ALUMNI | CARNEGIE MELLON ENGINEERING
Connecting Native Alaskan Villages to Sanitation Infrastructure When Agnes Marszalik (CEE BS ‘13) decided
distribution and collection,” she adds. She’s
to focus her job search on areas near
involved in projects from start to finish—
mountains, she had no idea that she’d end
from writing preliminary engineering
up in an area reeling from the impacts of
reports to design and construction.
climate change.
Marszalik is just about to wrap up
Working as an engineer for the Division
the first two projects that she’s worked
of Environmental Health and Engineering at
on for the consortium. Marszalik credits
the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium,
her education in civil and environmental
she sees first-hand that native communities
engineering (CEE) with preparing her for
are relocating—or planning to relocate—
a challenging career. Her involvement in
due to the changing environment.
Engineers without Borders (EWB) while at
“The melting of permafrost, which
CMU also provided real-world experience in
causes the ground to thaw and shift, is
the design, construction, and monitoring of
resulting in damage and failure of current
a water collection and distribution project in
infrastructure,” she says.
the Ecuadorian Andes.
The moving ground is a challenge that
She takes pride in the tangible benefits
engineers must take into consideration
her work provides to native villages.
when creating designs for the future.
Marszalik mentions that she is especially
Marszalik’s current work is focused
interested in water treatment pilot studies,
on providing design and construction
projects that evaluate water quality, test
administration services for sanitation
scenarios, and determine the best solutions
projects in Alaska native villages. She chose
to bring systems efficiently into compliance.
the position based in Anchorage, Alaska
“These [studies] have been the most
because it combined her interest in water
rewarding because once we find a solution
and sanitation.
for the water source, it then becomes the
“Most of my work deals with water and wastewater treatment along with
basis of the water treatment plant design,” Marszalik says. She adds that bringing
critical infrastructure to remote Alaskan areas is a big challenge. Many native villages are accessible only by small aircraft or boat. Some lack basic water and sewer connections to their homes—and have been waiting for decades for improvements. “These challenges, along with the extreme weather, require creative design and significant planning. We need to provide systems that can be constructed and operated in these areas while maximizing the public health benefits,” Marszalik states.
