 ug professors win guyana innovation award 2020 ug professors win guyana innovation award 2020 andydindial wed 6302021 1407 ug professors jagessar and gomathinayagam win guyana innovation award 2020 for science and technology innovations in the fields of agriculture and foodbased science  university of guyana professors subramaniam gomathinayagam director ug berbice campus and raymond jagessar a senior lecturer at the university s turkeyen campus were recently recognised by the guyana innovation prize stakeholders for their outstanding work in science and technology innovations in the fields of agriculture and foodbased science respectively prof gomathinayagam lectures biology of plants biotechnology and plant cellular biology and prof jagessar lectures organic and inorganic chemistry in the department of chemistry they were both recipients of grants for their innovative projects under the 2021 innovation guyana prize briefly describing his research project an elated professor gomathinayagam said my project is to produce a biological agent named biodiamond a biological control agent of plant diseases my motivation and vision are for guyana to become an organic farming country therefore my product biodiamond is to minimise the use of commercial chemicals and fertilizer he added that the project is very useful and relevant as it allows students and staff the opportunity to gain handson experience in the agriculture field and to increase awareness of the use of commercial chemicals and fertilisers he expressed hope that the project could be used as a link between the farming community and the university of guyana berbice campus in the near future prof jagessar s research was entitled stone wall diamond natural antimicrobials and antidiabetics in a brief comment he explained my reason for getting involved in the project is to prevent antimicrobial resistance and diabetic surge locally there has been an increase in diabetes locally and internationally many synthetic antimicrobials to date suffer from antimicrobial resistance due to improper use he further highlighted the world is confronted with three escalated problems covid19 global warming and antimicrobial resistance i have been researching in plantbased antimicrobials and natural antidiabetics at ug for the past fifteen and ten years respectively and will continue to do so the guyana innovation prize was established to support guyanese researchers thinkers and doers by providing a competitive grant annually to some of the most commercially viable ideas the grant is sponsored by the guyana telephone and telegraph company gtt and guyana economic development trust gedt the university views this development as exemplary and in keeping with its blueprint 2040 goal 2 where ug becomes a center for excellence in providing solutions for some specific problems of guyana and the planet amongst these are agri and aquaculture and human resiliency last year ug also copped this prize when dean of the faculty of agriculture dr lawrence lewis won for his innovative work with biochar in soil restoration a technology that may become very important in the rebuilding work that must be done in guyana after the floods ug chancellor prof edward greene vicechancellor xi prof paloma mohamed martin deputy vicechancellors dr emanuel cummings and dr mellissa ifill and the entire senior management team faculty and staff extend warmest congratulations to professors gomathinayagam and jagessar for winning the prestigious awards and wish then continued success in their research projects the university of guyana is incredibly proud to celebrate and highlight their achievements  university of guyana professor subramaniam gomathinayagam director ug berbice campus   ug s turkeyen campus senior lecturer raymond jagessar   ug in brief  the university of guyana is the 58th year state university of guyana it offers 136 programmes in over 60 disciplines online and facetoface in 8 campuses across guyana with a student population of now 10000 ug has provided education learning and research for over 50000 alumni the mission of the university is to discover generate disseminate and apply knowledge of the highest standard for the service of the community the nation and of all mankind within an atmosphere of academic freedom that allows for free and critical inquiry ug s forward thinking blueprint 2040 is currently setting the course for the university s future design and institutional response to the changing needs of guyana  contact  ms krest cummings public relations officer department of events conferences and communications decc 5926235104 ug professors win guyana innovation award 2020  