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| Peter Poon Chong |
What’s the background?
Back in 2002 two smart Americans effectively hijacked a piece of intellectual property, IP that was born and bred in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). George Whitmore and Harvey Price of the University of Delaware, along with European partner Judith Spoo, patented a process to make the musical steelpan. They claimed that they developed a new hydro-forming process which was said to produce greater consistency of tone in the final product and speed up the manufacturing process.
What else is has happened?
Today there are about 200 steelpan bands in Switzerland, more than in Trinidad and Tobago, the country of origin. Even in far off Finland - a long way from any tropical weather - there are about 40 steelpan bands. One of the biggest steelpan online portals - www.pan-jumbie.com - is run from Germany. Offshore people love pan. However, by sticking to the traditional ways of doing and thinking while smart offshore people ‘stole’ the IP, T&T has missed out on many economic and social benefits that the pan sector could have generated.
So, how are things changing?
The first piece of good news was the announcement that a team in the Steelpan Development Centre, part of the Faculty of Engineering of The University of the West Indies (UWI), had developed the G-Pan. It was unveiled in July 2007. A great deal of credit must go to Professor Brian Copeland at UWI the G-Pan team leader and Professor Clément Imbert. This has been followed up by the development of a new electronic steelpan called ‘Phi’. It is a real breakthrough that takes the instrument to a leading edge position in the 21st century. The IP behind it is protected by a patent - US Patent 7030305. T&T has now won back a leading position in steelpan and protected all the smart thinking and design work that went into developing the electronic steelpan.
Is there more to come?
What is most encouraging is that the work at UWI is not the only work that is being done to restore T&T’s steelpan sector’s position internationally. I recently met a young engineer, Peter Poon Chong, who is involved with a steelpan development project at the Metal Industries Company. Peter is really passionate about what he is doing and says there is a real possibility that we will see more innovation as it relates to the manufacture of steelpan units before too long. Because of the need to protect potential intellectual property rights, he cannot provide any detail about what he and his assistant are doing - but it is, he tells us, quite fascinating.
What about capability development?
Peter told us that Professor Clément Imbert of UWI, Ian “Teddy” Belgrave of the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) and he, along with few other key persons, coordinated an Advanced Steelpan Tuning Programme for UTT. Thistuning programme was piloted in 2006 in conjunction with highly regarded pan tuners like Bertie Marshall and Reynold ‘Tony Slater’ Gillies. The first course was conducted through the Metal Industries Company Limited. They constructed a tuning facility especially for the programme. Fourteen experienced tuners participated in the program which not only consisted of steelpan tuning but also offered a variety of fundamental skills. These skills varied from music literacy to a number of workshop disciplines.
What does this mean to T&T?
What it means is that the time when everyone else ‘stole’ T&T’s steelpan heritage is now rapidly drifting into the past. The country is beginning to regain the lead it deserves - for inventing the amazing instrument in the first place!
Useful Links:The electronic steelpan patent Cycle of fifths steel pan
Key question: How are we going to develop commercial opportunities that provide more jobs and greater revenue streams from these new inventions and generate major benefits for the country? |
