Sun Hee
Mechanical Engineer from South Korea
2007

   Sun Hee, currently getting her degree in John's Hopkins University in Baltimore, came for an internship in spring 2007 and made a huge difference in lives of many people she never actually met. It is because Sunny participated in a development project that III is running in cooperation with Rotary International.

Sunny helped to prepare various materials that were presented in 2007 Rotary International 98th Annual Convention in Salt Lake City, worked on improving Engineering manual for drinking water delivery systems, automated video presentations and other marketing materials, translated texts into several languages and much more.

Her focused effort really helped to improve living standards of many people in the developing world, who are suffering from poverty and limited water/sanitation resources.

Sunny during a lunch break in a "jungle" park right next to III office.

David in LaBelle Nature Park during installation of security system equipment

David
Electrical Engineer from France
2007

   David mostly handled during his training assignments related to Pelaez ranch project. He helped with installation of water sampler components, did a lot of troubleshooting on mechanical and electronic parts of the equipment and joined water sampling field crew anytime needed. He also updated many SOPs prepared by his fellow interns less skilled in electronics.

David’s other major assignment was moving ahead with security system used for protecting LaBelle Nature Park. He helped with selection of the cameras and other equipment, installing and testing softwares employed in the system and actual installation in the Nature park.

Inom
Architect-Designer from Tajikistan
2006-2007

   Inom initially received 4 months training in Tajikistan, where III has its branch office. There he realized his potential, but also the fact that to learn more about the world, he has to leave his home country and go abroad. After that decision was made, he came for 5 months training to III office in Florida. Here he rapidly improved his English that was initially slowing him down and once English stopped to be his main limiting factor, he could apply his architectural and designing skills on various technical assignments, for example in designing boardwalks or Environmental Education Center for LaBelle Nature Park.

As a Tajik citizen, he also helped to move forward with III’s development project on improving water situation in his home country.
 

Inom visiting one of the near by ranches.

Tosan during an educational tour to coal-fired power plant in US.

Tosan
Environmental and Energy Engineer from Nigeria
2006-2007

    Tosan was responsible during her 6 months training for handling Pelaez ranch tasks and daily chores related to that project. She was responsible for collecting surface and ground water samples, their preparation and analysis in a laboratory, preparing chains of custody forms, programming autosamplers, replacing sampler bottles, and various other parts of the data collection process. Tosan handled all aspects of the research project with dignity and a professional attitude. She also helped train and supervise the more junior trainees, gaining management experience.

Upon completion of her training with SDS/III, Tosan was offered a research assistant position with University of Florida in Gainesville, where she will continue to develop her skills and talents in the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department.

Viacheslav
Metallurgical Engineer from Russia
2006-2007

Viacheslav has been closely involved in initial development of Carbon Capture project, which is aimed at promoting advanced technologies for reducing CO2 emissions and their contributions to global warming.

He helped with scientific presentations preparation, developed parts of the project website and drafted several proposals. As an engineer with IT skills, he also developed many AutoCAD drawings for several local engineering and environmental projects.

Viacheslav dreams about building a strong cooperation bridge between Russia and US.

Daniel in the office testing telemetry stations connectivity.
 

Daniel
Chemical Engineer from Ghana
2006

Daniel contributed to field research project at Pelaez ranch with unique leadership and persistence. At first, as a chemical engineer he was responsible for collecting, preparing and analyzing surface and subsurface water samples. But with time, he also undertook the challenge and assumed the position of a team leader with responsibility for maintaining all mechanical and electrical components of the programmable water samplers, maintaining installed telemetry stations and preparing various SOP's for future trainees to use. Daniel handled his duties that encompassed several specializations each and every day. He measured up very well against the demanding expectations of Dr. Capece.

Getnet
Agricultural Science and Natural Resource Manager from Ethiopia
2006

    Getnet was one of the most hardworking trainees ever hosted at the Southern DataStream.  Getnet helped with project management for the non-profit organizations Rotary International, Caloosahatchee River Citizens Association, and Alpha Epsilon Lambda.  Getnet produced two grant proposals for village water supply projects in Central Asia (see www.RotaryWater.org ) and participated in the Rotary International Water Summit in Houston, Texas.  He created several, high-quality exhibits and slide presentations describing regional projects.  Getnet demonstrated that with hard work it is possible to accomplish much in a three-month traineeship.
 

Getnet receives a recognition certificate from Rotary International for his contributions to the Central Asia Village Water Supply project.

Cindy at the Universal Studios Florida

  Cindy studied media studies and journalism at the University of Sunderland, England. In Florida she served as the community journalist among our group of primarily engineers and scientists. In addition to writing several economics and science articles for local newspapers, Cindy was assigned to train in grant writing, public relations, and non-profit organization management (Rotary International, Caloosahatchee River Citizens Association, and Alpha Epsilon Lambda).

  Cindy assisted in preparing and delivering presentations on river restoration projects to hundreds of school children and presenting the www.RotaryWater.org project to Rotary clubs throughout Florida. She was the group's events organizer. Cindy also demonstrated a high degree of responsibility in getting to presentations scheduled at very challenging times at very distant locations.

