Co-op in Indonesia

student with parrots on each arm smiling

Written by Maria George, a fifth year senior majoring in Civil Engineering with a minor in Environmental Science.

About Me

Maria George is a fifth year senior majoring in Civil Engineering with a minor in Environmental Science. She’s spent her undergrad exploring opportunities in Environmental Engineering through co-op and seizing every opportunity she can to apply her skills to benefit communities and the environment at the local and global scale. Maria kept herself busy with Earth Day clean-ups, Science Club for Girls, and Engineers Without Borders (EWB-USA NEU) developing a drinking water distribution system for a rural community in Uganda. Through co-op she had the opportunity to explore water distribution, site remediation, and energy efficiency engineering, allowing exposure to various sub disciplines within Environmental Engineering. Maria’s last co-op in the fall of 2015 was with Synergy Efficiency Solutions in Bali, Indonesia; the leading energy efficiency and energy audit firm in Indonesia.

Co-op in Indonesia

Synergy Efficiency Solutions (SES) is a relatively young start-up company. I was the second co-op from Northeastern to work with this company, and I am endlessly grateful for having such a wonderful opportunity. Each intern at SES must complete a small research project to benefit the company, communicating technical skills or engineering concepts that the team at SES would find helpful. For my research, I looked into energy saving opportunities in reverse osmosis (RO). Being an island nation, Indonesia relies heavily on desalination procedures to acquire clean drinking water. SES is working towards expanding into the RO energy audit sector, and will be able to use my research as a stepping stone into this new business opportunity. In addition to my research, I worked on various projects with clients in Bali and Java. I completed a water audit of a large hotel in Jakarta to detect for system leakage. I also worked on the schematic design of a water treatment and grey water recycling system for a restaurant in Bali, necessitating multiple meetings with the client to come up with an efficient, economical design to meet their needs.

Not only were my academic opportunities with SES excellent, working in Bali for 6 months was an incredible life experience that I will always value. I got to explore the island, play in the monkey forest, collect shells on countless beaches, and make amazing memories with my wonderful colleagues. SES is a wonderful company on the frontier of the energy efficiency movement, and I am so happy to have played a part in their success.

Related Departments:Civil & Environmental Engineering