Carrer Episode #3 Eng.

Bruno Serafini Sobral

a) INTRODUCTION

ENGENEERING POSITION

Land Development Analyst at LAND AND CARTOGRAPHY INSTITUTE OF RIO

DE JANEIRO (ITERJ).

POSITION PERIOD

Start: 01/11/2012 End: Not Applicable (Current Position)

LOCATION: Rio de Janeiro Brazil

MAIN TEAM

Eng. Luiz Roberto Pereira de Souza (Director) lrpsouza@iterj.rj.gov.br

Arch. Flavia Maywald Maffei (Manager) flaviamaywald@gmail.com
Sergio Bandeira (Manager) sbandeira@oi.com.br
Eng. Edson Pereira Rodrigues Jr. (Dsc) edsonrodjr33@gmail.com
Eng. Cristiane Santos (Msc) crismtgs@gmail.com
Eng. Bruno Mendes Antonio bmendes.iterj@gmail.com
Eng. Edil Pericles Faria edil.obras.pmps@gmail.com
Eng. Bruno Serafini Sobral brunossobral@gmail.com

3.1) I started working at ITERJ in November 2012, after applying for the position of
Land Development Analyst, specialized in Agricultural Engineering. As a
graduate in Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, even though with
professional background relying mostly on Environmental related projects, I am
capable of performing as both. For this position it was required from the
applicants to show Agricultural Engineering knowledge, measured by a national
exam. The best scores were selected to integrate ITERJs team.

3.2) My start at ITERJ occurred along with other 98 professionals from different
areas, which were selected from 7,748 applicants as described above. The arrival
of these new professionals to ITERJ transformed the way the general public saw
the institution, allowing more efficient management between the government
and other agencies, as well as the assisted communities.
Carrer Episode #3 Eng. Bruno Serafini Sobral

b) BACKGROUND

3.3) The nature of the position was to provide better attendance to the population,
identifying more accurately its needs and expectations for the governmental
policies in curse. It was the first time in over 20 years of existence that ITERJ
had opened positions for the qualified general public. It is not incorrect to say
that this only happened when ITERJ realized that, in order to obtain better
projects and social results, it would have to count on more qualified
professionals.

3.4) The Settlements and Projects Direction team, which I have been part of since my
first day at ITERJ, has the important duty of improving life quality of rural and
urban populations at settlements under ITERJs responsibility. That is done by a
multidisciplinary team composed by Civil Engineers, Forestry Engineers,
Agronomists, Environmental Engineers, Agricultural Engineers, Architects,
Veterinaries and Technicians. Each of these professionals contributes to the
team with its respective knowledge and experience.

3.5) ITERJ is responsible for over 800 urban and rural communities, called
settlements. For the rural settlements are designated interlocutors that must
know the settlements reality and give voice to the residents there. This
interlocutor, often referred to as settlement administrator on a daily basis, is also
responsible for identifying land issues (land disputes), assist in the
implementation of public policies, monitoring the use of equipment granted by
the State and bring the demands of the population to the knowledge of their
superiors.

3.6) The main needs of the communities served by ITERJ are related to basic
sanitation access, road construction, construction of affordable housing, access
to agricultural machinery, social organization and safety.
Carrer Episode #3 Eng. Bruno Serafini Sobral

Company Structure Chart - ITERJ

Administrative Supervisory
Presidency
Council Board

Head Office Internal Audit

Administration Land Settlements and Register and

Accounting
Special Advice and Finance Planning Advice Regularization Legal Advice Projects Cartograhy
Advice
Direction Direction Direction Direction

Administration Local Social Research

Project
and Finance Attendance and Register
Management
Management Management Management

Human
Regularization Settlement Cartography
Resources
Managemente Management Management
Management
Carrer Episode #3 Eng. Bruno Serafini Sobral

ITERJ - Settlement Management Chart (November 2012 until September 2015)

Eng. Luiz Roberto Pereira de Souza

Director

Sergio Bandeira
Settlement Manager

Eng. Bruno Serafini Eng. Andre Eng. Carlos Eng. Elisandra Eng. Ricardo de Eng. Leonardo da
Sobral Correa Magno Vaz Vahia Amendola Souza Oliveira Costa Lopes
Enviro. and Agric. Engineer Agronomist Agronomist Agricultural Engineer Agronomist Agronomist

