As an environmental engineer, I believe that we can work in a balance between the economic development and sustainable environmental development. Working on landfill projects is a market that is growing in Brazil and Latin American to help improve the balance between development and the environment. This will decrease groundwater contamination within neighborhood areas near industrial and municipal landfills.
The solid waste engineers in ARCADIS US have a lot of experience in the landfill engineering and remediation. To take advantage of this knowledge and the new landfill market within Brazil, it seemed logical to utilize the Quest program. Learning about the American market, client development/marketing, projects planning, and technical knowledge in the construction and closure of industrial and municipal landfills would be valuable to the ARCADIS Logos team in São Paulo, Brazil. My manager and I made contact with John Holm and Todd Farmen, from ARCADIS US to discuss the many synergies. After 2 months of scheduling and projects planning, we had the approval of my manager Lucas Fonseca, my director Andre Rebouças, and my host John Holm as well the Lovinklaan Foundation.
I traveled to Cincinnati, OH on 15/08/2014 for 12 hours. I was very excited because it was a great opportunity to discover, for the first time, the US and also learn more about the solid waste market that ARCADIS Logos is starting to enter.
I was very well received by my host and other staff from ARCADIS US. In the office, John showed me their landfill current projects, discussed the environmental laws in America, and explained the client marketing/proposal structures. To facilitate knowledge sharing, I presented to the team the current landfill closure and remediation projects in ARCADIS Logos in Brazil. We then discussed future opportunities between ARCADIS Logos and US in the solid waste field. During the end of my Quest, we had several field visits to ongoing projects including: urban landfill implantation, capping of landfills, and the management of natural energy from landfill gas.
In addition to the professional knowledge I gained during that week, I had a great opportunity to learn more about the American culture by trying different foods and visiting parks, a museum, and a sports stadium. I am very grateful for my experiences during the Quest program and would like to thank the Lovinklaan Foundation as well as John Holmes, Rick Kenter and Michael Candal for sharing information, transferring knowledge and fostering collaboration. I greatly appreciate ARCADIS Logos for believing in me and helping me to achieve this opportunity for personal and professional growth.
Fábio Luiz Fortes Gama, ARCADIS Logos Brazil
