Mr. Knaus is a Senior Manufacturing Engineer at Swagelok where has been employed for the last 10 years. During his 10yrs at Swagelok he has held various roles in Product Engineering and Manufacturing Engineering supporting the valve service group. Prior to Swagelok he worked 10 years as a Product Design and Development Engineer for Elster Group where he designed and developed natural gas and water heater fittings and valves. He holds multiple U.S and international patents and earned his degree in Mechanical Engineering for The University of Akron. He grew up with a machine shop in his garage so he enjoys creating and building stuff, and working on anything mechanical, he also enjoys golf and mountain biking. He has been married for 17 years and has two children Aiden and Audrey. Mr. Knaus became a mentor for the FTC team after being exposed to First through FLL where he currently coaches his son’s team. First has been a great way for Mr. Knaus to share his Engineering and Manufacturing knowledge with the students, he really enjoys the excitement that the students have for technology.