Mr Awai holds a Bachelor of Science in Pure and Applied Chemistry followed by a post graduate diploma in Management from the University of the West Indies. He is certified as an Assurance, UK) and an IRCA Registered Principal Auditor- ISO 9001. He worked for 10 years in the manufacturing industry as a quality practitioner and laboratory manager. Following this, he joined the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS) where he served for 27 years and acted as an executive director on many occasions.


His work in the Certification Division successfully developed it as the only Caricom Quality System Registrar, auditing and granting ISO 9001 certification to a range of industries. He is an expert in quality management systems performing over 100 audits in the chemical, construction, packaging, energy and training institutions. His portfolio has since been expanded to laboratory accreditation. He successfully realized the international accreditation (ISO 15189) of St. Augustine Medical Laboratory Ltd., the first of its kind in the region.