(stemcaribbean.com) Every year the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) highlights ten young professionals through its New Faces of Civil Engineering recognition programs. According to ASCE, this annual program shows that engineering is exciting and open to everyone, and it provides reassurance that the future of civil engineering is in good hands. Also, the civil engineers named on this list have achieved more in the first decade of their engineering careers than most people have in a lifetime. Some of the requirements to be honoured on this list include being 30 years old or younger, and experience in leadership and community service.
Daniel Campbell, a civil engineer from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, is one of ASCE’s 2020 New Faces of Civil Engineering – Professional Edition Honorees. He was honoured at the ASCE’s OPAL Gala in Washington DC in the United States on March 13 this year, where outstanding civil engineering leaders received awards for creating engineering wonders contributing to businesses and the economies of their communities.
Daniel made the decision to pursue civil engineering after experiencing a tragedy in 2008 due to a devastating landslide on his island. He recognised the significance of civil engineers and wanted to be a part of that community to help make the Caribbean more resilient to natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes.
Since deciding on a career in civil engineering, Daniel has earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering with honours. He received the first degree from the University of Matanzas, in Cuba and the second degree from the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Motivated by the desire to help improve the Caribbean’s resilience, Daniel has been at the forefront of several engineering projects in his country and the Caribbean region. He’s currently a short-term consultant for the World Bank on a housing recovery project in Dominica to reconstruct hundreds of houses destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Daniel Campbell and supporters
In addition, along with other engineers and architects, in 2014, he formed the Caribbean Engineering and Design Consultants Ltd, which provides sustainable engineering solutions and project management services in engineering, architecture, and construction. The firm’s diverse history of work includes disaster risk management and residential housing projects.
Daniel’s experience also includes leading a team as a project engineer to conduct site-readiness and site-design surveys of over 200 government buildings in St. Vincent and the Grenadines during the Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (CARCIP) National Broadband Project. CARCIP is a multi-million-dollar 15-year contract between Digicel and the Governments of St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This project, funded by the World Bank, aims to develop a future-proofed fibre optic network infrastructure allowing every Government building to benefit from high-speed fibre connections.
Another notable project that Daniel has been involved with is the SMART Health Care Facilities in the Caribbean Project, which was funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development and is being implemented by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Ministries of Health in each participating country. Daniel assisted with the retrofitting of the healthcare facilities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. He planned and designed four smart healthcare facility retrofits.Daniel’s favourite subject while in school was information technology. He recommends that civil engineers should learn the applications of information and communications technology, data science, electronics, and computer science. We were delighted to hear more about what he recommends to budding civil engineers and how he overcame challenges as an engineer in the Caribbean. Read our conversation below.