Cecilia Emanueli Gandara

Cecilia Emanueli Gandara is from Uruguay. At UNESCO-IHE she is studying Water Science and Engineering with specialization in Hydroinformatics – Modelling and Information Systems for Water Management.

“I first heard about UNESCO-IHE when I was at the university, because a friend of the family did his MSc at UNESCO-IHE. While at the university I worked for UNESCO’s International Hydrological Program for Latin America and the Caribbean, during my time there I heard a lot about UNESCO-IHE. During my professional career, I also met several people who studied at UNESCO-IHE; they all spoke highly about the Institute and recommended it to me.

 The stories of UNESCO-IHE alumni are the main reason that I chose UNESCO-IHE to study, all of the alumni I spoke with agreed that there is a high level of education at the Institute. Another thing that attracted me to UNESCO-IHE was the fact that there are many different nationalities, allowing you to get a broader view of the world. I like the teaching style, the lectures are open and it is easy to contact professors for help."

Cecilia on deciding to study in the field of water: “In Uruguay we have problems with drought, floods and the water quality. I believe that by gaining knowledge in this field I will be able to contribute more to these issues and that I will be able to do a better job back home in Uruguay. In a country with limited economic resources, the solution to these problems has to be cost-effective and the use of hydroinformatic tools is necessary. For example, water quality models can help to decide which treatments are better to improve the water quality in rivers, real time control dams can diminish the effects of droughts, also decision support systems together with real time hydrologic and hydrodynamic models can help to obtain an early response to floods."

“Everyone is very open at UNESCO-IHE; this made it a lot easier to make friends during the first few weeks. I am now more aware of the different cultures and problems in the rest of the world. Each of us has a different point of view, providing you with interesting perspective from which you can learn a lot. People often have preconceived ideas about different cultures; I have learnt that these ideas are often incorrect.”

Cecilia on her social life in Delft: “I have made a very nice group of friends already. For example, we have a really big WhatsApp-group in which we agree to meet up, organize different activities and parties. I celebrated Thanksgiving for the first time recently. It was organized by some students from United States, they prepared some traditional food and the rest of us brought different dishes from our home countries. I think there were about 50 of us celebrating‘’

"The city of Delft seems perfect; I really like the houses, canals and all the bikes. The location is ideal because you are really close to lots of cities and different countries."

Studying at UNESCO-IHE: ‘’It’s a great opportunity and enriches your life. We are all different, but share the same goals and interests. ‘’