Before coming to Mercer University, Dr. Natalia Cardelino designed buildings as a structural engineer. Now, her main focus areas are building the infrastructure to bring clean water to communities in need and helping students understand how they can use engineering concepts to solve real-world problems.
Growing up, Dr. Cardelino thought she wanted to be an architect until she started touring colleges and discovered the field of structural engineering, a subset of civil engineering that focuses on elements related to a building’s strength and stability. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering at Cornell University.
Dr. Cardelino spent about 16 years working in the field, first for the agency Arup in London, New York and Massachusetts and then for Uzun & Case Engineers in Atlanta. She mainly designed museums and university and school buildings, including the high school that her children attend in Chamblee, Georgia.
“I’m always just super proud of the fact that it’s my building, and they’re there,” she said.
One of her most unique and fulfilling projects was relocating the 18th century Yin Yu Tang House from China to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. The project gave her the opportunity to design with Chinese materials she’d never worked with before.
Realizing that she wanted to teach engineering, Dr. Cardelino went to the Georgia Institute of Technology to pursue a Ph.D. in civil engineering. She earned certification to teach engineering through the institution’s Tech to Teaching program and joined the Mercer faculty in 2018.
Civil engineering is all about bettering society, and Dr. Cardelino uses her career experiences to help students learn how to tackle problems with an engineering mindset and a holistic and sustainable approach.
“I feel like I’ve reached my goal if my students go out into the world with a fundamental knowledge of what civil engineering is but also how decisions will impact society,” she said.
Dr. Cardelino also uses her engineering knowledge to bring clean water to rural communities in El Cercado, Dominican Republic. This Mercer On Mission program was created by the late Dr. Michael MacCarthy and has been continued by Dr. Cardelino.
The Mercer team creates systems that route water from springs to storage tanks, where it is chlorinated, and then through piping that goes to taps in the communities.
Over the course of four summer trips, Mercer teams have constructed six spring boxes, built or repaired six water storage tanks, installed about 10 miles of piping, and served around 600 families. Prior to this work, some residents had to walk miles to find clean water.
“These are people who sometimes have never had drinking water in their homes. It’s a pretty emotional moment when they turn on that tap for the first time,” Dr. Cardelino said. “It’s beyond fulfilling because you are directly helping people have access to clean drinking water in their homes.”
In addition, Dr. Cardelino is involved in research looking at more sustainable and environmentally friendly options for concrete. Portland cement, used worldwide to make concrete, is made through an energy-intensive process that releases large amounts of carbon dioxide.
Dr. Cardelino encourages future women leaders to be confident in themselves and their skills.
“You know you have a great education. Unfortunately, there will be people that, because of your gender, might treat you differently, but don’t allow that to let you feel less of what you are. If you know what you’re talking about, you will gain and earn people’s respect,” she said.