Leonardo Elton Guimares Josu Reis dos Vinicius Gomes Luis Carlos Mateus Villa
Oliveira Arigoni Santos Vieira Porto Mendes Cardoso Martins Silva
Infrastructure Technician Agricultural Technician Agricultural Technician Environmental Technician Agricultural Technician Agricultural Technician
Carrer Episode #3 Eng. Bruno Serafini Sobral

ITERJ - Project Management Chart (September 2015 until present)

Eng. Luiz Roberto Pereira de Souza

Director

Arch. Flavia Maywald Maffei

Project Manager

Eng. Bruno Serafini Eng. Bruno Eng. Cristiane Eng. Edson Eng. Edil Arch. Pedro Arch. Felix
Sobral Mendes Antonio Santos Pereira Jr. Pericles Faria Jos Manso Magero
Enviro. and Agric. Engineer Enviro. and Agric. Engineer Forestry Engineer Forestry Engineer Civil Engineer Architect Architect

Deivisson Renato Phillipe Carlos Wagner dos

Oliveira Olimpio Santos
Draftsperson Draftsperson Infraestructure Technician
Carrer Episode #3 Eng. Bruno Serafini Sobral

c) PERSONAL ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES

3.7) I first served as a field engineer at a rural community called Fazenda Engenho
Novo, located in Sao Goncalo county. By this time my routine had become quite
different due to the close relationship started with the community. With 745
hectares divided into 130 lots and with approximately 150 families, Fazenda
Engenho Novo is a rural settlement of infinite cultural and historical wealth,
which made the performance of engineering a major challenge.
3.8) The first work conducted by me within the settlement was the coordination of
the re-registration of the settled families served by ITERJ. This allowed me to
introduce myself as a new representative of ITERJ, while I got the chance to
better know the families, identifying their main concerns and eventual
irregularities. The study was conducted for 45 days and served as the baseline
for planning ITERJs activities in the area.
3.9) During this first work we realized a great dissatisfaction of the population with
the settlers Association. The main complaint of the settlers was that the
machinery provided by ITERJ for the development of agriculture in the region,
did not answer sufficiently, and cost more than most could afford. Then, after
several meetings with representatives of ITERJ, local community, local
government and public ministry, we managed to reach an agreement that
allowed the use of machinery by the population. In the agreement, the machinery
would be made available at half the price, with the provision of fuel by the local
government (city hall) and use control made by ITERJ. My contribution to this
agreement was mainly in convening and organizing weekly meetings, as well as
the representation of the local community, which for years was not satisfied with
the services provided by ITERJ and the local government.
3.10) Other activities were conducted in parallel, and part of my responsibility was
also to plan agricultural and environmental development of the region in
accordance with the local community. As a licensed professional, my duty was
to ensure that all projects planned for the area were in accordance with the legal
guidelines that regulate the practice of engineering, as well as the applicable
environmental standards.
3.11) Another important activity also developed by me in the area was the
rapprochement between ITERJ and Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF). In
this approach it was possible to take students from the university to the
settlement and carry out practical classes. One of the largest impact classes made
possible by this partnership was the irrigation class developed in June 2015. In
this class the UFF teachers and ITERJ irrigation specialists were able to
introduce students to a sprinkling irrigation system. Students could then install
themselves, under the supervision of teachers, the irrigation system in one of the
beneficiaries lots.
Carrer Episode #3 Eng. Bruno Serafini Sobral

Figure 1: Irrigation class assembling agricultural sprinkler system.

3.12) Whenever necessary and triggered by the population I attended the rural lots to
advise, plan and inform the settled population. This constant exchange of
information between the population and ITERJ, so desired by Rio de Janeiros
State Government, allowed the main needs of the settlements to be identified. At
Fazenda Engenho Novo I identified as major needs the transparency in the use
of agricultural machinery, the access to sanitation and a fairer distribution in
agricultural inputs. For each identified deficiency I could propose actions that
longed for the reduction of the local popular dissatisfaction.
3.13) As for the transparency in the use of machinery, in addition to reducing the price
offered to the settlers, it was initiated by my teams new daily machinery
control, with individual record for each operated equipment. Although a simple
solution, this allowed the presentation of vouchers with usage information,
making management more transparent for the local public. I also began to
control the periodic review of each equipment as established in its instruction
manual, which increased equipment life and reduced machinery breakdown due
to lack of maintenance.
Carrer Episode #3 Eng. Bruno Serafini Sobral

Figure 2: Hangar where machinery is kept safe

3.14) Access to sanitation was very poor at the community and measures needed to be
taken by the public power. After the local sanitation company declared that there
was no provision for the installation of the sewer system, I decided to elaborate a
project that could serve the population in an alternative way. Together with the
most needed settlers, my team and I decided for the implementation of 17
cesspool filter tank systems. The number of households in need of this system
was greater than 70, but being a pioneer project, I decided by the experimental
implementation of the project. All the work was supervised by me, and as a
Labor Safety Engineer it was my duty to daily enforce safety matters to the
workers involved with the construction of the cesspools.
3.15) The impact of the project was excellent and it was included in the portfolio of
ITERJs solutions to improve access to basic sanitation in poor rural
communities.

