Thursday, October 27, 2011

CETA Alum wins Anchor Award


Anchor Award
Marici Zuvic-Grajewski ’86, received the Anchor Award on behalf of the College of Engineering, Technology and Architecture. 
Since 1962, the University of Hartford Alumni Association has presented annual awards to honor alumni of the University. These awards, presented during Fall Weekend, are the highest tribute conferred by the Alumni Association. The Anchor Award is the most prestigious award presented by the University of Hartford Alumni Association. The awards were established to recognize alumni who have distinguished themselves by achieving the highest level of professional accomplishments and who possess absolute standards of integrity and character to positively reflect and enhance the prestige of The University of Hartford.
Assoc. Dean Alnajjar's citation:
Marici began her engineering career in her native country of Chile, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering Technology from the Technical State University of Santiago, Chile.  She came to Connecticut 27 years ago and immediately began to apply her energy and scholarly talents to learn English, study civil engineering at the University of Hartford and financially support herself.  Imagine her adventure, arriving in a new country, studying engineering and learning the language.
 After graduating from CETA in 1986, Marici worked on major highway inspection projects and later continued her career of more than twenty years with the Connecticut Department of Transportation on various assignments in the Bridge Safety section, ranging from highway design to bridge safety evaluation.  Marici also worked on projects that encompassed the I-84 and I-384 Interchanges. 
In 1988, with her husband Tomek Grajewski, Marici pursued her dream of starting her own company, Zuvic Associates.  In 2009, she returned as President.  Under her stewardship, Zuvic, Carr and Associates has grown 30% in each of the last three years.  Some of the recent larger projects that the firm has undertaken since her return include the environmental and civil engineering work, permitting, and site planning for the new Goodwin College campus along the Connecticut River in East Hartford, the civil engineering design of two regional magnet schools, and planning and design work related to upgrades at the MDC Hartford water pollution control facility.  I would like to add that that the ”Carr” of Zuvic, Carr and Associates is Robert Carr, also a graduate of CETA.
In spite of her demanding schedule, this past March, Marici and the engineers of the firm agreed to mentor a University of Hartford student, who was completing her degree in architecture.  This young woman was conflicted about her professional path, trying to decide if she should pursue a career in civil engineering.  After shadowing the staff during her spring break, her decision was confirmed – she is now studying civil engineering.
In addition to engineering, Marici is passionate about music and art.  She is an accomplished violinist and has been involved with the Hartt Community Division for the past nineteen years.

No comments:

Post a Comment