Amit Neil Ramkissoon, PhD was born on the tiny, Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago on May 5th 1990, to proud parents Bissoondath and Danmati Ramkissoon. At the age of three I started my pre-schooling at the Little Hearts Pre-school. At age five I started my primary education [Elementary Schooling] at the Munroe Road Government Primary School and subsequently at the Montrose Government Primary School. There I excelled and was selected to represent the school at the tender age of ten in Mental Mathematics and Agricultural Science competitions. Based on my excellent performance in the national Secondary Entrance Assessment (2001) I was able to secure a position in one of the prestigious secondary schools.
I was admitted to Hillview College where I pursued my secondary education [High School education]. This phase in my educational itinerary culminated in CXC/CSEC and GCE examinations. My exceptional performance in High School was constantly punctuated with achievements and accolades. Distinguishable among them were: (i)The Associated Board Of The Royal Schools Of Music (London) (2003) Distinction in Grade 2 Theory of Music (ii) Certificates of Achievement for Academic Excellence in Hillview, for the periods: 2001-2002, 2002-2003 and 2003-2004. (iii) Honourary Award for Academic Excellence (2004) (iv) Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Drama (2005). (v) Silver Medal for outstanding academic achievement at CSEC and GCE O’Level 2006 (vi) Academic achievement include: University of Cambridge GCE AS Level Mathematics (A), GCE O’Level, Computer Studies (A) in Caribbean Examinations Council [CXC] English A [1], Mathematics [1], Physics [1], English B [1], Caribbean History [1], Chemistry [2], Biology [1] & Spanish [1].
In September 2006 I began to pursue my life long passion at the University of the West Indies [UWI] School of Continuing Studies, St. Augustine. My passion for Information Technology and Computer Science started with a Certificate in Business Management and Technology at this institution. Here I continued to add accolades for my extraordinary performance at this institution. Among the many achievements during this two-year period at UWI School of Continuing Studies (2006-2008) were: (i) Award for the Most Outstanding Student (ii) Pro-Vice Chancellor’s Award for General Proficiency in Business Management and Technology (iii) Vice Chancellor’s Prize for General Overall Performance in Business Management and Technology. (iv)Valedictorian for Graduating Class of 2008, at the graduation ceremony for UWI School of Continuing Studies.
My relentless pursuit for excellence secured for me a position to pursue a BSc in Information Technology in the Faculty of Science and Agriculture at the University of the West Indies in 2008. Here I continued with my outstanding success and exemplary performance in my BSc programme. At the end of Year One, I was awarded: (i) The UWI Development & Endowment Fund (UWIDEF) Bursary for performance.
(ii)Year 1 Faculty Prize Faculty of Science and Agriculture (2008-2009) for the Best Year 1 Student in the Faculty (iii) Royal Bank Trinidad and Tobago [RBTT] Prize for Best Year 1 Performance in Information Technology, Faculty Science and Agriculture (2008-2009). My name was inserted into the Dean’s Honour Roll in the Faculty of Science and Agriculture for Year 1, in both Semesters 1 & 2.
In Year II of the degree programme I continued to pursue excellence which resulted in the receipt of: (i) The Metanex Bursary for performance (ii) Year 1I Faculty Prize Faculty of Science and Agriculture (2009-2010) for the Best Year 1I Student in the Faculty (iii) RBTT Prize for Best Year 1I Performance in Information Technology. Again my name was etched into the Dean’s Honour Roll in the Faculty of Science and Agriculture for Year 1I. I am now in Year III, my final year completing Semester I in my under-graduate programme. Being proactive and academically focused, I am now submitting my application to your University seeking admission into your Post Graduate programme, for the academic year 2010-2011.
Amit Neil Ramkissoon holds a PhD Computer Science from the Department of Computing & Information Technology at The University of the West Indies at St Augustine. He also completed his Masters Degree at The University of the West Indies at St Augustine. His research interest entails Artificial Intelligence, Computational Social Systems, Data Mining, Distributed Computing, Fake News Detection and Mobile Ad Hoc Networks.
It should not be misconstrued that my entire life is inherently focused on academic pursuits. My philosophy in life has propelled me into “pursuing what I like and like what I pursue.” As such my holistic development thus far may be attributed to the varying diverse dimensions synthesized to propel me as this individual. My energy in the pursuit of excellence is primarily derived from my spirituality, strong value system and rigid family orientation. My spirituality and values are enormously rooted in my religious pursuits as a Hindu. This religious background has consistently provided for me that strength of character, comfort in understanding and energy of spirit required in my social, educational, moral and ethical deliberations. My spirituality has been my source of inspiration, as such lots of time is devoted into activities related to this aspect of my life. Some of these activities include: social voluntary activities with non-governmental organizations including UWI, religious activities including UWI, cultural activities in my community and even some national political activities. My restricted lifestyle has completely debarred me from: alcohol consumption, smoking, the use of illegal drugs and illicit activities. In fact my activities are constantly benchmarked against the highest social ideals dictated by society.
Dr. Ramkissoon is currently employed as a Full Time Teaching Assistant at the University of the West Indies at St Augustine.