Civiltech staff are deeply committed to encouraging and inspiring the next generation of engineers. Zaneta Marcinik, is at the forefront of these efforts through ongoing involvement with Wilbur Wright College. She is an alumni of WWC having received her Associate in Engineering Science prior to receiving her B.S. of Civil Engineering from University of Illinois at Chicago.
On February 18, Zaneta was the featured speaker at WWC’s Engineering Success Seminar, a full semester program for Freshman in the Engineering Pathways Program. She was first invited to participate as a speaker in December of 2022, and this recent event marked Zaneta’s 6th time as a presenter.
Zaneta became involved with the Seminar at the invitation of her former professor, Dr. Doris Espiritu. Dr. Espiritu is the senior advisor to the Provost and Dean of the Center of Excellence for Engineering & Computer Science for the City Colleges of Chicago . Dr. Espiritu has grown the Engineering Pathways Program from nine students in the 2015 pilot, to more than 600 students today. In 2025, The City Colleges of Chicago plans to launch The City Colleges of Chicago School of Engineering. Under the School of Engineering, students will take courses in a cohort-model and will benefit from many opportunities including: paid summer internship, research opportunities, and consideration for scholarships upon successful transfer to partner universities. The purpose of it is to support underrepresented students including women.
Zaneta’s presentation gives an overview of the field of Civil Engineering and her role at Civiltech. Each time she presents, she shares an exciting Civiltech project as well as project work she is personally involved with. At her recent presentation she featured the North DuSable Lake Shore Drive Phase I Study as the representative Civiltech project and her own work on bike and pedestrian facility improvements for the Chicago Department of Transportation. She also shared the Jackson Park Improvements as an exciting Civiltech project that she had the opportunity to work on. Zaneta includes in her presentations her personal view that it’s good to work on projects in your own community; be a citizen engineer and give back through your services.
To truly encourage and inspire the students, however, Zaneta strives to provide personal and meaningful content with a section of the presentation dedicated to her own lessons learned. She speaks on the importance of leaning into your professors; to take advantage of office hours and engage with them. She also encourages the students to network through professional organizations and student groups. Zaneta reminds students that a grade point average is not the only thing potential employers look for; that it is important to be well-rounded and engage in volunteer opportunities, hobbies, and organizations.
Zaneta recognizes the challenges and concerns of affording higher education and focuses a portion of her presentation on scholarship tricks and tips. She gives advice on how to research and apply for scholarships and finish college with minimal loans.
After participating in the Seminar for 6 consecutive semesters, Zaneta stated that it has been exciting to see the audience grow over time with current audiences of over 200 students. Also, she enjoys when a student asks a sincere question. In a recent presentation, a young woman asked if you could have a family and be an engineer. Zaneta responded by sharing her own experience and explaining how Civiltech is committed to work/life balance. 
The most rewarding part of Zaneta’s experience with the Seminar however, is the learning when a student has been directly impacted. Zaneta recently received feedback that a young woman with an average GPA had landed a job at top engineering firm. The young woman credited the impact of Zaneta’s presentation and how Zaneta had impressed upon her the notion that hard work, effective networking, and planning are all components to being a well-rounded and sought after engineer. She stated that from Zaneta had taught her that to be successful, one has to identify their strengths and keep improving upon them.
In addition to volunteering at WWC, Zaneta likes to inspire young generations of engineers by participating as a judge for the UIC senior design project competition, volunteering as part of E-Squared by ACEC Illinois, and as a guest speaker for student events as an alumni of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Construction Management Association of America student chapter.