Lars
Radio and Television Journalist
from the Netherlands
2005-2006

Lars applied his artistic and technical talents in producing, editing, and distributing the Oxbow 24 Opening Ceremony video. Lars proved to be a uniquely video journalist and burned the midnight oil in producing a documentary about the problems of the Caloosahatchee River (currently in production) for his university degree project. Lars took a sincere interest in addressing the important water and environmental issues of South Florida and created the video clips supporting the naming of the Caloosahatchee River to America's Ten Most Endangered Rivers of 2006 (www.caloosahatchee.org/mer).

Lars preparing to tape anther interview for his river documentary.

Oumnia during a recreation trip to Miami.

   Oumnia, originally from Morocco, came from France, where she attends her first year of Master's degree program at Belfort University. During her 3 months of summer training in Florida, Oumnia was assigned to train in the Pelaez, Queen Bee projects and focused her training activities on field data collection (water sampling and hydrologic measurements) and maintenance of the SDS automatic water samplers. She studied water sampler hardware to understand the instruments that create the overall data acquisition system.

Ricardo
Civil Engineer from Brazil
2005

    Ricardo came to SDS from an Aerospace University in Sao Paulo. While somewhat out of his element, he did an excellent job at his river oxbow restoration project assignment. During his 5-month traineeship, Ricardo prepared RFB (Request for Bids) and RFQ (Requests for Qualifications) documents; researched and tested geofabrics; collected hydrological and water quality field data, performed land/water surveys, and designed much of the channel dredging project. Ricardo added his unique contributions to an innovative design for shoreline projection structures.  
 

Ricardo with a baby gator in Everglades.

Regis at the Bahia Honda State Park
(lower Florida Keys)

   Regis with his high tech skills became invaluable to SDS projects during his 4-month program participation. He was responsible for installation and maintenance of field instrumentation, sensors, data-loggers, and various other telemetry system components. He also integrated the research data into a comprehensive database for statistical analysis. He served as team leader for field data collection tasks while also providing computer technical support to the office staff.

Vladimir
International Marketing and Management student
from Uzbekistan
2005

   Vladimir developed and delivered presentations to Rotary clubs throughout Florida promoting an international service project. His dedicated attitude to the assigned tasks made him the most valuable member of the team in the summer of 2005 and has propelled the Village Water Supply project into a national-level program that has, so far, raised funds to provide clean water systems for more than 25 remote villages in Tajikistan, Central Asia.

Vladimir earned his Master Degree from Copenhagen Business School in Denmark on International Marketing and Management. After completing his traineeship, he went to Canada to continue his education.
 

Vladimir at one of his Rotary Club presentations

Xinyan at the Disney EPCOT Aquarium

   Xinyan came for a four-month training in the summer of 2005. His main focus was tax and managerial accounting, but he also helped other trainees with their projects, including creation of an asset tracking database for Hendry County. Xinyan also acivelly collected GPS data on road and bridge infrastructure to imrove GIS sysem databases of Hendry County.

Henrik
Electrical Engineer from Germany
2005

    Henrik was a trainee for 4 months starting in January 2005.  He was the instrumentation specialist responsible for setting up and maintaining a system of remote water samplers, water level and flow sensors, weather measurements stations, and telemetry hardware linked to Internet databases.  Henrik's quiet, steady determination and professionalism set the ideal example for the group of program participants.  Henrik became the senior project trainee for the second half of his traineeship and led his team during this time.
 

Henrik exploring the Florida wilderness on a canoe trip down Fisheating Creek.

Aurelie at one of the ranch sites the day
after one of the Florida hurricanes of 2004.

Aurelie
Engineer from France
2004-2005

    Aurelie was a 6-months trainee, starting in the summer of 2004, the same year when 4 hurricanes passed through Florida.  She and other SDS trainees would spring in to action immediately on the heels of the storms, traveling to the flooded sites to measure the water flow and chemical quality.  In her last two months, Aurelie assumed primary responsibility for the sampling and instrumentation projects.  As part of her duties she would organize the team of 8 program participantss for the day-long field site data collection trips.  

Masahiro
Economics student from Japan
2004

    Masahiro came for a brief traineeship during his summer break from attending University of California - Irvine.   His primary responsibility was to manage the office finances including receipts, disbursements, expense accounting and preparation of annual corporate tax returns.

    He studied and mastered the Quickbooks Pro accounting software as his primary a digital tool.  Masahiro would also assist other program participants as a member of their field data collection team.

Masahiro managing the office finances using
the QuickBooks Pro software system.

Daniel at a meeting of the Caloosahatchee River Citizens Association meeting, for which he served as a member of the board of directors.

Daniel
Political Scientist from England
2004

   Daniel served as a trainee for six months...which must have seemed like at least twice that long to him, given the double-duty he did as both a guest  lecturer in the local schools and as the co-author of the UzbekWater.net grant proposal.  Having an undergraduate degree in American Studies and a graduate degree in Democracy Studies, ideally prepared Daniel to design and write components of the new project proposal.

