The Project Management and Civil Infrastructure Systems (PMCIS) Unit at The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), has engaged the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) to provide specialised accreditation for two of its programmes, the National Engineering Technician Diploma (NETD) in Civil Engineering and the Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc) in Civil Engineering Systems. Both programmes are fully-funded GATE programmes offered by UTT. The accreditation visit by the JBM, on behalf of the Engineering Council, UK, will take place October 19 and 20, 2022, at UTT's San Fernando Campus.

JBM works with universities and industry to strengthen civil engineering programmes through specialised accreditation. The JBM consists of five professional bodies, the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), and three other professional bodies. Over the years, PMCIS has hosted visits from the ICE and the IStructE.

The most recent visit took place on April 20, 2022 and included the President of the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), Mrs Jane Entwistle, three IStrustE Caribbean Regional Group members, Mr Omar Allahar, chair, Ms Savitree Singh, secretary, and Mr Kerrin Burgess. This visit was part of the IStructE's visit to Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

During the visit to UTT's San Fernando Campus, a short meeting took place where Engineer Trevene John delivered a welcome address on behalf of UTT's IStructE Student Liaison Officer, Dr Navin Ramroop, and Dr Amarnath Chinchamee, Programme Leader, PMCIS. UTT's President, Professor Prakash Persad, VP RASA, Professor Festus Addo-Yobo and Professor Emeritus Winston Suite were also present to officially welcome the IStructE President to the University. Professor Persad brought greetings on behalf of the Board of Governors of UTT and UTT management. In his contribution, he extended an open invitation and challenged the IStructE regional group to strengthen their collaboration with the Association of Professional Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago (APETT). Professor Persad remarked there was much to be gained with this potential partnership. This point was underscored by Professor Winston Suite, Senior Academic Fellow, PMCIS.

The feature address by Mrs. Entwistle focused on the various routes to become chartered members of IStructE, and the opportunities to forge and strengthen links between local professional bodies and universities, and our English counterparts. She also expressed excitement about collaborating in familiar areas such as restoring historical buildings and others new to her, like the impact of seismic activities on structures; the latter, she remarked, is an area to which Caribbean engineers can contribute significantly.

The JBM recommends that 50% of the teaching staff become chartered members of a professional body that makes up the JBM. IStructE is committed to assisting PMCIS in reaching that goal by exposing the teaching staff to the multiple and alternative routes for academics to become chartered members. Since the visit, the IStructE Caribbean regional group has already reached out to the leadership of PMCIS to indicate that they are currently arranging for an online presentation titled Routes to Membership. The online presentation will take place in mid-year 2022.

The visit by the IStructE president and the Caribbean members ended with a tour of the Civil Engineering laboratories. The first lab they toured was the Structural Mechanics Laboratory; followed by the Fluids Mechanics Lab, the Concrete and Materials Laboratory, the Geotechnical Engineering Laboratory, the Land Surveying Laboratory, and ending in the Environmental Engineering Laboratory. All the lab technicians and the teaching staff responsible for these labs were present to engage the visitors on the work taking place in the labs.