CAS-TT Executive Members (2022-2024) and their Academic Profiles:
Kit Fai PUN, starting in 2001, has worked his way from senior lecturer to full professor at The University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. He obtained his tenure in 2004 and is presently the Chair Professor of Industrial Engineering (IE) and the coordinator of IE Research Group. He was the Deputy Dean in Research and Postgraduate Graduate Affairs (2006-2007 and 2009-2012) of the Faculty of Engineering and served as the Campus Coordinator (2012-2015) of the School for Graduate Studies and Research. Before joining UWI, he held several academic positions at The City University of Hong Kong, and worked in industry as operations executive, researcher, engineer and consultant, in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.
Prof. Pun is a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Marketer in the UK, as well as Registered Professional Engineer in Australia, Europe, Hong Kong, and The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. He is a Fellow of several professional bodies and learned societies (including IET, IEAust, HKIE, HKSQ, APETT, TWAS and CAS). He is currently the President of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences - Trinidad and Tobago (CAS-TT) Chapter and has been serving as the Chairperson of the Technology and Engineering Management Society Chapter of the IEEE Trinidad and Tobago Section since 2003. Besides this, he was the Chair of the Mechanical & Industrial Division of the Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago (APETT) from 2004 to 2009, and the Chair of the Port of Spain Section of the American Society for Quality (ASQ), Trinidad and Tobago (2016-2019).
Prof. Pun's research activities include industrial engineering, engineering management, performance measurement, quality, and innovation. He has more than 400 publications comprising journal articles, technical papers, reports and teaching aids, and has completed 24 research projects funded by UWI and other overseas universities and governments. Since 2001 Prof. Pun has supervised 10 MPhil/PhD and 137 MSc and is presently supervising six (6) MPhil/PhD and more than 10 MSc Graduates at the UWI. His research work has been cited widely by researchers and scholars. As of August 10, 2023, there were more than 6,490 citations of his publications, and the ‘h-index’ was 43 and the ‘i10-index’ was 73 (source: http://scholar.google.com/).
He has received several recognitions of his research accomplishments, including the 2008 Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence (Teaching and Research) and the 2012 ‘Most Outstanding Researcher Award’ (Engineering) recognised by the University. He also received The IEOM Outstanding Service Award 2015 in Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Profession, The 2018 R.V.S. Aleong Award for Sterling Service to APETT, The 2021 APETT’s Career of Excellence in Engineering Award, The 2022 Hummingbird Gold Award, and The 2022 UWI/SCIE Nationally Recognised Industrial Engineer Award.
Dr. Cilla T. Pemberton has been a member of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences Trinidad and Tobago (CAS-TT) Chapter since 2008. She is an industrial engineer who holds a Doctorate in Business Administration and is currently a Lecturer in Industrial Engineering at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. She has 20 years of experience in manufacturing, business development and tertiary education, respectively. Dr. Pemberton is a past Board Member of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers Sustainable Development Division, Secretary of the Caribbean Academy for Sciences Trinidad and Tobago Chapter, and Past President of the Society of Caribbean Industrial Engineers. Her research interests include Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Development, Economic Development in Small Island States and Value Stream Analysis of Indigenous Industries. She enjoys the beach and her favourite places to travel include Nevis and Haiti.
Dr. Jeffrey V. Smith has been a member of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences Trinidad and Tobago Chapter (CAS-TT) since 2016. He is a Lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering at The University of the West Indies (UWI). He completed his BSc and MSc degrees in Chemical Engineering at The UWI and the University of Toronto respectively and his PhD in Chemical Engineering at The UWI. His current areas of teaching include Chemical Process Principles, Computer-Aided Engineering and Chemical Reaction Engineering, but he has previously taught in the areas of Separation Processes, Transport Phenomena, Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics, Particle Technology and Biochemical Engineering. His research interests include Polymer Recycling and Waste Valorisation, both from a Caribbean perspective, as well as Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) and the hydrogen economy. He is a Registered Engineer (Board of Engineering, Trinidad and Tobago), a Fellow of The Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago, and also has membership in The Institution of Chemical Engineers. He has recently developed a passion for hiking, road-running and learning French. His passion for French was developed after he started collaborative research with colleagues from l’Université des Antilles (UA), Guadeloupe. This collaboration started after a meeting at a CAS Biennial General Meeting and Conference.
Dr. Albertha Joseph-Alexander has been a member of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences Trinidad and Tobago Chapter (CAS-TT) since 2021. She holds the post of PRO on the executive. Dr. Joseph-Alexander obtained her PhD in Plant Science from The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus and has a natural ability to tell stories. Additionally, she has attained a Professional Master in the Communication of Science and Innovation from the University of Trento in Italy. Her growing knowledge of science communication techniques allows her to simultaneously enjoy science and storytelling. Going by the name Dr. StoryTell, Dr. Joseph-Alexander hopes to use science communication as a means to better translate research information for the benefit of the Caribbean. This fits in well with her role as PRO of CAS-TT. Presently, she is producing her first documentary, which is based on the Pigeonpea crop she studied for her doctorate. Dr. Joseph-Alexander enjoys watching tennis.
Ms. Ambika Koonj-Beharry has been a member of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences Trinidad and Tobago Chapter (CAS-TT) since 2020. She graduated with a BSc. and an MPhil in Industrial Engineering from The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. She has functioned as a past chairperson of the events committee for the Society of Caribbean Industrial Engineers (SCIE). She is presently pursuing her PhD in Industrial Engineering at the UWI Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. Her research interests are in the fields of knowledge management, cluster development and innovation.
Dr. Roshnie A. Doon has been a member of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences Trinidad and Tobago Chapter (CAS-TT) since 2018. She holds a PhD. in Economic Development Policy, MSc. Economics, and BSc. Economics from the University of the West Indies St. Augustine, Trinidad. She has completed a PhD. Master Class in International Business from the Henley School of Business at the University of Reading, U.K., and is currently a research affiliate of the Global Labor Organization (GLO), Essen Germany, and an executive committee member of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences Trinidad and Tobago Chapter (CAS-TT). Her academic interests are focused on Applied and Empirical Economics, in the areas of Labour, Gender, and Education Economics. Here she has published on a wide range of areas, which includes Higher Education Instruction, Economic and Social Implications of Covid-19, Migration, Returns to Schooling, Educational Mismatch, STEM Education, Wage Inequality, Gender Wage Gaps, and Economic Development Policy. Apart from being an academic editor, she has published her research in a wide array of journal and book publications, while sharing her research work through guest lectures, and conference presentations domestically, regionally, and internationally.
Dr. Lisa Benjamin has been a member of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences Trinidad and Tobago Chapter (CAS-TT) since 2014. She is a Veterinary Epidemiologist who lectures in Epidemiology, Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety in the Department of Basic Veterinary Sciences at the School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), The University of the West Indies. Her major research interests include antimicrobial resistance, food safety, and the surveillance of zoonotic diseases. She aims to develop practical, cost-effective strategies to improve food safety and combat diseases of importance to public health in the Caribbean region. She also supervises related undergraduate student research projects at the SVM and One Health Research Projects in the School of Medicine. Dr. Benjamin enjoys viewing nature as she travels throughout our beautiful nation, Trinidad and Tobago.