Professor Clement K. Sankat

Phone: (868)662-1225

E-mail: clem@uwi.tt

Professor Clement Sankat teaches the course "Managing Innovation" on the International MBA Programme. He is a very senior and distinguished member of the academic staff of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, at our parent University, The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine .

Professor Sankat is a registered, professional Mechanical/Agricultural Engineer with a Bachelor's Degree (First Class Honours) in Mechanical Engineering from The UWI and a doctorate from the University of Guelph 's School of Engineering ( Canada ). He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a Fellow of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers (FIAgrE - UK), a Member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago since 1982, elevated to the grade of Fellow (FAPETT) in 2005, and a Registered Professional Engineer of Trinidad and Tobago (Board of Engineering) since 1987. He has been a member of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) since 1979 and a member of the Canadian Society of Agricultural Engineers (CSAE) since 1976.

His teaching, research and development and professional specializations are in the areas of Processing of Tropical Crops and Food Engineering, Post-harvest Technology, and Machine Design and Development. Professor Sankat was the first engineer to be promoted to a Readership in the Faculty of Engineering, UWI and was also promoted to a Personal Chair in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His research and developmental work in the areas of Caribbean Food and Agro-industrial Development has been published in the leading international and regional journals in the field such as: Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineering; Canadian Agricultural Engineering; International Journal of Food Science and Technology; Post Harvest Biology and Technology; Food Research International; Int. Journal of Food Science and Technology; West Indian Journal of Engineering; Tropical Agriculture and ASEAN Food Journal . Much of this has been achieved through his direction of graduate research students at the Masters' and Doctoral levels and through external research grants.

Some of his work has gone beyond academia and has been extended and applied in industry with the leading examples being the development of:

His innovative and developmental work in these areas is well known in the Caribbean and between 1980-1990 he was actively involved in diversification activities associated with the Sugar industry of Trinidad and Tobago . He is still actively involved with the nutmeg industry of Grenada and supporting its mechanization modernisation. In 1992, he Chaired the Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago's Annual Conference on "Engineering for Food Sufficiency and Security" and is committed to applying technology and engineering to food and agricultural production in Trinidad and Tobago and the Region so as to make the industry more competitive.

He is actively involved in the application and promotion of Science and Technology (S&T) for national and regional development. Professor Sankat is the longest serving member on the Board of Directors of the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) and was previously the Institute's Chairman and Vice-Chairman. He was also Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (1996-2002) where he was instrumental in the introduction of new compulsory Standards for building materials, electrical materials, PVC, fuels, and quality certification, industry relevant training and laboratory-based testing and certification.

During his tenure as a Member of the Board of Directors of the National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (NIHERST), Professor Sankat was Chairman of its Science and Technology (S&T) Committee. Through this association and his direct efforts, a Draft National Policy on S&T for Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) was developed and written (1997). Again in 2000, he led a Task Force to develop a policy on Science, Technology and Innovation by the Ministry of Trade & Industry. He was also asked to lead a Sub-Committee for the first ever Prime Minister's Award for Innovation. He served as Chairman of the Vision 2020 Sub-committee on Science, Technology and Innovation and submitted the Committee's final Report in 2004. He also completed, as Chair in 2005, the Report of a Cabinet Appointed Committee to recommend on the future role of NIHERST and the establishment of a National Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation, (NCESTI).

From 1987-1992, Professor Sankat was Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and had responsibility for Research and Postgraduate Student Matters. During this period, he sat on and Chaired several critical Campus Committees including the Campus Committee for Graduate Studies and Research.

Professor Sankat assumed the Deanship of the Faculty of Engineering in August 2000. He is wedded to the International Accreditation of the Faculty's Undergraduate programmes in Engineering, Surveying and Petroleum Geoscience, and building the quality of programmes and graduates through the meeting of international standards. During his tenure as the Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UWI, the BSc (Hons) programmes in Mechanical, Industrial and Agricultural Engineering were accredited by the IMechE, ( UK ) for the very first time. Today, all of the Faculty's Undergraduate Programmes are Internationally Accredited (or being reaccredited) and a push is being made to accredit the Faculty's Professional Masters' Programmes.

Effective August 1, 2004, Professor Sankat was reappointed Dean of the Faculty for another term of four years. In recognition of his contribution to the University of the West Indies , in 2001, he was awarded the Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence - for Public Service, University Service and Research. He is the first Engineering Faculty in the University so be so honoured.

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