Our Alumni
Our Alumni
Since 2006, the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering & Resilience has prepared its alumni for rewarding careers in non-profit organizations, the private sector, academia, and government. Alumni of the Mortenson Center have found work as professional engineers, consultants, project and program managers, entrepreneurs, educators, researchers, and more. Featured Mortenson Center alumni and their employers are shown above, along with more examples of where our alumni work after graduation.
Read more below about some of our students and where they come from, the knowledge and skills they bring to the program, and the experience they gain while at the Mortenson Center.
Adam Collins
Adam Collins grew up in Aurora, CO and attributes his interest in global engineering to the value of giving his family instilled in him. He carried that value with him during frequent trips to El Paso, TX and Juarez, Mexico with Casa Por Cristo to build homes for families in need. Adam’s experiences with Casa Por Cristo introduced him to the complexity of global engineering challenges.
Adam earned a B.S. in Architectural Engineering with a minor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. After undergrad, Adam gained experience through the Navy ROTC, a mobile library project in Albania, and a sustainability group at Los Alamos National Lab, where he still works.
Adam then earned a M.S. in Architectural Engineering at CU Boulder with a focus in Building Systems Engineering. He completed his practicum through the Mortenson Center with Pivot Clean Energy Co. He focused on establishing a market case for the production, manufacturing, and distribution of bioethanol fuel, which is a cleaner and healthier alternative to conventional cooking fuels.
Eliza Fink
Eliza Fink grew up in Colorado and, through outdoor recreation, became interested in environmental work.
She came to CU Boulder and earned a BS in Environmental Engineering and participated in Engineers Without Borders (EWB). Eliza was a research assistant with the Sustainable WASH Systems Learning Partnership (SWS) and studied preventive maintenance approaches to sustaining rural water systems. She was also a member of the Colorado WASH Symposium planning committee.
Eliza graduated with her Masters in Civil Engineering in May, 2022 and earned the Certificate in Global Engineering from the Mortenson Center. She completed her Practicum working as a Resettlement Programs Intern at the African Community Center of Denver (ACC) where she helped resettle refugees and humanitarian parolees. Her work included driving people to social security appointments, enrolling children in school, and helping families file paperwork for government assistance. She also assisted with home WIFI installation that resulted in refugees having increased access to programs such as remote English classes.
Melanie Holland
Melanie Holland earned her bachelor’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As an undergraduate, she was interested in international environmental justice issues and became involved in international projects, including Engineers Without Borders. She decided to pursue a career in global engineering and chose to apply to the Mortenson Center because of its unique program offerings.
Melanie received her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at CU Boulder and earned a Certificate in Global Engineering from the Mortenson Center. She also participated on the planning committee for the Colorado WASH Symposium. Her research focused on improved monitoring and management of water resources in the western United States. She worked to address data limitations that may impact the ability of water users to comply with local or regional water policies.
Melanie completed her Mortenson Center practicum working with iDE Ghana in Tamale, a city in the arid northern region of Ghana. Here, local farmers face difficulties growing vegetables and distributing their crops to other regions of the country. Melanie worked with local farmers to determine best practices for farming and distributing chili peppers, and piloted a non-water intensive mushroom farm to determine large-scale feasibility. She also contributed to a sanitation project designing a sanitation truck to transport waste to the local wastewater treatment facility.
Janice Higuera
Janice Higuera got her PhD student in Construction Engineering Management with a Certificate in Global Engineering from CU. She earned her bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the United States Military Academy, a Master's in Public Policy from the University of Texas at Austin, a Master's in International Service from American University in Washington D.C., and a Master's in Global Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University. Janice served in the Army for 26 years in the Engineer Branch. She left the military to work at a large construction management firm then returned as an Active Guard Reserve Officer to teach at the New Mexico Military Institute. Her primary role as an engineer was focused on facilities, program, and project management. She has worked extensively in the Middle East, Caribbean, and Central and South America managing environmental, disaster mitigation, and economic development infrastructure projects. Early in her career, she discovered the systemic roadblocks to successful engineer training and development projects - government policies, cross-cultural communication and a lack of local economic development.
Gordy Zak
Gordy Zak earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Illinois Urbana Champaign in 2019 and a Professional Master's in Global Environmental Engineering at CU Boulder. As an undergrad, Gordy sought a way to apply mechanical engineering to directly benefit people. His class, Water in the Global Environment introduced him to Engineers Without Borders (EWB). Gordy became co-leader of an EWB water distribution and treatment project for an indigenous community in the Manabí province of Ecuador that had lost its water infrastructure due to an earthquake. His work on the project included systems analysis, water quality testing, and coordinating with the local government and a local NGO. This project succeeded because a strong connection was made with the local partners, which left a strong impression on Gordy about the importance of stakeholder involvement throughout a project. Gordy’s EWB experience and passion for traveling prompted him to seek out a graduate program centered on environmental engineering that partnered with people in challenging contexts – the Mortenson Center was a perfect fit.