Celebrating engineering students of the year in Jamaica

OUR FOUNDATION

Proudly honoring the best and brightest

As we continue to strive to bring the best energy options to communities worldwide, we’re also focused on bringing the best in STEM education to the youth in these areas so they can become the next generation of leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs in this critical area.

That’s why we entered into a two-year partnership with the Jamaica Institution of Engineers (JIE) to honor top-performing students from the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona and St. Augustine campuses; the University of Technology Jamaica (UTECH); and the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU). 

JIE Awards Ceremony

Our JIE/NFE Engineering Student of the Year award was open to all final-year students studying an engineering discipline at any of these schools. The student with the highest grade point average from each institution received a trophy during the JIE’s annual awards dinner and gala, for which we were also the Platinum sponsor, and was invited to learn about the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry by completing an internship with New Fortress Energy.

The bright, young scholars were:

  • Ashley McPherson, UWI Mona
  • Deandra Johnson, UWI St. Augustine
  • Glendon Taylor, Utech, Jamaica
  • Nicholas Minott, Caribbean Maritime University (CMU)

“We are proud to be partnering with New Fortress Energy to continue to offer this notable award to some of our country’s most brilliant young engineering minds,” said Glaister Ricketts, President of the JIE. “Jamaica continues to benefit greatly from the cultivation of a diverse, highly-qualified STEM workforce coming from these institutions, so this award recognition demonstrates that we value their interest in the engineering discipline and potential for outstanding service to Jamaica and the region.”

Since entering the Jamaican market in 2016 with the build of our first LNG facility in Montego Bay, our New Fortress Energy Foundation has extended more than 100 engineering scholarships, for a total of nearly $30 million (JA), to the most vulnerable high-performing students at these three universities. We also established the island’s first cryogenics engineering course in partnership with the UWI and launched a summer engineering internship program with 18 interns at LNG plants across the island.

“We’re very excited about this partnership… which will help to further elevate the engineering programmes at our respective institutions,” said Dr. Adrian Lawrence, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the UWI Mona campus. “Several of our engineering students are already Student Chapter members of the JIE, and some are even being mentored by professionals within the sector, so to be recognized for their hard work by two of the most respected bodies in the sector means a lot, and we want to thank NFE and the JIE for their vision and ongoing support.”

We are energized by the commitment these students and their universities have made to STEM education, and we are grateful for the opportunity to help these students and the entire energy sector grow and develop in Jamaica.