Research at UTech Boosted with donation of lab equipment
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President Prof. the Hon. Errol Morrison, OJ, (3rd left) examines the rotary evaporator that is among the lab equipment donated by Johnson & Johnson (Toronto) Ltd to UTech. The equipment was formally handed over at a special ceremony at UTech’s Papine campus on Tuesday, July 8, 2008. Looking on from left are Dr. Colin Gyles, Acting Head, Department of Science and Mathematics, Faculty of Health and Applied Science, Mr. Trevor Miller, Executive, CAST-UTech Alumni (Toronto) Chapter Association, Dr. Sarafadeen Adebayo, Head, School of Pharmacy and Health Science and Mr. Greg Allen, Past President, CAST-UTech Alumni (Toronto) Chapter Association. |
Research and teaching has been bolstered in the Faculty of Health and Applied Science at the University of Technology, Jamaica with the donation of lab equipment and books from Johnson & Johnson (Canada) Limited valued at US $5 million. The formal handing over of the pharmaceutical lab equipment was made on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 at the University’s Papine campus.
The donation was made possible through the CAST-UTech Alumni Association (Toronto) Chapter which brokered the arrangements with Johnson & Johnson on behalf of the University. Executive members of the Association, Mr. Greg Allen and Mr. Trevor Miller who were on hand at the ceremony, said that the Alumni Association was happy to have facilitated the donation and is pleased that the equipment has been well received and is being put to good use for research and teaching.
Mr. Miller who was instrumental in the acquisition process, explained that he negotiated to have the equipment donated to UTech after it was discovered that Pfizer Pharmaceuticals (now owned by Johnson & Johnson) was about to close its facilities in Toronto and would either dump the equipment or find an institution to give it to. He said that UTech President, Prof. the Hon. Errol Morrison viewed the equipment while on a visit to Toronto last year and was immediately enthusiastic about securing the donation for UTech.
President, Prof. the Hon. Errol Morrison, OJ, welcomed the donation, noting that the lab equipment and books are very valuable and will increase the ability of students and lecturers in the Faculty of Health and Applied Science to do scientific investigation using industry equivalent equipment. Prof. Morrison said that he envisioned that UTech will continue to develop its potential to be the “leading scientific institution in the Caribbean.” Prof. Morrison disclosed that UTech was now on the verge of joining a major international research group in the United States in collaboration with UTech Adjunct Distinguished Professor of Ethno-Medicinal Chemistry, Dr. Henry Lowe who is currently leading research on the cancer and HIV cure possibilities of the Jamaican ball moss plant.
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Professor Morrison, President, looks into one of the microscopes received as part of the donation of lab equipment. Looking on from left are Dr. Colin Gyles, Dr. Colin Gyles, Acting Head, Department of Science and Mathematics, Faculty of Health and Applied Science, Mr. Greg Allen, Past President, CAST-UTech Alumni (Toronto) Chapter Association, Mr. Trevor Miller, Executive, CAST-UTech Alumni (Toronto) Chapter Association and Dr. Sarafadeen Adebayo, Head, School of Pharmacy and Health Science. |
Dr. Sarafadeen Adebayo, Head of the School of Pharmacy & Health Science also expressed profound gratitude to the CAST-UTech Alumni Association in Toronto for facilitating the donation. Dr. Adebayo said that there were very few pharmaceutical companies in Jamaica that can boast of having the equivalent of the range and mix of specialized equipment. He said that the newly acquired equipment has expanded the University’s ability to do research and to provide services to the industry. “We will be able to analyse the quality of products in the market,” he said, for example the analysis of plant extracts to determine specific compounds.
The lab equipment include a HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) used for quality assurance, microscopes, fraction collectors, desiccators, digital density meters, a spectrophotometer grinder, analytical balances, sonicator, melting pot apparatus, rotary evaporator, separatory flasks, pipettes and breakers, as well as specialized software and text books.
Japanese Ambassador to Jamaica tours UTech
His Excellency Masahiro Abato, Japanese Ambassador to Jamaica paid an official courtesy call on Prof. the Hon. Errol Morrison, OJ, President, University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) on Tuesday, July 15, 2008. During his visit His Excellency met with members of UTech’s Faculty and senior management team and toured several areas of interest on the campus. Below are pictorial highlights of the Ambassador’s visit.
