STAYING CONNECTED: (From right) Principal Dale Webber, UWI, Mona Principal and Pro-Vice Chancellor, Mr. Zachary Harding, Director, Flash Motors, and Ms. Yasmin Chong, Trade Commissioner and Senior Business Development Officer, High Commission of Canada, share a light moment during Wednesday’s MoU signing ceremony in the Council Room.
The UWI, Mona on Wednesday June 7th 2023 signalled its commitment to press full steam ahead with plans to become a climate-smart university and leader in E-mobility research.
This renewed burst of energy comes after Professor Dale Webber, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Principal of the Mona Campus, and Mr. Zachary Harding, Director, Flash Motors Company Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the deployment of The University’s first Electric Vehicle (EV) Smart Charging Station donated by that company.
Under this agreement, Flash Motors will provide access to its smart network on The UWI, Mona campus for data collection as well as academic support in the area of Electric Mobility (e-mobility). The UWI, for its part, will lead the academic components of the initiative by actively engaging in research in the EV sector and participating in the development, design, delivery and approval of related curriculum.
The EV Charging Station had it first showing on the Mona Campus last November at the Regional EV-LUTION III – Expo hosted by the Caribbean Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREE).
For Dr. Omar Thomas, the Deputy Dean, Faculty of Engineering, the deployment of the Charging Station is timely as it will also allow the Mona Campus to fulfil its commitments to another project titled, “Supporting Sustainable Transportation through the Shift to Electric Mobility in Jamaica.”
In fact, Dr. Thomas said The UWI, Mona, the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation (MEGJC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are now poised to complete some components of this project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).“One of the key components of this project is for The UWI, Mona to supervise an Electric Mobility (e-Mobility) pilot, including data collection and analysis for technical and operational optimisation,” Dr. Thomas explained.
The Deputy Dean also pointed out that there has been ongoing research in the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Science and Technology on how the introduction of EVs to Jamaica will impact the nation. He said The University has also been looking at developing curriculum to better prepare for the introduction of EV.
This was welcome news for Mr. Harding, who challenged The UWI to take the lead in helping to revolutionise the EV industry through research, which has the ability to influence the collective thought process.
"As Caribbean people we tend to shoot ourselves in the foot if something is presented that seem different from the norm, and we have to break out of that mindset,” Harding argued. He said the signing of the MoU between Flash Motors and The UWI presented an excellent opportunity to help break this mould, and called for more public-private partnership arrangements.
"What government has is access to the population. What private sector has is access to capital and expertise, and we need to look at new ways of allowing private sector and government as well as the academic institutions to work closer together – minus the politics," Mr. Harding added.
The UWI is an old hand at forging strategic public-private partnerships, according to Principal Webber. "We are constant winners in partnerships as we align with our international and our national partners to allow The University to continue to be the number 1 in the Caribbean, top one per cent in the world, and making a difference when it comes to areas of environmental protection," Principal Webber told the gathering.
Like Mr. Harding, Principal Webber agreed that there is a need for evidence-based research that will help to change people's mindset to fully embrace e-mobility. "The role of The UWI is to provide thought leadership... to be that teaching, research, and outreach entity which takes forward leaps and changes the mindset of the country. The UWI is therefore very proud to have partnered with Flash Motors to receive the first of what I hope will be many charging stations as we take the leap towards electric vehicle,” Principal Webber said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Devon Smith, Estate Manager and Manager of the Campus Projects Office, said this latest partnership will go a long way in helping The UWI to meet its ambitious plans to reach Net Zero by 2050.