   Upon completion of the document, Daniel traveled to Washington, DC and New York City with Dr. Abror Gadaev to present the proposal to USAID, World Bank, United Nations, and various foundations. 

Eliane
Electrical Engineer from Cameroon
2004

    For three months during the summer of 2004, Eliane was engaged in instrumentation and data collection activities for the Kirton Ranch project.  She learned how to maintain and repair the circuits of the sampler control unit.  She also assisted with water sample collection and processing, including SOP development, chain of custody creation, and general data records management.

Eliane in the office where she processes water samples from the ranch pollutions studies.

Weerachai at the river house with other trainees.

Weerachai
Mechanical Engineer from Thailand
2004

    Weerachai served as a trainee for five months during which he methodically and quietly developed his understanding of SDS projects and procedures.  By the last month of his program participation, Weerachai became the internal coordinator for all other program participants, taking responsibility and leadership in preparing and conducting most field experiment project tasks and trips.  As a mechanical engineer he also developed designs and prototypes for new water sampler components.

Abror
Civil Engineering Professor from Uzbekistan
2004

    Abror came to SDS in an effort to make the most of his time in the USA after delivering a technical presentation at the American Water Resources Association.  He spent 4 months developing a project proposal for his university and a web page, www.UzbekWater.Net, documenting water projects in Uzbekistan, Central Asia and the Aral Sea region.

    Upon returning to his university, Professor Abror Gadaev was assigned to develop a new department and area of study focusing on engineering training for disaster response, natural or otherwise.  He continues to remain involved with the training program in pursuit of educational opportunities for students from his nation.

Abror touring citrus industry to study  irrigation systems.
 

Mike crossing the USA on one of his annual road trips.

Michal
Geographer from Czech Republic
2003-2004

    Mike contributed more to Southern DataStream projects than any other of the 125 program participants before him. During his 17-month traineeship Mike was a data analysis and report writing machine, while also helping with field programs whenever needed.  By the time of his departures he had produced several project final reports and many more progress and data reports. He was also the glue that held the trainee group together, welcoming all new arrivals and helping out whenever they need assistance with their projects. 

  Mike also has a talent for photography and as a geographer, he made it his mission to travel to as many corners of the USA as possible during his training breaks.  Upon completion of his traineeship, Mike was elected as a director of Intelligentsia International, Inc. and is serving as an international programs coordinator traveling to water development projects in Europe and Asia.

Sanjay testing new controllers and software.

    Sanjay is another of the exceptionally talented and hardworking engineers that Southern DataStream has been fortunate to host.  As an electrical engineer from Illinois Institute of Technology, Sanjay's contributions during his first 4-month program participation and his second 6-month traineeship were extremely critical to the field instrumentation and control systems of the automatic water samplers.  He is an engineer who does it all: performs design calculations, builds and tests prototypes, fabricates the production units, and then personally installs the final systems... with enthusiasm.  Together with other skilled trainees, including Jurgen from Germany, designed and  built water samplers placed on farms near the Kissimmee River and Lake Okeechobee. Sanjay's technical skills, demonstrated positive attitude, high degree of focus, and absolute personal integrity makes him the type of team member that any company would be fortunate to hire. 

   Upon graduation from Illinois Institute of Technology Sanjay was immediately offered a design and development position with Motorola.

    Moctar led a team of trainees in the task of preparing the final report to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for the demonstration project at MacArthur Agro-ecology Research Center.  This 300-page report documented results from the 3-year project to study the effects of cattle grazing on pasture lands runoff water quality.  After completing his traineeship at Southern DataStream, Moctar was hired to serve as the first water utility engineer for Hendry County.  In addition to his responsibilities for designing water supply system for the community of Port LaBelle, Moctar provides engineering services for regional roads, bridges, and airport.

   Moctar earned his Master of Science from Utah State University Biological and Irrigation Engineering Department.

Moctar reviewing his project report.

Jayant
Computer Engineer from India
2003

    Taking the summer off from studying at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Jay developed skills in network and database administration at SDS for the summer of 2003.  While Jay is Indian by heritage, he is truly an international citizen having grown up in Zambia.

   Jay managed network and domain security, maintained telemetry systems, set up MySQL databases and created some online graphics utilities that allow SDS scientists to monitor and visualize far-off experiment sites in near real time, allowing the scientists and technicians to focus on data analysis rather than time-consuming data processing.  His professionalism and technical skills were far beyond those of your typical 21 year old undergraduate.
 

Jay bringing in his dinner.

Someone had to be the first trainee and it was Catherine. During her 8-month program participation, Catherine produced the video documenting the UF-SDS project at Buck Island Ranch for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.  She handled a variety of other projects including the creation of a web page for the CYDA school in Clewiston. 

  After completing her traineeship she was hired to become a certified teacher for the Hendry County School District. She returned to England after marrying another former SDS program participant.  In October, 2003, the couple had a son.  The new family now lives in London.

Catherine and husband, former program participant Edward from Brazil.