Faculty Report 10/11 - The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine

The Department had a number of initiatives on stream,
the two most critical being the re-accreditation of its
BSc and MSc programmes in Chemical and Process
Engineering by the Institution of Chemical Engineers
(IChemE), UK up to July 2011; and the review of its
Chemical and Process Engineering Curriculum to ensure
the relevance of the courses being offered.
A team of assessors from the IChemE visited the
Department from April 18-19, 2011. Emanating from
this visit, the BSc and MSc Programmes in Chemical
and Process Engineering were re-accredited for a 5-year
period up to student intake 2015. During the same
period, a team of assessors from Caribbean Accreditation
Council for Engineering and Technology (CACET) was
allowed to observe the proceedings.
The curriculum review is an ongoing exercise.
During the review period the Petroleum Geoscience and
the Petroleum Engineering Programmes were merged
into the Petroleum Studies Unit (PSU). The PSU also
had an accreditation visit from the Institute of Materials,
Minerals and Mining (IOM3) from March 16–18, 2011
which resulted in the re-accreditation of the MSc in
Petroleum Engineering Programme for a 5-year period,
from student intake 2010.
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
The web-based application “My ELearning” and other
ICT-based approaches are being increasingly used
to provide students with always-available access to
information.
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
The Department continued the development of its
Teaching and Learning processes. Acomplishments
included adjustments to the BSc programme in line
with recommendations of the Quality Assurance Review
and the IET panel; and the proposed enhancement
of “Communications across the Curriculum” with the
FACULTY REPORT 2010/2011
introduction of a new course ECNG 3033 Communications
Skills for Engineers II.
Graduate Studies
The Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
continued its demand-driven approach to teaching and
learning and this led to the maintenance of enrollment
levels across the board.
The Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
completed revision of its MASc Programme in Electrical
and Computer Engineering in accordance with the UK
Standards for Professional Engineering Competence
published in 2008 by the Engineering Council of the UK.
These were designed to satisfy the educational requirements
for Chartered Engineers. The revised programme has been
approved by The University and is being introduced in the
2011/2012 academic year.
Research & Innovation
Research Agenda
The faculty’s Research and Innovation Committee completed
its mandate of drafting a proposal on how the UWI could best
address the challenge stated in the Strategic Plan 2007-2012
for improving its Research and Innovation portfolio. The
proposal, which was accepted by Faculty Board, endorsed
the approach described in the UWI Strategic Plan 2007-2012
document regarding the urgent need for increased levels of
innovation to support Caribbean economic growth and
sustainability. It proposed a structure for a Caribbean-wide
Innovation System that would not only see the expansion
and improvement of business opportunities supported by
UWI development activities but would also seed and direct
more meaningful and higher levels of UWI’s pure and
applied research portfolio.
Department of Chemical Engineering
The Chemical Engineering Unit, carried out research in the
areas of simulation and control, biofilms, interfacial science,
and production of biodegradable plastics from brewery and
sugar containing wastes.
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