Poonam Bhakta, PE joined MHP in September of 2024 as a Design Engineer and upon completion of her Professional Engineering License in early 2025, she was promoted to Project Engineer. Over the last 6 months with the firm, Poonam has taken on a handful of complex projects and been a tremendous addition to the team.
Her most recent accomplishment includes completing a seismic evaluation of 7 buildings across 3 campuses for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District. This evaluation consisted of performing an ASCE 41 Tier 1 and Tier 2 analysis of each structure. For the study of the three complex rigid diaphragm structures included in the evaluation, Poonam and the team developed 3D models to analyze the structure’s lateral force resisting system. They summarized their findings to the district in a report, which included recommendations for retrofit on both structural and nonstructural components, and presented those results and retrofit recommendations to the school district’s Board of Education.
Currently, she is working on construction support for the Alhambra Unified School District Scanlon Early Education Center and the Will Rogers Memorial Park Restroom Building Replacement. In addition, she is in the preliminary design stage for the Oxnard School District Academy Reconstruction and beautification improvements at the Long Beach Medical Center. Also, since joining MHP, Poonam has become actively involved as an ACE Mentor for the Long Beach Unified School District.
Outside of the office, Poonam enjoys traveling, going to concerts, spending time at the beach, and, most recently, has picked up playing tennis.
We are proud of the work Poonam has produced in such a short time already, and we look forward to her continued growth here at MHP.
