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Extreme Engineer Quote
"By challenging yourself now in your school work and extracurricular work, you'll be preparing yourself for the many different roles engineers play in the work force..."
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Extreme Engineer: Mark Lenssen, P.E., CEM
What He Does
Mark works for Puget Sound Energy (PSE) and conducts energy audits. Energy audits analyze how customers' heating, cooling, lighting, production and other energy-consuming systems operate and provides them with cost-effective energy efficiency upgrade recommendations.
Making a Difference
Mark is making a difference by helping commercial and industrial facilities become more environmentally sustainable by reducing their carbon footprint. Lenssen notes, " I value our resources, so by helping people save energy, I'm helping reduce the resources that our community consumes." Through his work at PSE, he has improved energy efficiency in more than 100 projects, saving more than 7.5 million kilowatt hours per year, or enough to power more than 600 homes in Western Washington for one year.
Why Engineering?
"I loved math and science and loved building things. My Dad is a civil engineer, so he was my primary connection with the Engineering world." "I find my work very gratifying because PSE's conservation programs are helping our customers improve their business operations and bottom line," said Lenssen." Saving energy is good for both PSE's and the customers' businesses and it's good for the environment and our community."
Advice
"Keep up the hard work! By challenging yourself now in your school work and extracurricular work, you'll be preparing yourself for the many different roles engineers play in the work force. If you have a connection to any engineers, find out if they can be a mentor, or at a minimum, job shadow them on days when they're working outside the office. Engineers aren't always tied to your desk!"
Hobbies/Free Time
Mark loves playing with his two kids (both under three), remodeling part of his home, and commuting on his bicycle. He said that his kids help him maintain a creative mind and that remodeling takes lots of thought and planning. He explained that commuting by bicycle helps promote alternative modes of transportation, which indirectly improves our impact on the environment, thus, becoming more and more important in the engineering community.
Education
A Seattle native, Mark graduated from Inglemoor High School in Kenmore, WA. Mark then went on to earn his Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington in Seattle.
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