Undergrad Bachelor of Humanities Student Presents Paper on Sustainable Infrastructure

by Sam Lehman

Few students have the chance to present a paper during their undergraduate years, however, Roy Sengupta, a third year Bachelor of Humanities student was presented with such an opportunity in 2014.

Roy says that he was inspired to explore the topics covered by his paper, entitled “Connecting Capital to Sustainable Infrastructure Opportunities” after he was exposed to infrastructure development policy in 2010 when he was an intern in the office of MP Gerard Kennedy. At that point, MP Kennedy was the Official Opposition critic for Infrastructure, Communities, and Cities.

During his internship Roy was exposed to “Some of the factors which went into government decision making regarding infrastructure investment…this work sparked in me an interest in responsible/ethical investment practices that would lead to policies for the development of sustainable infrastructure.”

The paper was presented at the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation (3ci) Sustainable Infrastructure Symposium on November 18th, 2014. He describes 3ci as, “A research group within Carleton University.” The symposium discussion was facilitated by 1125@Carleton and attended by guests from around the world.

Roy states that, “In short, it might be said to be a paper about connecting investors with sustainable infrastructure projects in Canada.”

“For a complex topic such as discussed in my paper, it is vital to have writing skills which allow one to write in a clear and comprehensible manner,” said Roy, and he believes that he has the Humanities program to thank for helping him to develop these writing skills. “My education in the Humanities was a huge help in allowing me to author this paper,” said Roy, “Furthermore, I found that the editing skills that I acquired during my time in the program proved particularly important in this endeavour.”

Roy looks forward to repeating the practice of presenting a paper again in the future: “It was an exciting and humbling experience to be able to make a contribution of research to a field of importance, and to have this discussion dissected and discussed by other experts in the field. For these reasons I would be overjoyed to have another such opportunity in future.”