Oliver Saavedra Valeriano holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Tokyo, Japan. He also has a Master of Science in Tropical Hydrogeology from Eberhard Karls Tübingen University, Germany. Saavedra earned his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from UPB. He has been an associate professor in the Civil Engineering Department at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. Saavedra has been director of the Center for Civil and Environmental Research at UPB since 2015. In addition, he has taken specialized courses in university management and leadership at the universities of Saarland and Potsdam, Germany. He currently serves as vice-rector at the Cochabamba campus.