University of Guyana, Georgetown, Guyana, January 2010
Guyana's Ministry of Agriculture recently signed an MoU with McGill University and the University of Guyana that will allow up to 24 engineers to pursue a Post Graduate Certificate in Water Resource Management. A press release was issued by Guyana's Government Information Agency (GINA) announcing this development. The certificate is delivered jointly by professors and researchers of both universities, and is divided into three modules: Hydrology and Water Resources Management; Irrigation and Drainage; and Geotechnical Investigations.
At the University of Guyana in February-March 2010, the laboratories in Department of Civil Engineering were upgraded and repairs have since been completed on equipment that were in a state of disrepair. Training was provided to two lab technicians on the use and maintenance of the repaired and upgraded equipment. These included the flow visualization apparatus, sedimentation tank, consolidation equipment, hydraulic bench, friction flow apparatus, impact turbine simulator, flumes and permeability apparatus.
In preparation for the delivery of this certificate program, a number of reference texts were purchased for the department library, and hydrology and GIS software were installed on the department's computer lab in May 2010.
The following software has been installed on 24 computers in the department lab:
1. ArcView GIS 3.3
2. Spatial Analyst 2.x Extension for ArcView 3.3
3. AVSWAT-X (Soil and Water Assessment Tool)
4. HEC-HMS 3.3
5. HEC-RAS 4.0
6. CROPWAT 8.0 for Windows
7. AQUACROP
8. FAO ETo Calculator
9. DRAINMOD 6.0
Delivery of courses began in May 2010.