About the Lecturer II
Mr. Vishal Mahabir is a Chemistry lecturer at the University of Guyana Berbice Campus stationed at the Johns Science Center from 2011 to present. He holds a BSc. Chemistry and an MSc. Agrotechnology and Business and is currently reading for a PhD in Biodiversity. His special area of research is material science, and he is currently working on fabricating bioplastic materials using renewable resources such as sugarcane bagasse, rice husk, coconut coir, and sargassum. The research involves investigating the effect of various reinforcements/fillers on the thermo-mechanical properties and biodegradability of alginate bioplastic films fabricated from the brown seaweed sargassum using techniques such as thermogravimetric analysis, tensile strength analysis, infrared spectroscopy, etc.
Vishal is also a cricket enthusiast and former Berbice cricketer at the youth level, a current member of the Young Warriors Cricket Club (YWCC), and a former Rose Hall Community Centre Cricket Club member.