Above: Jonathon Earle, Kerschel James, Aaron Roopnarine, Professor Clement Sankat (UWI Principal), Jason Deng (Huawei GM),  Ryan Chin Sang, Valene Rampersad and Dylan Deyal. Photo courtesy Huawei.

Six students of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine campus have been selected to travel to China in June for a two-week internship at Huawei.

This follows the April 2016 launch in T&T of the Huawei international CSR program, Telecom Seeds for the Future, which Huawei operates around the world in regions like North and Latin America, Africa, West and Eastern Europe and Asia.

The program was launched in T&T through an MOU with The UWI and Huawei, and was supported by Minister in the Ministry of Education, Dr. the Hon. Lovell Francis who also attended the launch and witnessed the MOU signing. It is the first time Huawei has introduced the Telecom Seeds in the English-speaking Caribbean.

The six students – Jonathon Earle, Kerschel James, Aaron Roopnarine, Ryan Chin Sang, Dylan Deyal, and the lone female, Valene Rampersad – are all local ICT studies majors at the UWI and were rigorously chosen by a Selection Committee, making history as the first contingent from Trinidad and Tobago to be selected to participate in the Huawei-sponsored program.

Designed to help bridge the gap between what is learned in school and what is practiced in the work place, the “Seeds for the Future” will help develop ICT talent in T&T, promote greater understanding of the information, communication technology and telecommunications sectors and encourage participation in the international ICT community.

These six students participating in the “Seeds for the Future” programme will join other international University students in gaining first-hand learning opportunities through interactions with Huawei staff and visits to Huawei laboratories. Apart from studying the latest in ICT advancements, the students will also receive specific hands-on training in labs. For their part, the students expressed their excitement on this once in a lifetime opportunity to visit China and be part of this learning experience that they expected would ultimately enhance their careers.

Huawei will cover the travel as well as accommodation and living costs for the students while in China.

The Telecom Seeds for the Future Program offers:

• A week of Mandarin language and culture training at a famous University in Beijing;
• Huawei training on ICT Technologies and Solutions;
• First-hand work experience at Huawei’s Shenzhen Headquarters ;
• Opportunity to discover Chinese culture and visit historical landmarks.