Rashmi Kamble
Rashmi is from India, where she lives in Pune, a city near the west coast. She has a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and has 6 years of experience in the field. During her Bachelor’s, she volunteered to be part of River Cleaning Project, the aim of which was to develop a system to clean the part of the river that passes through the college. Through this project, she developed an interest in water. She has also worked with number of NGOs as a volunteer.
After her study, Rashmi worked with three companies, including Walter P. Moore where she worked for more than 3 years on site design and Water Resource Engineering projects. She has also designed small water systems, rainwater harvesting systems, sustainable urban drainage, flood mitigation systems, storage tanks and drainage systems for small projects, throughout her career.
Rashmi heard about IHE Delft through the notes of a reputed organization, while she was working on a project. At the bottom of the notes, the source was named as IHE Delft. She googled IHE Delft and found that it is one of the best and most prestigious Institutes in the world to study water. A colleague, who had also studied at IHE Delft gave her more insights. Her main reason for applying was that caters for mid-professionals and she found the combination of modules and courses perfect for her.
Rashmi about problems in India regarding to water: ‘’In India we have huge water scarcity, groundwater and general water pollution. I have personally met people, who have left their home town, because of lack of water supply. We did a pilot project, where we wanted to help people in the village to build some injection wells to improve the groundwater condition. We saw that the village had no pipelines or water supply systems. Every morning a tanker would come to the village and the villagers would go to the tanker and fill their water storage units. Water treatment is not efficiently executed and the supply systems are poorly planned. Projects are now starting up to improve the situation, but India has a long way to go.’’
About the teaching style at IHE Delft: ‘’The style is different: the professors go to the basics and you have to imagine how it is working in practice and not just learn by heart. In the examination you have to understand the concept. The professors are amazing teachers, for example Prof. Michael Mclean, explains things in such an engaging way.''
It is a great feeling to learn from experts. You can see the effort that they put into the background preparation, before coming to the lecture. Another benefit of IHE Delft is the diversity and small scale of the Institute.
Rashmi about her goals when she finishes studying: ‘’I want to go back to India and start working at the grass root level. Before this, I was working on commercial projects, so now I wish to start working on social aspects of water as well. I think the problems should be solved at source, hence my long term goal is to start my own organisation to help solve water issues in my country, at every level.
About the introduction week: ‘’I really like the introduction week - it gave us an insight into the culture and the city. I do not think that any other education Institute does this for the students. Everything was arranged perfectly, for example we all got a sim card on the day we arrived.’’
About life in Delft: ‘’Delft is a beautiful city, especially the old town. It looks like you are walking through a painting. I would like it to be a bit warmer.’’