LAST Thursday and Friday, scores of primary and secondary level students, along with curious onlookers, flooded the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, (UWI) for Research Days 2012.

Research Days are the platform through which researchers and scientists of UWI expose to the public the new innovations and outstanding research projects undertaken by the five faculties of UWI, Mona — humanities and education, medical sciences, pure and applied sciences, social sciences and law — have recently undertaken.

The grand highlight of the days last week was the UWI Cardiac Surgery Simulator — a system consisting of a combination of mechanics, computerised electronics, artificial blood and dead animal flesh that is used to train aspiring surgeons at UWI.

Many researchers have deemed it “the world’s first cardiac surgery simulator”.

This project was created by the collaborative efforts of Dr Paul Ramphal of the department of surgery, radiology, anaesthesia and intensive care and Dr Daniel Coore from the department of computing.

According to Dr Ramphal, the invention of the UWI Cardiac Surgery Simulator will not only be used to train aspiring surgeons, but shorten the time it takes to train young surgeons and make them more competitive on the international scene.

“It is difficult to spend time during the (real-life) operations taking junior surgeons through the procedure. Time is of the essence in cardiac surgery,” Ramphal, who has been appointed the task of training new and aspiring cardiac surgeons at the university, said.

He added that the creation came from him wanting to get his new trainees to a level, where they are not behind, but at a more advanced position, should they go overseas for post tertiary level training in countries such as the United States of America, the United Kingdom or Canada.

The UWI Cardiac Surgery Simulator, which was on display at Research Days, reanimated a pig’s heart — medically, the closest structure to a human heart and also pumps blood through the organs and is programmed to duplicate real-life scenarios that a trainee surgeon would have to deal with on the operating table during a real open-heart surgery.

The work of the duo were formally recognised and awarded the Principal of UWI, Mona’s Award for Innovation after Research Days ended last Friday evening.

They were given their trophies of achievement at The Annual Research Day Awards Ceremony, which was held at the Mona Visitors’ Lodge & Conference Centre.

This was the 13th annual Research Days celebration at UWI.

The theme this year was ‘Promoting Health and Wellness: The UWI Mona’s Innovative Approach’.

In keeping with the theme of promoting health, the faculty of medical sciences offered several health checks free to students and adults in attendance during the two days.

One main aim of the annual Research Days at the university, is to encourage researchers, along with present and aspiring students, to learn of previous innovations that will make a change in our society and to motivate them to create innovations of their own.