Sankat, Clement

ENCAENIA, MAY, 2010
CLEMENT SANKAT
to be Doctor of Letters

Going back to the 18th century, there has been a history of communication and exchange between the West Indies and the Maritime Provinces. We have both turned to the sea as one source of our economy and we have always valued education as central to our social advancement. Thus, it is it not surprising that UNB has had strong links in recent years with the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago, where our honorary degree recipient, Dr. Clement Sankat, is Pro Vice Chancellor and Campus Principal.

A graduate of Queen’s College, Georgetown, Guyana, Dr. Sankat won the Award for Best Mechanical Engineering student at UWI in 1972. Recipient of an international CIDA fellowship for doctoral studies at the University of Guelph, he was subsequently awarded an NSERC Research Associateship in food engineering at Laval University. What has followed is a career of teaching and research at UWI in areas such as the processing of tropical crops, food engineering, and post-harvest technology.

Dr. Sankat has published over 100 papers in his field, many of them related to technological innovation in agricultural production and processing in the Caribbean (for example, his research has had a practical impact on the sugar industry in Trinidad and Tobago and on the nutmeg industry in Grenada). He is a Fellow of the Institute of Agricultural Engineers of the United Kingdom, the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, and the Canadian Society of Agricultural Engineers. Dedicated to raising the profile of both research and graduate-training at UWI, Dr. Sankat has worked through his various administrative positions over the years to raise both the university and the national profile in these areas.

Former Chair of the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards — and a catalyst in the National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology — he led a task force on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Ministry of Trade & Industry in 2000. He was also Chair/lead author on the report of the Vision 2020 Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Innovation for Trinidad and Tobago. He has been active on the Board of Directors of the Metal Industries Company Limited; the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation; and the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business. His scholarly achievements were recognized in 2001 by the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence for his contributions to Research, UWI, and Public Service.

UNB is proud to welcome this distinguished academic colleague, a leader in Education, Research, and Engineering in Trinidad and Tobago, who, since becoming Principal, has been a staunch advocate of UNB’s partnership programs in Business and Education with his campus of the University of the West Indies.

From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 4