Biography

Born and raised in Mixco, Guatemala, I had only traveled to a handful of places until, at age 17, I was awarded a scholarship to attend UWC Red Cross Nordic in Norway. UWC would be the start of a transformative six-year journey that took me to academic institutions in 3 different continents and allowed me to visit over 30 distinct cities. These experiences, combined with the knowledge I acquired through my degree in Civil Engineering at Brown University, awoke my curiosity about the impact that the built environment has on the natural context and its inhabitants. Therefore, I became increasingly interested in the concepts surrounding high performance buildings and sustainable design. After graduating from Brown in 2012, I came back to Guatemala where I have been at the forefront of the local green building movement, working as the Engineering and Sustainability Coordinator for an architectural firm, and specializing on the LEED certification program. More recently, intrigued by how the ideas behind green buildings can be extrapolated to entire cities, I cofounded the Guatemalan Network for Sustainable Cities, where I currently serve as Research Director. I look forward to joining the MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development at Cambridge, with the conviction that it will enable me to tackle the ever more complex problems that engineers face in the process of finding sustainable solutions. I hope to use this knowledge to help build better cities in my home country.

Previous Education

Brown University