Humanitarian Projects in Civil Engineering
Ann Polaneczky, BS, Civil Engineering, 2011—“When you’re working in a developing country, you have to approach things completely differently,” said 2011 civil engineering graduate Ann Polaneczky, a project engineer for Partners in Health, a non profit inter na tional health and social jus tice organization. “Your approach has to address anthropological and cultural concerns because if you just try to apply what works here in the United States, you’re not going to succeed.”
Polaneczky began working with Partners in Health as a co-op student tasked with designing a wastewater treatment plant for a hospital the nonprofit was building in Mirebalais, Haiti. The country lacks a centralized civil infrastructure system, and the hospital needed help removing its sewage, which if pumped into a river could cause severe medical conditions like cholera.
After graduation, Polaneczky joined Partners in Health in a full-time capacity. Now she visits Haiti for approximately one week each month, overseeing the implementation of her designs in the hospital, which is nearly finished. “It’s amazing to be walking around in your own drawings,” she said.
As a Northeastern student, Polaneczky served as president of the university’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders, overseeing development projects in Africa and Honduras. In 2010, the national organization named her one of nine “Emerging Leaders,” citing her work to create infrastructure that changed the lives of people in the developing world.
Academic Success
As a Northeastern student, Polaneczky served as president of the university’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders, overseeing development projects in Africa and Honduras. In 2010, the national organization named her one of nine “Emerging Leaders,” citing her work to create infrastructure that changed the lives of people in the developing world.
Over two years, Polaneczky twice led her team to El Chaguite to collect data and construct a 6,500-gallon water storage tank and new transmission lines. Today, there’s a tap at each house, the church and the school.
EWB–USA works on some 350 water, renewable energy and sanitation projects in more than 45 developing countries around the world. Northeastern’s student chapter of the organization, founded in 2005, has brought clean water to families in El Tecuán, Los Planes and El Chaguite, Honduras, and Bbanda, Uganda.
Co-op 1 and 2
Ann’s first co-op was at Kleinfelders/SEA which is a employee-owned architecture, engineering and science consulting firm. Her second co-op was at Hazen and Sawyer which embraces sustainability to create the best possible social, environmental and economic outcomes. Here Ann learned how to provide safe drinking water which translated to her work in Africa, Honduras and now Haiti. Her passion for making change combined with engineering education and hands on co-op experience led her to an engineering career at Partners in Health