2018 Engineer of the Year Christine Ness.

• Position: ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING SPECIAL SECTION / NESS PROFILE

Christine Ness is a fire protection engineer and project manager at PDC Engineers in the company's Anchorage office. She earned a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from Bradley University in Illinois and studied fire protection engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachussetts. She earned her Alaska FPE PE in May of 2014, and today uses her expertise in facility life safety hazard analysis and fire suppression and detection systems design to keep facilities and people safe throughout Alaska and beyond. Nominated by the Alaska Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction, Ness was named the 2018 Engineer of the Year during E-Week last February. Alaska Business is pleased to share a little more about this exceptional woman and her vital work below.

Alaska Business: What drew you to engineering?

Christine Ness: I've always been a tinkerer. I come from a long line of tinkerers, engineers, techs, engineering techs, whatever you want to call us. One of my mom's favorite pictures from when I was teenager is of me sitting next to my first car. I've got on a cocktail ring and long nails and engine oil all over the place. From the time I could see over the fender of Dad's '50 Chevy, I wanted to know how things work. The fun was understanding how things went back together after I took them apart. I always knew I wanted to be an engineer. My childhood friends even remarked about how good I was at fixing things.

AB: What brought you to Alaska?

Ness: A change of scenery. I had been working in Virginia Beach since 2006. In 2013, a recruiter from Illinois, of all places, called me up and said: "Hey, how'd you like to work in Alaska?" And so I had some personal clearing of the decks. I was ready for something different so I moved here in October 2013. I promptly found a wonderful Alaska man and got married. He's brilliant. He keeps me challenged and motivated every day.

I found my love in Alaska in many ways. I have always lived near a river, lake, or ocean. I love to go fishing. If sleep allows, I will go out at God-knows-what hour of the morning to sit and throw a line into the water just because there's nobody else around. I have been noted by friends to be on walk-abouts when the weather is mild, camping in the back of my old Tahoe. My first spring in Alaska, I camped on Nikiski beach with friends over Memorial Day. Waking up to the waves just beyond the back tires was pretty incredible.

AB: How did you find...