An oral contribution by Sekazi Mtingwa (Chair, LAAAMP Executive Committee) has been delivered as part of the programme of the 21st General Meeting and Conference of the Caribbean Academy of Science (CAS), hosted by CAS Jamaica (CASJ) and held in collaboration with The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, as part of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of The UWI and the 30th anniversary of CAS. The conference was held at the Mona Visitors’ Lodge and Conference Centre, Kingston, Jamaica on 27-30 November 2018 under the theme “Science, Technology and Innovation – Vehicles for a Knowledge Based Economy”.

 
Left to right: Robert Lancashire (CAS Foreign Secretary, Professor of Chemistry Emeritus, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica), Tara Dasgupta (CAS Jamaica Chapter President, Professor of Chemistry Emeritus, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica), Winston Mellowes (CAS President, Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago), Sekazi Mtingwa (LAAAMP Chair of Executive Committee, TriSEED Consultants, USA)

ABSTRACT 

Lightsources for Africa, the Americas, Asia and Middle East Project (LAAAMP): An IUPAP and IUCr ICSU-Funded Project

We describe a new initiative funded by a 3-year, 300K-Euro grant from the International Council for Science (ICSU) to the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) and International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) in collaboration with over thirty partner organizations that include sixteen advanced light sources to enhance the utilization of advanced light sources and crystallography in five targeted regions of the world, namely Africa, the Caribbean, Mexico, Southeast Asia, and Middle East. LAAAMP’s programs include the development of a Strategic Plan for each region; a Colloquium program that sends experienced light source and crystallography users to those regions; establishment of new IUCr-UNESCO Crystallography OpenLabs; design and distribution of a Brochure that describes advanced light sources and crystallography for government officials and the public; 2-month Faculty-Student (FAST) Team training visits to advanced light sources, with approximately forty new users participating in 2018; and culminating in a December 2019 meeting to chart a path forward beyond the ICSU grant.

Download the programme of the conference