Kevin Sarmiento Email & Phone Number

Growing up in New York City I never really thought about where my water came from or its quality. I knew that I could drink out of every water fountain and any faucet and enjoy it, without getting sick. That was not the case when I traveled as a kid to the towns and cities in Colombia where my family grew up. Even today, their water still makes me and many of the locals sick. This is by no means a Colombian problem. It is a global problem. That is what inspired me to pursue a masters degree in environmental engineering with a focus on water.The work of my graduate research aimed to make safe drinking water accessible to more people worldwide by optimizing water treatment systems to meet many of the vastly overlooked constraints experienced in the majority of the world, especially in impoverished and difficult to access communities. That work was a continuation of over 15 years of research that was carried out by the AguaClara Cornell team. Those collective efforts have resulted in 20 treatment plants in Central America serving over 90,000 people. I love learning about innovative ways to bring safe water on tap to more people.Currently, I am an operator at the Cornell University Water Filtration Plant where my colleagues and I produce approximately 1.5 million gallons of potable water for the Cornell community and the surrounding town. It is an honor for me to serve the Cornell community in this way. The highlight of this position is the opportunity to take the skills I have learned as an engineer and apply them to make our water supply safer for our customers. I am thrilled for the opportunity to lead the Cornell Water Filtration Plant through the wave of upcoming regulatory changes and spearhead capital projects focused on maintenance and treatment optimization. I am also excited to learn more about the water/energy nexus and find strategic ways to contribute to Cornell’s growing sustainability mission.

Listed skills include Research, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Powerpoint, and 2 others.