This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
A Lafayette grant is enabling civil engineering major Fidel Maltez ’05 (Hialeah, Fla.) to spend the summer in Colombia on a trip that will lead to an independent study next fall, experience for a career in sustainable development, and both information and support for an effort by the student chapter of Engineers Without Borders to bring safe drinking water to a community in Honduras.
His trip is being funded by Lafayette’s Jeffrey B. Havens Memorial Fund Award, which provides nontraditional, summer learning experiences with opportunities for education, growth, and personal development unavailable in normal course work.
Last summer, A.B. engineering major Emmanuel Kirunda ’04 (Iganga, Uganda) used the award for a learning experience in Brazil and Chile. The fund was established as a memorial to Jeff Havens ’78, who was killed in an automobile accident in 1979.
In addition to the Colombia trip, Maltez is meeting with students, faculty, and the head of the engineering department at Zamorano University in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to involve them in the Engineers Without Borders project. He also is meeting with officials of AMCO, a PVC distribution company in Honduras, to discuss donations and/or discounts for materials to be used in the drinking water system.
“The company wants to take an active role in the project, and not simply be the distributor, in order to make other projects in the area easier for us to implement,” says Maltez. “We have talked of them providing technical and logistical support.”
Finally, he will meet with students, faculty, and the head of the civil engineering department at Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria de Nicaragua (Nicaraguan National University of Engineering) to encourage them to participate.
“We in Engineers Without Borders know that we cannot provide solutions for all communities in these impoverished areas,” says Maltez. “Instead, we want Lafayette College to be a leader in the implementation of these projects. Through our coordination we plan to encourage students in Third World countries to become engaged in providing solutions to their countries’ problems. This is an effective way to ensure the sustainability of these projects.”
Last year, he served as Lafayette’s delegate to the National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, which is held every ten years. As a New York Foundation Fellow last summer, he worked with a community-based organization in the Bronx to improve living conditions for the homeless. He also interned with Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, a Bronx community group in charge of ensuring community participation in the cleanup of contaminated sites.
Through his Colombia trip, Maltez is exploring the field of sustainable development, which considers the environmental and social impacts and staying power of projects.
“My education at Lafayette College has provided me with an excellent knowledge in engineering while fostering my search for more,” he says. “In the last year, I became greatly interested in the topic of sustainable development. The engineering division encouraged this interest and generously provided funding for my attendance at an incredible conference on this issue.”
At the conference in Boulder, Colo., Maltez met Paolo Lugari, founder and leader of the Gaviotas community in Colombia founded by engineers. Part of the student’s Colombia trip involves partnering with MIT graduate students in their research and investigating technologies in the Gaviotas village and its Bogotá office that might be applicable to the Engineers Without Borders project. He is learning from Gaviotas engineers who are leaders in technology for the developing world and provide expertise to projects around the globe. Gaviotas works closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Colombia and was named “the model of sustainable development” by the United Nations.
Maltez has been helping Ana Maria Archila, executive director of the Latin American Integration Center, with event planning for LAIC, which assists Latin American immigrants. During his time in Bogotá, he will observe Project Citizen, a project overseen by Archila’s daughter, Angela Gualy, to create and enhance “green areas” for a community. The effort involves a high school; a Colombian think tank, Fundacion Presencia; and a prominent newspaper, El Espectador.
More education will be provided by Colombian engineer Jaime Rueda Ramirez, who will show Maltez U.S. Army Corps of Engineers construction projects in Bogotá and introduce him to foreign and national engineers working in the country.
“This experience will prove to be invaluable since it will introduce me to multinational engineering work, a possibility in my engineering career,” he says.
Maltez was introduced to Ramirez by Victoria Langland, instructor of history at Lafayette, who provided support and resources for his Havens grant proposal. Under her guidance, he will conduct a historical analysis of movements for sustainable development in Colombia during the second half of the 20th century. The study will incorporate his summer experiences and additional research at Lafayette, culminating in a presentation of his findings on campus this fall. He also will give a brown bag presentation on Gaviotas and appropriate technology and lead a workshop on community development based on Project Citizen.
“My college search focused on finding an excellent engineering school that could provide me with technical expertise while bestowing the necessary support to explore personal projects,” he notes. “This search brought me to Lafayette College.”
Maltez is co-founder of Students for Social Justice. Last spring, he acted in the student production of Undesirable Elements: A Community in Marginalization, served on the selection committee for the Aaron O. Hoff Awards, and received the David A. Portlock Award, presented to a student for working diligently to promote cross-cultural relationships on campus or within the community.
He is a recipient of Lafayette’s William E. Simon Scholarship, established in honor of the class of 1952 alumnus who served as secretary of the treasury of the United States under Presidents Nixon and Ford.