PETRA KNAPP
“Figure out what you love and are good at as early as you can. Then work on becoming an even greater master in those things.”
Petra Knapp, Packaging Sustainability Engineer at Nike
Upon first meeting Petra you quickly develop a confidence that her generation is going to save the world. The passion, energy and spirit that Petra has, combined with being one of the smartest people you can meet, pretty quickly tells you she has the perfect combination. If you have a project and need some help thinking through the prob- lem, how to make it more sustainable, she is without doubt the person to call.
The other reason for my trust in her ability to change the world is that she’s taken a step that many other people must have thought about, but didn’t have the conviction to follow through. She lives in a van whilst working in corporate America.
So, Monday – Friday she lives near work, able to use all the facilities a big company offers - gyms, food, showers etc. Then soon as the weekend comes, she is off to the mountains, hiking, skiing, exploring and curating her own vision of the world.
Jonathan: What kind of van do you have and how do you have it built out?
Petra: An 87’ Mercedes 310 T1 high roof, an imported volunteer firetruck from Germany. I’ve added a kitchen (sink-counter unit, solar powered fridge, and overhead cabinets) and an elevated bed to store everything under; it’s just high enough for the clearance of my mountain bike.
Was the financial side of it ever a part of your decision?
Yes, I wanted to live more freely and save, as well as not feel attached to monthly payments. I am saving to buy property. Currently, I’m putting some of my rent savings into graduate school as well. Living in the van I am fortunate enough to really spend time where I choose, especially weekends.
What’s been your best road trip in the van so far?
One of my favorite loops is from Beaverton on a half Friday down to Bend to backcountry ski, climb, bike, and or river surf. Then north up through Hood to ski, usually I’ll stop at Meadows for a driving break to night ski, and then spend the Sunday in the Gorge kiting, mountain biking, hiking or hanging with family and friends. I’ve also taken it out to the Alvord desert and past there to some amazing hot springs in CA and NV.
I’ve been super inspired by your approach to work and life. Who inspires you?
Wow thanks, that’s very flattering. I am inspired by a ton of friends I know who are really living and working their passions out of their vehicles. On the build-out side, there’s so much inspiration, especially from the van community in Bend. I’m also inspired by history, learning about how people lived so nomadically. There are so many luxuries that people, me included, become attached to when living in more urban and stagnate settings. Living in the van is a continuous exercise to become less attached to objects and detach from material wants. I find myself examining what the true ‘needs’ really are. It’s always a great reminder to simplify and be present.
What would you suggest for people who want to do what you do?
Look for a great fit, but keep challenging yourself to make it the most you. I am in a niche, with a role as a packaging sustainability engineer at Nike, because that’s what I found I enjoyed the most. I love deep learning about subjects. I love really diving in and understanding the nuances of an industry or product, where the raw materials come from, how to quantify the impacts, how they get converted, the purpose behind certain design choices, looking for efficiencies, and understanding the end of life (EOL).
I started in mechanical engineering (ME) in my undergrad, but the prospect of learning a ton of general knowledge and working at a desk didn’t excite me. I had my older sister, an all-star student also starting undergrad in ME, to look to as a projection of what my life could be like in two years. With straight A’s in high school and college I watched her struggle a bit more than I expected to get the internships and jobs she wanted.
I wanted to love what I did, but this didn’t align with the advice I received from upperclassmen in college. In my early courses I was in some manufacturing engineering classes that I loved;
in the shop, hands on, and we actually made things. Cal Poly SLO is known for requirements around declaring majors and for being challenging to switch majors, but I figured out the switching requirements and made the adjustments my first quarter as a freshman. I knew it was what I wanted, and I wouldn’t let administrative challenges hold me back. I took command of my classes the following quarter to keep me on track with a change of major.
When I loved my classes it made it easier to put in the work and school became energizing. I followed similar steps when I enrolled for the packaging minor, because I wanted to leave with the information I wanted to learn, not just the average curriculum. I took a course where we focused on material life cycle analysis, a software program that accounts for all the impacts of generating almost any material or item.
I loved learning about the product life cycle and applying it to design and tweaking the ma- terial types and design to increase product life and value. I found a way to do the same at my first job out of college. As a manufacturing engineer for the returned damaged aircraft I was able to be a part of the recovery and refurbishment processes. After a few months on the job
I got promoted to manufacturing engineer II for new product integration. This allowed me to apply the learnings from the refurbishments, to new parts in order to make them more durable, better designed for manufacturing and repair, thus adding value to our product and increasing product life. I loved my job but creating products for the defense industry didn’t align with the way I want to contribute to the world, so I started looking for jobs outside of the sector, where I could have impact and reduce waste at scale. I found a packaging engineering role at Nike and applied, but emphasized LCA, sustainability, EOL, and the impact at Nike’s scale.
Are you continuing to learn in this space?
Yes, so I graduated June 2017 and I am back in school now getting a MS in packaging value chain online through Cal Poly again.
What would you tell your teenage self ?
Figure out what you love and are good at as early as you can. Then work on becoming an even greater master in those things. For me, this was woodshop class, and in high school engineering electives, which turned into robotics class. We won our state competition when I was 16 and got fourth at the FTC Robotics Worlds. This led to my internship at Insitu, which affirmed my love for working in manufacturing and the confidence and background I needed to succeedstudying engineering. I also met a lot of the high ups at companies locally fundraising for the Robotics Worlds while working at a fine dining restaurant. I asked them a lot of questions about what they did, which parts they loved the most, and how they got there. My parents were also very encouraging, helping me pursue what I loved. They’re both engineers and taught us, my older sister and I, to see challenges as fun tasks to approach from creative ways until wefigured it out ourselves, or by asking for help. I use this approach in almost everything I do now; finances, travel, studying, progressing through my career. When I get comfortable somewhere and don’t see room for rapid growth, I adjust what I am doing to maintain mental challenge.
What were you curious/passionate about as a kid?
After playdates, my friends’ parents would ask my mom if we always asked that many questions. As a kid I always wanted to know how things worked and where they came from. We played outside a ton and went on adventures with my parents. My mom was always very adamant about our waste output and disposal. When I was 14, she took a master recyclers course, municipally offered courses on material recovery facilities and how waste is processed, or dealt with at EOL, and she informed every person in our family of everything she learned. I unknowingly became so aware of waste processing systems and how to use their capabilities to determine materials and packaging design.