The university of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) is pleased to announce the confirmation of Professsor PRAKASH PERSAD as its President, effective March 1st, 2021.

A Professor of Mechatronics, Fellow of the Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago (APETT) and member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Professor Persad holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Doctor of Philisophy (Ph.D.) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of the West Indies (UWI). He did postdoctoral work at the Technical University of Nova Scotia (now Dalhousie Tech) and further professional training at MIT, USA and KISTEP-ISTIC, South Korea, in Engines and Fuels, and Science and Innovation Policy respectively.

Professor Persad is a former Head of the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at UWI, and has held the positions of Vice President, Research, Academic and Student Affairs (RASA); Acting Provost; Associate Provost - Undergraduate Affairs; and Associate Provost - Science, Engineering, Technology and Science Related Units at UTT. He was also the Programme Leader for the Design and Manufacturing Programme.

He was designated as External Examiner for the University of Guyana and Anna University, Chennai, India. He has also served as a Reviewer for several local, regional and international journals.

Professor Persad has over 100 referred technical papers, over 400 columns in the Trinidad Guardian Newspaper and 25 presentations in the Hansard of the Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, in addition to several papers on Hinduism. He has successfully supervised nine Ph.D., five Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.), and 40 master of Science (M.Sc.) projects and is currently supervising a further six Ph.D. candidates. He won the inaugural UTT Research Award, The Prime Minister’s Award for Invention and Innovation, and has been awarded for his contributions to education and culture by the NRI Institute New Delhi, India and the Global TM Movement. His areas of research are Robotics, artificial intelligence and renewable energy. 

His professional portfolio includes appointments as Senate Minority Leader of Parliament, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (NIHERST), Commissioner of the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago and member of the Cabinet-appointed Committee on the Evaluation of Textbooks.

He has consulted and facilitated training courses in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

Professor Persad is a licensed Hindu Marriage Officer, Spiritual Leader of the Divya Ashram, Chairman of the Board of Swaha Inc. and has obtained a first degree black belt from the Japan Karate Association.