Recently, as part of The UWI’s 75th anniversary celebrations The Faculty of Science and Technology kicked off its two-day Science Festival. Exhibitions from departments in the Faculty and invited exhibitors gave students hands on examples of how science and technology in its most exciting and innovative forms have real world and practical applications.
 
Hundreds of students from primary and secondary level education schools from across the island arrived by bus loads for the event. Minister of Education, Youth and Information, the Honourable Fayval Williams, who opened the speeches of the launch ceremony stated “This is an experience of a lifetime to be able to come here at one of our premiere Universities and experience all the different areas of focus at The UWI.” She went on to say it is the government’s hope to increase the number of students who choose to do higher education as the aim is to have more citizens with degrees because of the positive impact this has on GDP. She was happy to see the turn out and encouraged the students to see as much as possible.
 
Attendees also heard from members of the University’s senior management team including, the Deputy Principal Professor Ian Boxill who said “We believe in the importance of digital transformation in Higher education,” explaining how science and technology has improved access to higher education. The Campus Registrar Dr. Donavan Stanberry marveled at the turnout of a “vast number of students” to the almost Amphitheatre atmosphere of students in the quadrangle and lining even second storey corridors of the surrounding buildings. He added “No nation can be great without a foundation in science and technology.” The Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology, Professor Michael Taylor’s address to the attendees was inspiring with promises of a “World of Wonder” - WOW experience. “You are going to say wow, I didn’t know that science was involved in all these things I am going to see,” listing examples of how science and technology are involved with the experiments on display, the rides and animals brought in for the event and how it relates to the Faculty and the Co-Gen plant which were both open for tours.    
 
GraceKennedy Foundation, UNESCO and Huawei, the main partners of the Science Festival, were all present bearing gifts of large ceremonial cheques and, more importantly, with words of wisdom for the youth in attendance on the importance of STEM Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) on our growth as a country and as a region in the wider Caribbean.
Prior to the official start of the event, the Mona Campus was abuzz with activity. Several exhibitors took the opportunity to set up booths ahead of schedule which allowed students to mull around the event and interact with the offerings on show, The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) was on hand to demonstrate real life applications of Science and Technology as armoured response vehicles outfitted with the latest technology and even a helicopter circled the Campus’ air space whilst awaiting clearance to land. 
 
With well over thirty exhibitors in varying industries from food to facial care to finance the Faculty had attendees baffled in finding a first stop. Live demonstrations enhanced the practical applications that were on display as the Life Sciences Department did live dissections of frogs, the Physics Department demonstrated the conservation of energy using the kinetic energy from a bicycle to create electrical energy, the Engineering Department had a virtual reality experience and the Chemistry department ran live experiments. Not to be outdone, external exhibitors such as VM wealth Management and National Commercial Bank discussed how technology has improved the banking sector.
 
Several micro talks throughout the days allowed participants to benefit from topics that ranged from “Women in Science” and “Chat bout, like ChatGPT”. With such an amazing turnout for the inaugural staging, the Faculty looks forward to hosting The Science and Technology Festival again to spark that World of Wonder in each and every one who attends. Principal of the Edward Seaga Primary, Shernet Clarke Tomlinson in reflecting on her school’s attendance said “Future scientists were born from a spark that beamed in their minds, the unforgettable memory will unfold into the future generation.” Look out for the next staging of the Science festival in 2025.