UWI VENTURES LIMITED - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Campus Principal Professor
- Pro - Vice Chancellor & Principal, St. Augustine Campus - Director
Pro Vice-Chancellor and Campus Principal Professor Brian Copeland graduated with a BSc in Electrical Engineering from The UWI St. Augustine, an MSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California.
Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at The University of West Indies until 2015, he was also Coordinator of the Real Time Systems Group, a UWI unit for developing university/industry liaison through impactful R&D projects. He currently co-ordinates the Steelpan Initiatives Project, which saw the development and patenting of the G-Pan, a re-engineered form of the traditional steelpan, and the Percussive Harmonic instrument (P.H.I.), an electronic form of the traditional steelpan. Professor Copeland is also the Convener of the Steelpan Research Centre, UWI, and is a former Member of the Board of Directors of CARIRI.
In 2008, Professor Copeland was the first recipient of the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and in 2007 was a joint recipient of the Chaconia Medal Gold as a member of the G-Pan development team.
An energetic game changer, Gerry Brooks is a distinguished alumnus of The UWI, St Augustine Campus. In 2014, he was among 25 renowned graduates to be recognised by The UWI Alumni Association (Trinidad and Tobago Chapter). The University of the West Indies appointed him a Professor of Practice in 2018. An Attorney at Law, he is also a graduate of Columbia University where he obtained an MBA, Dean's Honour Roll. Mr Brooks is described as a veritable "captain of industry" for his eminence in the local and regional business community, career and proven leadership in the private sector, in roles such as Chairman of the National Gas Company Group of Companies, and Group Chief Operating Officer and Sector Head - Manufacturing, ANSA McAL.
In addition to his extensive private sector expertise, Mr Brooks has served in several spheres of public life nationally and regionally. Some highlights include Caribbean Court of Justice Trust Fund, Chairman, Finance and Investment Committee (2003-2014); Vice President, Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (2012-2017); President, Family Planning Association of Trinidad and Tobago (2011-2016), and Member, Police Service.
He brings his passion for transformation, sustainability and ethical leadership to The UWI Ventures Limited.
Job Titles:
- Director of the UWI St. Augustine Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
- Director, St. Augustine Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship ( StACIE ) - Director
Professor John Agard is Director of The UWI St. Augustine Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (StACIE). He serves as Co-Chair of The UWI Intellectual Property and Commercialisation Committee and Chair of its Intellectual Property/Inventions Committee. In addition, he chairs UWI's Innovation and Technology Fund. He is a Director of PHIL Limited, a UWI start-up company. A graduate of The UWI with a BSc in Chemistry and Zoology, he also has an MSc in Pollution and Environmental Control from the University of Manchester and a Ph.D. in Zoology from The UWI.
Professor Agard has a long history of national, regional, and international service. At the national level, he served four terms as Chairman of the Environmental Management Authority of Trinidad and Tobago. Regionally, he has served on the CARICOM Climate Change Task Force and as a member of the Association of Caribbean States Caribbean Sea Commission. At the international level he serves as a member of the Independent Advisory Group on environment and sustainability policy to the Board of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington DC; a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Environmental Outlook. He is also a Review Editor for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and has previously been a Lead Author of the IPCC on its 2 previous assessments. He is a Coordinating Lead Author of the Intergovernmental (Science-Policy) Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Global Assessment of Nature and Biodiversity.