Jamalco Company officials in Jamaica have partnered with Kettering University to increase Jamaica’s technical manpower capacity.  Representatives of the bauxite and alumina company and Kettering officials recently signed an agreement that will allow six Jamaican students to pursue engineering studies at the University.

In a Memorandum of Understanding signed by Kettering President Stanley R. Liberty and Jamalco’s Managing Director Jerome Maxwell in December, the company committed $15,000 U.S. so promising Jamaican engineering students will be able to study abroad.  They were assisted by Kettering’s Dr. Milton Robinson.

Scholarships for the current academic year will be awarded to Kettering students:

• Janese Jackson, Travis Townsend and Sharna-Kay Dobney, who are studying Chemical Engineering;
• Christian Anderson and Jheanell Johnson, who are Mechanical Engineering majors; and
• Micah Young, a Computer Engineering major. 

All of the students are from the Kingston, Jamaica, area.  In addition to college scholarships, the Jamalco grant will enable two Claredon High School seniors to participate in Kettering’s award-winning pre-college summer program called AIM (Academically Interested Minds).

AIM is a five-week residential program designed to assist multicultural students to prepare for college by providing college-level academic studies in Math, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science and Economics. In addition, students participate in weekly visits to corporations with globally recognized brands. The program is limited to 40 high school seniors who seek to become engineers or pursue a college major in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM).

Maxwell said the company’s partnership with Kettering is another example of Jamalco living Alcoa’s values and empowering communities through education.  He also said the initiative will increase the engineering expertise vital for country’s 21st Century advancement.

Jamalco joins Jamaica Public Service Company, IBM, Jamaica Energy partners and the Grace and Staff Community Development Foundation as participants in Kettering’s Initiative to develop personnel with technical skills.

In December 2009, Nackia S. Chamberlain of St. Catherine, Jamaica, and Tevita A. Skein, of Kingston, Jamaica, graduated with honors from Kettering University and were among the six students who were awarded Kettering’s prestigious President’s Medal.  Maxwell noted that Prime Minister Bruce Golding was personally involved in obtaining Jamaican scholarships for these outstanding graduates. Both young ladies, who were AIM Program participants, are currently employed as engineers in Kingston.

About Jamalco

Jamalco mines bauxite and refines it at its plant, located in Claredon. The alumina is then exported from its port facility at Rocky Point. The company is jointly owned by the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) and the Government of Jamaica.

Written by Dr. Milton Robinson and Jamalco sources
Contact: Patricia Mroczek
810-762-9533
pmroczek@kettering.edu