University of Trinidad and Tobago's (UTT) executive president of the Student Guild, Laura Lewis, has been recognised for her outreach, involvement and efforts in starting a student branch of The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) at UTT and will be honoured by this prestigious institution in the form of the IChemE's "Ambassador Prize." Lewis was IChemE's unanimous choice as she worked assiduously to promote IChemE and to increase the institution's membership among local students. IChemE is the global professional membership organisation for people who have an interest in, and relevant experience in, chemical engineering. IChemE is the only organisation that awards "chartered chemical engineer" status.
According to Dr David Brown, chief executive at IChemE, "The Ambassador Prize is awarded to an individual who has made a key contribution to a short/medium term IChemE project." Usually, the institution presents the prize exclusively to someone who has submitted a worthy project. According to the IChemE, however, "on this occasion (2012), two separate awards will be made." Lewis will accept her award in the United Kingdom in June, when she will also present a paper at IChemE's Escape Conference. Her achievements with IChemE should bode well for UTT as the institution seeks programme accreditation with IChemE.
Lewis is presently pursuing the Master of Engineering in Process Engineering at UTT and is the founder and marketing and communications officer of IChemE at UTT. She also sits as the UTT representative on the National Students' Union of Trinidad and Tobago. "My primary aim as Student Guild president is to encourage all of the students of UTT to be more proactive in their involvement in extra-curricular activities. It is my dream that the ideal UTT graduate will excel not only academically, but also incubate all of the soft skills which will serve well in either the workplace or in entrepreneurship," Lewis said.