Stitching a greener world
Engineering graduate Agnieszka Koziol was living in downtown Montreal when Concordia’s impressive Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex (EV Building) opened in 2005. Its unveiling inspired her.
“The way that buildings were being constructed was changing,” she says, noting the increasing desire among many people for more energy-efficient designs and interior daylight. “I saw a lot of potential, especially in new technology.”
Koziol had already become enamoured with the city of Montreal. Born in Warsaw, she had moved with her family to Amsterdam when she was four, and then to Halifax when she was eight. At 16, she embarked on a road trip with a friend. The destination: Montreal. As soon as she arrived, she became smitten with the city. She permanently moved to Montreal as soon as she graduated from high school.
She has made the utmost of academic and student life since beginning her classes in the Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering four years ago.
Her perennial place on the Dean’s List has been accompanied by several bursaries and scholarships, including the prestigious Undergraduate Student Research Award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and Concordia’s Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science Student Life Award.
Koziol served as the 2011-2012 president of the Concordia University Building Engineering Society, after being the association’s vice-president of external affairs during the previous year.
In 2011, she interned at SNC-Lavalin, working in the Hydro and Power Systems Division. She has also been a research assistant at the NSERC Solar Buildings Research Network, a position very much in keeping with her interest in green engineering. The network, based at Concordia, served as the foundation for the Smart Net-Zero Energy Buildings Strategic Network, which was created last November.
Her immediate post-graduation plans integrate her passion for the environment. She intends to start a company that specializes in making new clothes from recycled fabrics.
Using her year of study in fashion design at Montreal’s Lasalle College, she has patterned her unique Avalyn dress from a man’s shirt, and her Amélie skirt from tailored trousers.
“A lot of the older clothes have better quality fabric than what you would find in stores today,” she says. “I try to recuperate as much as possible and then make something out of it.”
Koziol sees parallels between clothing and buildings as both are part of “our everyday life and … somewhat artistic and creative.”
Whatever she chooses to do, it seems pretty clear that Koziol’s passion and determination has a successful and sustainable future for her all sewn up.
Related links:
• Read about more 2012 Great Grads in the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
• Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
• Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering