Professional Profile: Noel Maestre

Noel Maestre is Vice President Life Sciences with CRB in Carlsbad, CA. Lab Design News recently spoke with Noel about his career, experience, and personal interests.

Q:  How did you get started in your career? Did you major in your field in college, get an internship, switch careers mid-stream, etc.? 

A: I lucked into it, to be honest. I only had a vague idea of what the work entailed when I accepted CRB’s offer after graduating and started working as a mechanical engineer. I quickly realized I was passionate about our line of work, which requires a unique combination of architectural, engineering, chemical, biology, execution, and construction knowledge. It is genuinely a fascinating industry.

Q: What is a typical day at work like for you?  

A: I am not sure there is a typical day, and that’s what makes working here exciting. A “typical” day usually consists of leadership and client meetings, possibly an interview, researching market trends, or trying to find patterns in our datasets. It could be anything from presenting at a life sciences conference to developing a fellowship program for our technical experts to work on a winning strategy for a critical project opportunity.

Q: What kinds of hobbies or interests do you have outside of work?  

A: I have several hobbies! I like to spend my time surfing, hiking/camping, snowboarding, travel, fishing, golf, going to new restaurants—anything outdoors is excellent!. 

Q: What lab projects are you working on at the moment?  

A: I’m am working on a 150,000 square foot lab facility outside Vancouver, British Columbia, for STEMCELL Technologies Inc.

Q: What is your favorite building, lab-related or not? 

A: The favorite building I’ve visited is the Alhambra in Granada.

Q: What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you at work? 

A: One of my coworkers started yelling and almost grabbed a stranger on an airplane, thinking they were stealing my “standard issue” CRB backpack. That person was a previous employee who still cherished their CRB backpack. It was awkward but really funny.

Q: If you weren't in this profession, what job do you think you'd be doing instead? 

A: I always thought working on a show like Top Gear or MythBusters would be super fun. I got into engineering thinking I would work for a car manufacturer, designing sports cars, so hopefully something along those lines.