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| Ambassador Abato looks with curious amusement into the Optical Theodolite, an instrument used in land surveying for measuring horizontal and vertical angles. Looking on is Prof. the Hon. Errol Morrison, OJ, President, UTech. |
Ambassador Abato looks on as Mr. Liveene Harris, final year Bachelor of Engineering student demonstrates the use of this voice activated wheelchair being developed for use by paraplegics. The voice activated wheelchair is a research project being undertaken by final year students in the School of Engineering. Looking on is Mr. Nathan Martin, a member of the student research team. |
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| Mr. Alexander Okunghae, Chemical Engineering Technologist explains the use of the distillation equipment housed in the Unit Operations Lab in the School of Engineering to Ambassador Abato. |
Mrs. Pat Ramsay, Director, Arts and Culture takes Ambassador Abato on a tour of UTech’s Caribbean Sculpture Park. |
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| Miss Madoka Shimote who accompanied the ambassador examines the Peace Stone located on the main administration building, UTech. The Peace Stone was donated to UTech by the Japanese government. The Peace Stone will be relocated to UTech’s Caribbean Sculpture Park as part of a proposed Japanese Peace Garden. |
Mr. Michael Lee, Principal Lecturer in the Faculty of Health and Applied Science takes Ambassador Abato on a tour of the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory. |
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| Mr. Anthony Davis (left, partially hidden) takes Ambassador on a tour of the UTech gym facility which he explained is significantly inadequate for the training needs of UTech student athletes. Looking on is Prof. the Hon. Errol Morrison, OJ, President. |
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UTech Students’ Union Launches “Teach the Youth” Summer Programme
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| Prof. the Hon. Errol Morrison, OJ speaking at the opening ceremony for the Students’ Union ‘Teach the Youth’ Programme held on Sunday, July 13, 2008 at UTech. |
The UTech Students’ Union launched its 2008 “Teach the Youth” summer programme on Sunday, July 13 on the UTech campus. The “Teach the Youth” summer programme, now in its ninth year, is a community service initiative of the Students’ Union designed to uplift young persons in the Papine environs which is in close proximity to the UTech campus.
Participants ranging in age from 8-14 are drawn from communities in August Town, Kintyre, Highlight View and Tavern and benefit from instruction in Mathematics, English, Social Studies and Personal Development delivered at centres within each of the communities. Each centre accommodates up to 75 students who are provided with a cooked meal each day. The programme runs from July 6 – 31, 2008.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, President, Prof. the Hon. Errol Morrison, OJ lauded the Students’ Union on the successful staging of the programme over the past nine years. The President said that the programme is in keeping with UTech’s thrust to positively impact the Papine community through partnership with stakeholders in the Papine community.
Mr. Andrew James, President of the Tavern Community Club located in the Papine area, said that while he welcomed the UTech Students’ Union initiative, he challenged the University to do more to influence the social and educational development in the Papine area.
Guest speaker at the launch ceremony was Mr. Vernon Derby, National Director of the Duke of Edinburgh Award in Jamaica. Mr. Derby lamented the high level of youth unemployment and crime in Jamaica especially among the youth male age cohort. He congratulated the UTech students involved in the Teach the Youth programme and encouraged them to be good role models for the young girls and boys in the communities they seek to serve. He also emphasized the need to place greater emphasis on character building in addition to gaining academic qualifications.
‘Teach the Youth’ Sports Day
The Students’ Union hosted a sports and fun day for participants of the Teach the Youth Programme on Friday, July 25 on the UTech campus’ back playing field. Below are pictorial highlights.
UTech /University of Miami Project Change Lives of Small Businesswomen in Jamaica
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| Graduates of the UM/SIFE Jamaica 2008P Project proudly display their Certificates of Completion at the Presentation Ceremony held on Tuesday, July 7, 2008. |
Undergraduate students from the Miami School of Business involved in the University of Miami/Students in Free Enterprise (UM/SIFE) Jamaica Project 2008 which ran from May 17 – 23, 2008 culminated in a presentation ceremony held on Monday, July 7 at the Technology Innovation Centre, Utech.
The 13-day Project sought to provide training and technical assistance for 40 female owners of small businesses to improve their entrepreneurial skills and business practices. The project is an initiative of the University of Miami under the leadership of Mrs. Ellen McPhillip, Director of Undergraduate Business Admissions in collaboration with the Scotiabank Chair in Entrepreneurship and Development at UTech, led by Professor Rosalea Hamilton, the MSME Alliance and the Entrepreneurial Skill Development Unit (ESDU) of the HEART Trust/NTA.
Certificates of completion were awarded to graduates of the programme comprising members of the Jamaica Network of Rural Women Producers, Ocho Rios Craft Traders and Producers and the National Association of Hairdressers and Cosmetologists.
