tools and strategies could be used to enable students to cover the material at their own pace?

He set about creating screencast versions of his lectures and distributed them to the students and subsequently in 2012 created a YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/BiochemJM). The students responded very favourably to this method of teaching and it received rave reviews. Presently 84 videos have been uploaded on the YouTube channel and individuals from 174 countries are responsible for the 100,000 plus views.

In 2012, he further challenged his Biochemistry students to create 15 minute videos on any topic from the course syllabus. This approach was called – Biochemians’ Got Talent (BGT 2012). The students tapped into their creativity and innovation incor-porating puppets, fight scenes, horror, music and cartoons to explain complex biochemical concepts.

Jason is of the view that the video project played a critical role in increasing the pass rate from 77% in 2011 to 91% in 2012.

Jason presented a paper ‘Biochemians Got Talent: Student Assessment Through YouTube Video Pre-sentations’ at the sixth international conference of MIT’s Learning International Networks Consortium (LINC) in Massachusetts in June 2013. The presen-tation was enthusiastically received and currently he is working on collaborating with other universities on establishing a peer review system for student videos.

In 2013, he will be repeating the BGT project and incorporating blogging in his courses. Future plans include introducing Twitter as well as problem based learning using 3D virtual world technology into his teaching. Jason has shown the University that learn-ing can be fun, even with the difficult concepts of Biochemistry. A true trail blazer – Mr. Jason Mat-thew.

He can be contacted at:jason.matthew2@sta.uwi.edu.

Jason’s got talent! Novel style in teaching

9Using Mathematics to improvethe S.E.A. Placement Procedure

The placement of primary school students to secondary schools is an example of a simplified version to a problem initially

thought of by Gale and Shapley in 1962. Since then, extensive work and modifications to the original problem proposed by Gale and Shapley have been done. Using a mechanism, researchers have led successful work in the remodeling of school placement systems, the placement of med-ical interns to hospitals and most recently, the area of kidney exchange. This field gained world-wide recognition last year, 2012, when Professor Alvin E. Roth won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his work in redesigning placement mechanisms.

Trisha Lawrence’s research in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics focuses on the current Secondary Entrance Assessment (S.E.A) placement procedure in Trinidad and Tobago and discusses ways of improving this system by the implementation of a proposed mechanism. The study analyzes how the S.E.A. placement proce-dure can be considered to be a simpler form of

the problem originally thought of by Gale and Shapley and establishes mathematically a new placement procedure that is not only `fair’, but also` best suited’ to all the students involved.

There is no end to the diverse applications of Mathematics in our lives as a powerful tool to un-derstand and solve problems, as Trisha’s research has shown.

Can you guess where this is?

Take a moment to examine the picture on the right and see if you can determine where on the UWI, St. Augustine’s campus this building is located. Do you give up?

Turn to the back page for the answer.

Smart & Green Future ...? Physics Department leads project on

Smart Grid Technology

Dr. Davinder Pal Sharma comes with an expertise on Digital Signal Processing and its applications for Communication,

Speech Recognition and Smart Grid Technology. He is currently leading a project on “Capacity Building and Research on Smart Grid Technology in the Caribbean Region”. This project has been initiated through a $ 500,000 TT research grant of UWI RDI Impact Fund. The team which includes Dr. Ajay Joshi (Sr. Lecturer, Electrical & Computer Engg.), Dr. Patrick Hosein (Sr. Lecturer, Computing & IT) and Dr. Sanjay Bahadoorsingh (Lecturer, Electrical & Computer Engineering) hopes to enhance the efficiency and reliability of current electrical power networks and study the integra-tion challenges of renewable energy systems with the grid so that carbon emission can be reduced in the country and the region. Modelling of re-newable energy systems (green sources) partic-ularly fuel cell is currently one of the areas of his research. Dr. Sharma is also studying the effect of babble noise on the performance of speech rec-ognition systems, which is one of the next gener-ation technologies for man-machine interaction.

Recent applications of automatic speech recogni-tion systems include mobile telephony, automobile feature controls, caption generation, transcription systems and interactive kiosk terminals.

