LAFAYETTE – The City of Lafayette will host Dr. M. Fazlul Bari, head of the Physical Infrastructure Division for the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, from Sept. 4 through Sept. 7. Bari’s visit follows a tour of London and Toronto, where he met with officials to learn about city planning and development in England and Canada.
Bari will meet University of Louisiana at Lafayette faculty and administrators, Lafayette Consolidated Government officials, and visit the National Wetlands Research Center and other research centers to exchange ideas about issues related to city infrastructure development, operation and management. He will tour Lafayette’s water supply and sanitation facilities, housing and transportation systems.
The People’s Republic of Bangladesh is also interested in how emission controls, traffic management and traffic safety are achieved, according to Bari.
He is a new member of The Bangladesh Planning Commission, the central planning organization of his country. The planning commission formulates objectives, goals and strategies of five-year plans within the framework of long-term perspective for 15-20 years. The policy-making body consists of the prime minister as chairman, a vice chairman and five other members.
Prior to his recent appointment to the Planning Commission of Bangladesh, Bari served for several years as faculty in the Water Resources Department at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in Dhaka, Bangladesh. His fields of interest include water resources systems planning, mathematical optimization and modeling, and environmental hydrology.
Bari has a Ph.D. in water resources and environment from West Virginia University and a master's degree in engineering and bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Bangladesh University. He has published many papers and is an internationally respected researcher and engineer.