Education Forum

<p><img src="http://jamaica.kdid.org/sites/jamaica/files/events/images/hwatson.jpg" alt="Mr. Hawthorne Watson" title="Hawthorne Watson" width="200" height="200" style="border: 1px solid black; float: left; margin: 1px;" />Mr. Watson, Acting Executive Director at the Scientific Research Council, holds the distinction of being the first man to graduate from UWI with a First Class Honours in Pure &amp; Applied Chemistry; a double major.&nbsp; Having received an American Foundation Scholarship, he pursued the MSc. in Organic Chemistry and was the first scientist to establish and publish (Thesis: Extractives from a Jamaican Medicinal Plant and a chemical journal) The Structure of Cannabitriol; the first compound to be identified with three OH groups in a widely researched plant of forensic and medicinal importance.</p><p>During his tenure at&nbsp; College of Arts Science and Technology (CAST); (now University of Technology), his achievements included co-founding the Chemical Technology Programme.</p><p>Leaving CAST, he entered the industrial arena where he held positions of Production Manager, Plant Manager, Group Technical Manager and Operations Manager before joining the staff at SRC.<br /><br />Among other things at SRC he: founded The Inventors/Innovations Association; designed and pioneered the Science &amp; Technology Education Unit;&nbsp; introduced the Industrial Summer Attachment Programme for Science Teachers;&nbsp;&nbsp; introduced the concept of Technology Packages; drafted the Intellectual Property Rights Policy (IPR) for the Council; authors and co-produces the Annual Report; chairs the Scientific &amp; Technical Information Network (STIN); is a member of the Advisory Council on the National Information System (ACNIS).</p><p>As a representative of SRC, Mr. Watson has made presentations in several other Caribbean territories in addition to chairing the Annual General Meetings of the 16-member Caribbean Energy Information System (CEIS), headquartered at the Council.</p>

<p><img src="http://jamaica.kdid.org/sites/jamaica/files/events/images/halden.gif" alt="Dr. Halden Morris" title="Dr. Halden Morris" width="185" height="230" style="float: left; border: 1px solid black; margin: 1px;" />Dr. Morris is senior lecturer responsible for Technical and Vocational Education in the Institute of Education at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, Jamaica. He is former head of the Institute of Education at UWI and previously taught at the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) and Southern Illinois University, before going to UWI in 1991.<br /><br />Dr. Morris received a diploma in engineering technology from the University of Technology, Jamaica in 1973, and a diploma in education in electrical technology education from the University of Western Ontario, Canada in 1975.</p><p>&nbsp;He earned B.Sc. (Honors) in electrical engineering technology, M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in vocational education from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, USA.<br />He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and a member of the Association for Career and Technical Education, the Jamaica Association of Technical and Vocational Education and Training, and the Jamaica Institute of Engineers.</p><p>Dr. Morris is a registered Professional Engineer (PE) in Jamaica and is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).&nbsp; He has&nbsp; published extensively on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and is the holder of a United States small entity patent. His primary areas of research and publication are in educational technology and TVET. His research interests include educational needs of industries, Educational interaction with industrial organizations and ICT in education.<br /><br /><br />&nbsp;<br /></p>

<p><img src="http://jamaica.kdid.org/sites/jamaica/files/events/presenters/images/Pau... alt="Dr. Paul Aiken" title="Dr. Paul Aiken" width="111" height="130" style="border: 1px solid black; float: left; margin: 1px;" />Senior Engineer and Head of the Electronics Unit in the Department of Physics, at The University of the West Indies, (UWI) Mona, Dr Paul Aiken, has been elevated to the grade of Senior Member in the Institute of Electric and Electronics Engineering (IEEE),&nbsp; the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity.<br /><br />Only eight per cent (8%) of IEEE’s approximately 400,000 members hold the grade of Senior Member, which requires extensive experience, and reflects professional maturity and documented achievements of significance. Dr Aiken is the second member of staff at The UWI, Mona to achieve this honour, the other being Dr. Halden Morris, senior lecturer in the Institute of Education.<br /><br />Paul Aiken has coordinated the development of engineering at the Mona campus and has teaching and research duties in electronics engineering and physics. He recently served as vice-chair of the IEEE Jamaica section.<br /><br />He holds a PhD and a MSc in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, New York, and a MPhil in Physics from The UWI. Over the years, he has held several engineering positions in Jamaica and the USA including Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) engineer at UWI and at Columbia University, and a Senior Test Engineer at Intel Corporation. As a test engineer, Dr Aiken&nbsp; lead international teams of engineers to design factory ready equipment for testing Intel latest&nbsp; microprocessors, and developed practical solutions for solving high speed signal and power integrity issues.</p>