Interview with Peter Christensen

Featured Engineer

Peter Christensen

Peter Christensen - Engineer in Training (EIT)

How did you get into electronics/ engineering and when did you start?

I chose electrical engineering as a major at freshman orientation and that’s been my career path since. I first took an interest in the subject, however, back in the 9th grade thanks to my awesome physical science teacher, Mike Pelto.

What was the most interesting course you took in school related to your field?

When I took transmission lines, fields, and waves, I had no idea what it was going to be like. By the end of the course, it was by far my favorite EE course.

What are your favorite hardware tools that you use?

My line of work hasn’t required me to use too many hardware tools, but I guess your basic DMM would be my favorite.

What are your favorite software tools that you use?

AGi32 is the lighting software I used for designing both indoor and site lighting for projects, and despite a couple clumsy things about it, it’s great software. Also, SKM Powertools is unbelievable.

What is the hardest/trickiest bug you have ever fixed?

Well, my type of electrical engineering doesn’t really offer that many “bugs” per say, but I’ve had plenty of tricky engineering problems before. I was working on a water treatment plant for the village of Nondalton, Alaska, and we wanted to monitor the water level of a storage tank that was 1/3 mile away. I was responsible for finding a solution that would keep track of the water level, wirelessly transmit the data back to the WTP, and run on battery power since there wasn’t a practical way to run power to the tank. I found a product that met our needs and worked with a supplier to specify all of the necessary accessories.

What is on your bookshelf?

I still have a lot of my old school textbooks, specifically my three power-emphasis texts by my professor Ned Mohan. Of course, I need to have the latest NEC handy for design at all times as well.

Do you have any tricks up your sleeve?

Microsoft Excel is really useful for making a lot of calculations such as voltage drop, panelboards, and service load calcs. I would recommend spending the time up front to develop some good spreadsheets because they save a lot of time in the long run.

What has been your favorite project?

My favorite project was definitely working on the Merrill Field Airport’s north/south runway in Anchorage. They had decided to resurface the pavement of the runway, and I got to design the runway and surrounding taxiway lighting circuits. It presented a lot of engineering challenges and I got to learn a lot about FAA codes and standards in the process.

Do you have any note-worthy engineering experiences?

I got to go on a site visit to one of the Aleutian islands for a job last March, and I got to go on one of the coolest plane rides ever to get to the tiny village. We were in a little four seat aircraft, and we were flying through mountains and along the coast seeing some pretty neat wildlife. I felt pretty lucky that day.

What are you currently working on?

Well, I just started a new job, and so far I’ve just been doing some spec review for a plant that’s taking generating power with the waste gases of a landfill, and then giving that power back to the grid.

Why did you decide to start your own blog?

To be honest, when I was living in Alaska, I didn’t know too many people, so it was born out of boredom and me having a collection of stories and opinions I felt like sharing with the world. I had no idea that my post about electrical engineering would turn out to be my most popular post by far.

What direction do you see your business heading in the next few years?

We’re mainly an environmental engineering firm, but I’m a part of the industrial services group, and I see that group continuing to expand, especially if the economy can rebound here. I think as it becomes more and more accepted as a requirement in the industry, we’ll be doing more and more arc flash studies.

What challenges do you foresee in our industry?

Wow, that’s a tough question. There’s certainly a lot of opportunity for more and more innovation within electrical engineering, but perhaps the greatest challenge would be finding solutions to meet public energy demands while remaining environmentally responsible.

What advice would you have for any aspiring engineers out there?

Look into taking your FE exam before you graduate to help make pursuing your professional license down the road easier. Even if you don’t think you’ll need it, it just makes you all the more marketable to employers.

What would you be doing for a living if you weren’t an engineer?

Well, with my love of math and basketball, my dream job would be to do advanced statistical analysis of the NBA for basketballprospectus.com or whoever else could use those services.

Visit Peter's EEWeb Profile

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