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| Graduates listen attentively to Prof. Rosalea Hamilton, Chair Entrepreneurship & Development & VP, Development, UTech during the presentation ceremony. |
Prof. Rosalea Hamilton in her welcome said the idea for the programme originated from the debate that our women needed to be empowered. She further opined that by empowering our women, they would be equipped to empower and protect their children, families and men and by extension the nation. She thanked members of the HEART Trust NTA, the MSME Alliance, Scotiabank and UTech staff for the tremendous support they provided to ensure that the project was not only realised but achieved its level of success.
UTech President, Prof. the Hon. Errol Morrison, OJ in his welcome said that a project of this nature which focused on our women should be celebrated. He recalled his own mother, whom he said, wore many hats including teacher, contractor and organiser. He affirmed that women are the backbone of our nation noting that small businesses, many of which are led by women entrepreneurs contributed to some 40% of the country’s earnings. He encouraged the group to grasp the opportunity to acquire non-collaterized loans - a scheme which he says has been very successfully utilized by small business owners in Bangladesh, to further enhance their own businesses.
Dr. Heather Ricketts, Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work, University of the West Indies, Mona presented findings of a survey she conducted highlighting the challenges faced by women engaged in small business enterprises. These she said included high interest rates on loans for enhancement purposes, inadequate financing, the high price of raw materials and the seasonability of business. However, despite the challenges, the survey revealed that most individuals were generally encouraged by the performance of their business and always strived to deliver the highest level and quality of service and enjoyed good customer relations.
Mrs. Angella Bardowell, who responded on behalf of the graduates, thanked the organisers of the project, noting that it was a wonderful opportunity to be exposed to all aspects of the operations of a small business which included the importance of good marketing strategies, customer relations and pricing policies. She stated that they now looked forward to the mentoring aspect of the programme.
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Highlighting Excellence
Vernon Buchanan Awarded PhD
 Dr. Vernon Buchanan, Principal Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Computing has successfully defended his PhD in Materials Engineering and Design from the University of Nottingham, U.K. Dr. Buchan’s thesis entitled, “Surface Engineering of Sugarcane Rollers” addresses the ware and corrosion resistance of cast iron and cast iron surface coated by both a weld hard facing technique and an electrical arc thermal spraying process. Dr. Buchanan’s original research work is regarded as being of such exceptional quality, that the award of the PhD was granted unconditionally.
Kofi Nkrumah-Young Publishes Paper on Resource Allocation Models
 Dr. Kofi Nkrumah-Young, Vice President, Finance, ICT and Business Services has had another paper accepted for publication in the August 2008 edition of the Australian based Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management. The paper is entitled “Resource Allocation Models and Accountability: A Jamaican Case Study”. The paper’s abstract appears below.
Abstract
Higher education institutions (HEIs) may be funded privately, by the state or by a mixture of the two. Nevertheless, any state financing of HE necessitates a mechanism to determine the level of support and the channels through which it is to be directed; that is, a resource allocation model. Public funding, through resource allocation models, influences HEIs' behaviour according to how funding reaches them. Nonetheless, under any allocation system, funders and HEIs must be accountable for their actions and their spending, meaning that resource allocation and accountability are intertwined. Without accountability, institutions may engage in too much research and scholarship, fail to respond to student needs and become inefficient. However, as HEIs must be able to manage their own affairs, accountability must not become a straightjacket. Furthermore, both accountability and resource allocation models need to support HEI governance and management. The nature of the financing relationship with HEIs causes problems for decision making and policy as society wrestles with issues of funding and control. This paper examines two perspectives on resource allocation models and assesses funding alternatives. It develops a resource allocation 'pendulum' and investigates the link between accountability and resource allocation, which are employed to assess the case of Jamaican higher education.
Pougatchev and Colleagues Publish for IASTED International Conference
 The School of Graduate Studies, Research & Entrepreneurship (SGSRE) congratulates Mr. Valeri Pougatchev and his co-authors on acceptance of their papers to the IASTED International Conference on Computers and Advanced Technology in Education, which will be held September 29 to October 01, 2008, in Crete, Greece. The titles of the papers, which are based on the development of a system for Performance Based Management at UTech, are:
1. "Online Performance Based Management & Evaluation System as an Instrument to Manage the Quality of Institutional Performance at the University of Technology, Jamaica”.
Authors: Jennifer Ellis, Sandra Glasgow, Niki Johnson, Valeri Pougatchev
2. "Online Performance Based Management & Evaluation System at the University of Technology, Jamaica: Information Resources & Security Solutions". Author: Valeri Pougatchev.
Mr. Pougatchev is a member of the International Program Committee and has reviewed a number of papers.
Dr. Sarafadeen Adebayo to serve as External Examiner in India
 Dr. Sarafadeen Adebayo, Head of the School of Pharmacy and Health Science has been invited to serve as an external examiner at the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Karachi, Pakistan at the PhD level.
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