Figure 3: One of the seventeen cesspool filter systems installed.

Carrer Episode #3 Eng. Bruno Serafini Sobral

3.16) As for the better distribution of new agricultural inputs, to encourage local
production and increase the income of each settler, I decide for a more
individualized approach. During the re-registration of settled families, I sought
to identify the main potential already carried out by each family, which helped to
set the right purchase and delivery of agricultural inputs needed. After the
purchase and delivery was made, I carried out close monitoring of sowing and
harvesting for all beneficiaries, with the help of a quantitative and time control
sheet.
3.17) The above information was recorded and posted online by me, in order to
guarantee the populations access to information as well as the close follow-up
by my superiors, and can be found at
http://www.fazendaengenhonovo.wordpress.com . Over 18 months of field
work was recorded and posted online on a daily basis, while the work was in
progress.
3.18) After three years as a field engineer responsible for rural settlement Fazenda
Engenho Novo, it was necessary to make a few changes on the Settlements and
Projects Direction team, and so I was transferred to the Project Management
team. As part of the Project Management Team, I started to work directly on
projects planned by ITERJ for the assisted communities, contributing with my
field experience to the formulation of better projects.
3.19) My first activity as part of the Project Management Team was to conduct studies
to better understand the dynamics of flooding in another rural settlement, called
Terra Prometida. This settlement is located in Duque de Caxias (district of Rio
de Janeiro), and has been suffering for years with flood events caused by the
river Iguau overflow, which borders the area. In this study, I applied the
methodology presented in the Career Episode # 1, aiming to propose solutions
that could minimize flooding in the settlement area. The study resulted in a
detailed report that presented possible solutions, budget estimates and technical
information for each solution.
3.20) While working directly with the population, at Fazenda Engenho Novo, I often
felt the necessity to dispose of indicators that would help me measure the
quantity and the quality of the work performed. Once I was transferred to the
project management area I could finally expose that concern to my new
manager, and was assigned to create a tool that would help to manage field
information.
3.21) The tool I developed was based on a field questionnaire to be applied yearly,
containing several relevant information and was able to present 41 indicators of
social, environmental and economic development. The questionnaire was
developed in VBA language from Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, and allowed my
colleagues at ITERJ to compile an organize information for each lot (and
settlement) assisted by the institution. The VBA language has facilitated the
organization of ITERJs technicians responsible for collecting and recording
Carrer Episode #3 Eng. Bruno Serafini Sobral

field information, allowing better comprehension by the superiors of the

information regarding agricultural production, access to public services and
environmental condition in each lot of each settlement.

MAIN ACTIVITIES DEVELOPED

3.22) I strengthened the institutional relationships between ITERJ, local city hall and
other institutions involved in the development of rural settlement Fazenda
Engenho Novo.
3.23) I Implemented new methodology for daily control use of equipment provided by
ITERJ, and other necessary controls for the better progress of work.
3.24) I improved access to information and public policies available for the area,
especially with the registration of families in a social program that buys local
crops to provide better school meals.
3.25) I promoted educational actions that sought to straighten the partnership between
ITERJ and Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), which resulted in field
visits, practical classes and new projects for the settlers.
3.26) I advised settlers and other institutions on agricultural and environmental
subjects, treating each presented project individually.
3.27) I kept public and updated record of the principal daily actions taken in the field.
3.28) I developed studies and projects maintaining excellent interpersonal relationship
with other co-workers.

d) SUMMARY

3.29) My work at ITERJ has caused great repercussions in assisted communities and
positive feedback from my superiors, especially by the organized and
responsible way that I conduct work and safely keep records. Although I occupy
the position of agricultural engineer at the institution, the variety of tasks
demanded does not count exclusively on agricultural subjects, requiring frequent
application of knowledge in environmental engineering and other disciplines.

I hereby certify that the above statements are true and correct to the
best of my knowledge.