Aspect recently welcomed Eric Maise to our Wenatchee office. Here are Five Questions we asked to get to know him better.
Eric Maise, Project Engineer
Eric and his dog Wesley snowshoeing at Beehive Mountain near Wenatchee
1. Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here?
I grew up in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, called Northville. After attending Michigan Technological University in the upper peninsula, I realized that I wanted to live somewhere I could better enjoy my outdoor hobbies and experience living somewhere other than Michigan. In 2016, I was able to transfer to my former employer’s Seattle office. In 2018, I moved to East Wenatchee with my wife.
2. What inspired you to pursue remediation engineering? What made you curious about it?
Growing up around the Detroit area is what inspired me to pursue environmental engineering. The Great Recession and the automotive industry crisis greatly impacted my family and the community I grew up in. As a graduating senior in high school at that time, I wanted to make sure that the major I pursued in college could get me a well-paying job right when I graduated and that would also provide me with job security. I also enjoyed problem solving and had a natural strength in math and science. Based on this, engineering was a logical choice. I decided to specifically pursue environmental engineering because of my love of nature and the outdoors and from seeing all the pollution and blight in southeast Michigan.
3. What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated?
The thing I like most about remediation engineering is that I get to clean up the environment and help communities. It’s very rewarding to see a contaminated property remediated and put to good use again. Challenging projects and problems are exciting, and a lot of my motivation comes from wanting to help people (clients and coworkers) with their projects and problems.
4. What do you like to do when you aren’t working?
I have a ton of interests and hobbies that I enjoy doing when I’m not working. Two things that I’ve been really into lately are playing ice hockey and reading the Malazan Book of the Fallen series.
5. Where in the world would you like to travel next?
Japan is on the top of my travel destination bucket list. I want to visit Tokyo and experience all the sights, sounds, tastes and culture. Then I’d like to do some skiing/snowboarding in Japan’s legendary powder.