NIHERST Immerses Caribbean Students into a World of Science and Technology

Engaging presentations, hands-on workshops, eye-opening field trips and one-on-one interaction with leading scientists, as well as experts from business and industry, proved yet again to be a rich and impactful learning experience for students engaged in the Caribbean Youth Science Forum (CYSF) 2016. Over 150 lower six students from Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago participated in the week-long residential forum from 31st July – 7th August 2016.

Ms. Sylvia Lalla, NIHERST’s Acting President described the forum that started 17 years ago, as a “unique and important platform which allows students to explore the benefits of the academic and professional opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).” She emphasised that “particularly crucial in this new post oil and gas era, this programme is an investment in our region’s long term development, as growth and diversification are almost impossible without strengthening STEM education and our capabilities in science, technology and innovation.”

In the feature address, Ms. Anna Singh represented the Honourable Anthony Garcia, Minister of Education and echoed Ms. Lalla’s sentiments as she reminded the audience of the pervasive impact of factors such as technology and the environment on our resources, health and overall functioning. She also shared what the Ministry of Education sees as a “critical mass of immense talent and capacity” in the Caribbean “which when mobilised strategically, results in inestimable benefits.” The keynote speaker was a West Indian American with Trinidadian roots, Dr. Colin Topper Carew, a Visiting Researcher/Scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the Director and Founder of a new Innovation and Inclusion Initiative at MIT’s Media Lab. In his speech entitled “The Caribbean as a World Class Epicentre of Technology and Innovation” he attested to the region’s strength and potential as he revealed to the young participants that the Caribbean islands “have a vast intellectual reservoir” and that he “futuristically sees the Caribbean becoming a world-class technological epicentre, with an emphasis on world-class.”