Brazilian Luiz Augusto de Lima Pontes explains his beginning in the field of environmental health, his research on the incidence of leptospirosis in workers and subsequent statistical studies. He also explains how he began to work on an institutional development project for the water department, in which the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) participated.

Other key moments in his sanitary engineering career include his participation in helping found organizations such as the Basic Sanitation Company of São Paulo (SABESP) and his contributions as executive director of the Inter-American Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering (AIDIS). De Lima Pontes considers that working in the environmental sphere is going to help us envision a better world.