Theory and practice at the jobsite
UFMG Engineering students visit the Capim Branco Complex construction site in central Brazil A pioneering development
written by ◦ Miucha de Andrade photos by ◦ Holanda Cavalcanti

Minas Gerais, Uberlândia, March 21, 2005. It is 8 am, and Pedro Schettino, the Odebrecht officer responsible for Contract Administration at the Capim Branco Power Complex (CECB) – a project involving the construction of two hydroelectric plants on the Araguari River – is at the airport. He is about to meet a group of five students from the Federal University at Minas Gerais (UFMG) who are going to visit the construction site. The students, who are in their seventh semester of Engineering School, arrive at 8:20.

For Amanda Teixeira, Frederico de Queiroz, Rodrigo Bagno, Felipe Cançado and Marcos Eulálio, this is their reward for producing the winning occupation plan for Vale dos Cristais, Construtora Norberto Odebrecht’s real-estate venture in Nova Lima, Minas Gerais. It took them six months to develop the plan, which won the Odebrecht prize after being considered the best of 14 entries.

Odebrecht Contract Director José Carlos Camargo, two Vale dos Cristais interns (Alessandro and Felipe), a trainee named Matheus, and UFMG professors Roberto Márcio, Heloisa Barbosa and Gustavo Simões are accompanying the winners on their visit to Capim Branco I and II. “It is important to combine academic learning with practical knowledge of engineering. We want to groom new talents,” says José Carlos.

After a 50-minute drive on a dirt road, the group is ushered into the meeting room at the Capim Branco I jobsite. Before the Contract Director for the Power Complex gives the first presentation, everyone stands up and states their name, what they do and why they are in that room. Then, at 10 o’clock sharp, Pedro Schettino starts his PowerPoint presentation on the two hydroelectric plants.

He talks about how the project began in September 2003, describes its location in the part of the state known as the Minas Gerais Triangle, the project’s clients, the structure of the complex and the two plants’ total generating capacity of 450 MW. Then Sultan Mattar, the officer responsible for Engineering on the project, explains the technical details and shows them progress photos. Amid a flurry of technical language about engineering, the participants are clearly interested in the presentation, as attested by numerous questions and assiduous note taking.

At 11:15 am, Pedro says, “Drink some water, put on your hardhats and let’s go to the construction site!”

The group visits the spillway, tailrace, load chamber, water intake and powerhouse. Standing outdoors in the mid-day sun, the students and teachers smile for a photograph. This is the first time the students have had a chance to see their classroom learning put into practice. They are impressed by the massive size of the project, and make sure to say so.

In the afternoon, the group visits Capim Branco II and converses with Antônio Cardilli, the officer responsible for Administration and Finance. He tells them that 89 physically disabled people are working on the complex and talks about the community outreach program the project is carrying out. He also shows them the infirmary and cafeteria, and explains the precautions taken to ensure the health and safety of the project’s 2,512-person workforce.

At 6 pm, the group takes its leave, highly satisfied with the visit. According to the future engineers, “We like what we’ve seen. We may be leaving but we’ll never forget what we have learned here. It makes us proud to be engineering students when we see a project like this first-hand. It’s a pleasure and makes us want to work even harder.”