Visiting Scholar Exchange Enhances PUJ and SU Collaboration
Earlier this fall, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (PUJ) engaged in an international exchange by hosting a faculty delegation from Seattle University. This mission occurred just months after a delegation from Javeriana paid a visit to Seattle U in June 2022.
This ambitious cooperation is being led by two faculty from Seattle U (Michael Marsolek, of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Professor Katherine Kudner of the College of Science and Engineering), and Professor Luis Alberto Jaramillo, from the Department of Civil Engineering at PUJ.
The visit to Colombia took place in September, with a tight academic, technical and social agenda. The SU delegation was welcomed to the Javeriana campus by the University’s Dean of Engineering, Lope Hugo Barrero Solano, and Giovanni Calvano, Director of International Affairs for PUJ. The visit included visits to two coffee plantations in the regions of La Vega-San Francisco and the Mesitas-Viotá, where farmers explained in detail the entire process of growing, harvesting, and transforming the coffee bean. Accompanied by an Agronomist from the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, the SU delegation also learned about the treatment and disposal systems for wastewater from the processing of coffee, between traditional systems, and new zero waste systems.
During this trip, the SU delegation also had the opportunity to enjoy the delicious food typical of the Colombian region, and experienced the hospitality of the Federation of Coffee Growers.
The visit concluded at the Javeriana campus in Bogota’, with a visit to the Civil Engineering water laboratory, where some of the tests with pilot filters carried out in Seattle could be reproduced, this time with real coffee residues obtained from material obtained in the field stage.