UWI gets global award for project

THE University of the West Indies (UWI) has received a commendation for a project it developed on Trinidad and Tobago's transportation sector.

The UWI, St Augustine campus, Faculty of Engineering, was recognised during the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) 2022 annual awards.

A news release from the university on Tuesday said The UWI was nominated amongst other outstanding global companies and projects within the highways, transportation infrastructure and services industry.

The CIHT Awards is an annual global competition in which the work of members receives international recognition.

'The awards celebrate their innovative work, what it takes to be the best, and the incredible benefits their work and the highways and transportation sector bring to society,' the release stated.

The UWI's project was titled 'Development of a Travel Demand Model for Trinidad'.

Dr Trevor Townsend, retired senior lecturer in Transportation Engineering at UWI, said the award is a tremendous achievement for the university.

'I was elated and excited to hear of the shortlisting and subsequent commendation of our project. It is a tremendous achievement and promotes The UWI, St Augustine campus, as a premier research institution in this field,' said Townsend.

'We see this award as recognition of the benefit of such research to our society. The award provides an opportunity, not just for international recognition, but for professional networking and academic linkages. It will further enhance the marketability of our competence in this area,' he added.

Prof Edwin Ekwue, dean of the Faculty of Engineering, said the award 'demonstrates the usefulness of the transportation models as tools for project analysis and evaluation'.

'It sets the stage for a partnership between The UWI, St Augustine, and regional governments, where The UWI can provide them with engineering and planning support for their transportation sector capital and operational decisions,' he stated.