10

Advising Our Peers Meet the Peer Advisors

From left to right: Onika Roberts, Nalini Padarath, Ejaaz Ahamed, Georgia Amarsingh, Shivani Bhaga-loo and Katherine McEwan (Missing: Videsh Jagroo)

11Beauty and the Environment

Twenty-one year old Jenelle Thongs, is a stu-dent in the Faculty of

Science and Technology at the University of the West Indies studying for the BSc. in Biology with specializations in Ecology and Environmental Biology and Zoology. Not only is she busy studying but finds the time to participate in beauty pageants. She was Miss Chaguanas in 2012 and placed as the 4th Runner-Up in the local leg of the Miss Uwiverse pageant. She went on to represent our coun-try at a regional pageant - Miss Carnival in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

In keeping with her educational aspirations at the Faculty of Sci-ence and Technology, she was one of the seven finalists of the Miss Oneness Trinidad and To-

bago Beauty Pageant, vying for the coveted title of Miss Oneness T&T 2013. The chosen Queen will be Trinidad and Tobago’s delegate for the prestigious 3rd largest beauty pageant of the world – The Miss Earth of the Philippines. The Miss Oneness T&T Beauty Pageant is truly unique with a mission focused on the environment to better sensitize the people of Trinidad and Tobago and international visitors, on the environmental

issues affecting the world. Each delegate represented a partic-ular eco-sensitive area and or a tourist attraction in Trinidad and Tobago. Jenelle Thongs copped the “Miss popular” title in the Miss Oneness pageant. Jenelle, who was Ms. Heights of Aripo, has exemplified that our students not only shine academ-ically but are multi-talented.

The Faculty of Science and Technology’s Post Graduate section strives to promote research and continuous knowledge. Among our faculty’s areas of research are Natural and Synthetic Compounds for use in the treatment and diagno-sis of diseases and the creation of devices for renewable energy production such as solar ener-gy conversion. Research is also being done in Genetic Diversity, Mathematical Models of Crime and Bluetooth Quizzing Application.

At the start the 2013/2014 academic year, the faculty launched the MSc. in Renewable Energy Technology offered through the Department of Physics. This programme stemmed from an urgent need for the Caribbean region to become equipped with technological building capacity.

By achieving this goal, it addresses the challenges of escalating price and availability of fossil fuels and supports the protection of the environ-ment. This programme is intended to meet the needs of a broad range of professionals whose occupations are related to science and energy, and sustainable development.

Our postgraduate students are both keeping up with, and contributing to technological advancement.

Leading the waythrough postgraduate research

Asha Smith: BSc Biology with Specialisations I want to help in the fight against cancer and HIV/AIDS through biotechnology.

Carisa Davis: BSc Chemistry (General) I plan to use chemistry to make a difference in the future by using the knowledge I have gained and the previous research studies to try and solve the mysteries in the chemis-try world.

Adesh Maraj: MSc. Computer Science In this day and age, technology is advancing rapidly. A modern cell phone has more computing power than all of NASA in the 1960’s. My main goal as a programmer is to contribute to my field in the development of new technologies such as gesture control.

Andre Balgobin: BSc Mathematics/Physics In today’s world everything we do has Physics in it from driving a car to walking on the moon. Physics is cool! You can apply it to almost anything. It’s part of life.

Nisamarie Singh: BSc Biology (with specialisations)I plan to assist the country in becoming a more environmentally friendly region by edu-cating the youths from a biological point of view.

Jared Hutcheon : BSc Mathematics To further my concepts in Numbers, Finance and Business in order to formulate effi-cient models to improve the financial state of our country.

How do you plan to use Science to make a difference in the future?

Professor Christopher Starr

- A bug-watcher peers at An-giopolybia pallens. Photo by Shazara Ali.

What do our scientists do? CONTACT INFORMATION:

Address:Eureka!Dean’s Office, Faculty of Science and Technology, The Univeristy of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus,Trinidad and Tobago,West Indies.

Phone: (868) 662-2002 Ext. 84478Email: eureka@sta.uwi.eduWeb: sta.uwi.edu

We offer cutting edge pro-grammes in Science and Technolo-gy. Join Us!

Eureka! has regional distribution. Advertising space is available.

The Chemistry Solvent Stall is located just outside of the Chemistry C1 building. If you still do not know where, it is the globe shaped building just north of the Dean’s office, Faculty of Science and Technology.

Did you guess it?