My lab partner today is the Association of Water Technologies’ current President, Matt Jensen. A self-proclaimed lover of water, Matt discovered his fascination with the use and movement of water at a young age. Growing up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, he would spend his summers sailing and fishing. Matt graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point with a degree in Analytical Chemistry and a minor in American History. He interned at a Water Treatment company during his final summer in college, and that is where Matt’s interest in Water Treatment began.
Matt started his career at an International Chemical Distributor selling commodity chemicals to the food, pharmaceutical, and specialty chemical industries. He then worked for a large US-based national Water Treatment company, selling primarily in the food and healthcare markets, before joining Watertech of America, Inc. as a Territory Manager, then Director of Applied Technologies. In 2021, after 12 years of working at the Watertech of America, Matt joined Global Water Technology, Inc. as the Vice President.
Matt first got involved with the Association of Water Technologies (AWT) in 2009 in the Young Professionals Group and the Charity Task Force. That same year, he earned his Certified Water Technologist (CWT) designation. Outside of Water Treatment, Matt enjoys fishing and coaches his son’s and daughter’s hockey teams.
Matt Jensen loves water, and he made sure that his career involves doing what he loves.
Bottom line: Matt Jensen is going to share his career journey from being an intern at a Water Treatment company in college to becoming the President of the Association of Water Technologies and Vice President at Global Water Technology, Inc..
Your roadside friend, as you travel from client to client.
-Trace
Timestamps:
This day in history [01:24]
Events in Water Treatment [07:58]
Introducing the President of the Association of Water Technologies, Matt Jensen, CWT [10:15]
Getting into Water Treatment [12:30]
Working day-to-day at Global Water Technology [14:00]
Getting involved at AWT [16:32]
Joining AWT Committees [20:13]
Becoming the AWT President and the day-to-day [24:05]
AWT Technical Training [32:06]
AWT’s 2022 Annual Convention and Exposition [35:19]
Message from the AWT President [42:35]
Lightning round questions [44:12]
Thinking On Water With James [51:57]
Thinking On Water With James:
In this week’s episode, we’re thinking about nitrite levels dropping in a closed loop. What could cause nitrite to drop? If caused by a water leak, what other water quality parameters may or may not drop at the same time in the closed loop? Is there a makeup meter present? Does it show any makeup used? Can the meter detect low usage rates? Have any repairs been done on the system lately? What about microbiological activity? How may it impact nitrite levels? What microbiological tests might you run to help determine this? Take this week to think about dropping nitrite levels in closed loops and possible causes.
Quotes:
“The Water Treatment Industry is a great industry to be a part of, I couldn’t imagine doing anything other than Water Treatment.” – Matt Jensen
“I believe so much in what the Association of Water Technologies does, and how important it is to support the customer in helping them be efficient and be stewards of the environment.” – Matt Jensen
“One of the best parts of being a Water Treater is the fact that you get to go to different places all the time.” – Matt Jensen
“Getting involved with the Association of Water Technologies and realizing what it was and the stuff that I learned just from my very first conference, I fell in love with the Association and everything that it stood for.” – Matt Jensen
“Water Treatment is not an easy industry to be successful in, you really have to put the time into it, and the Association of Water Technologies helps with that.” – Matt Jensen
“As President of the Associations of Water Technologies (AWT), my job is to be positive about the direction of where we are going and what we are doing.” – Matt Jensen
“The job of the President and my day to day as a President is to keep the message of the Associations of Water Technologies (AWT) positive moving forward, constantly advancing the association, doing everything that we can to keep the members happy.” – Matt Jensen
“A board that all agrees is not a board that is going to accomplish a lot. You have to have disagreements to come to a good agreement.” – Matt Jensen
“Despite the fact that we are doing the convention in Canada and of COVID, the Association is doing everything that we can to make sure that we can get everybody involved as much as we can.” – Matt Jensen
“Amplify AWT is a way for us to guarantee that the Association of Water Technologies can grow and flourish in the upcoming 10 to 20 years.” – Matt Jensen
“If you join an Association, you will get a lot of benefits. There are a lot of things you can take back, but if you join any organization with a mindset of “How can I contribute, how can I become a part of this?” You will get back more than ten times you’ll ever put in.” – Trace Blackmore
“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.” – John F. Kennedy
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” – Benjamin Franklin
Connect with Matt Jensen, CWT:
Phone: (920) 634-8532
Email: mjensen@gwt-inc.com
Website: gwt-inc.com
LinkedIn: in/matthewcjensen
Links Mentioned:
How to Apply or Renew Your Passport?
AWT (Association of Water Technologies)
AWT (Association of Water Technologies) – Committees
Canada’s COVID-19 Travel Checklists
United States’ COVID-19 Travel Requirements
Log in to AWT.org to learn more about Amplify AWT
Events:
2022 ASHRAE Annual Conference – June 25 to 29, 2022 in Toronto, Canada
Association of Water Technologies’ 2022 Annual Convention and Exposition – September 21 to 24, 2022 in Vancouver, Canada
Industrial Water Week – October 3-7, 2022
How to Apply or Renew Your Passport?
Books Mentioned:
The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
Day of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor by Robert B. Stinnett
Killing Jesus: A History by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard
I had a challenge several year ago when I explained to the owner of a company that made and serviced industrial D-I equipment, that I had a distillation system that would use less energy than his D-I equipment and would no build up scale. After I proved to him by running the distiller for 6 months without any scald build up he became a believer.