Professional Profile: Mark Paskanik, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C
Lab Design Summit's Mark Paskanik talks to Lab Manager
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Mark Paskanik, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, senior architect & laboratory design expert, has 20 years of experience programming, planning, and designing research facilities worldwide. With a focus on tested planning principles, Mark uniquely adapts each lab design to support the client’s vision to create a collaborative, efficient, and safe environment. He has planned over 10 million square feet of laboratory space and has completed many innovative projects. Mark has planned well over 100 projects ranging from CGMP, CGTP, BSL, vivaria, aquatics, imaging, bio-engineering, pharmacoengineering, stem cell, plant science, and others. Mark currently serves as a founding board member for the NC-Triangle Chapter of the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL).
Mark will be a featured speaker at the 2020 Lab Manager Design Summit, which will be held on May 11-13 in Atlanta, GA. His session, "Innovative Science with Less and the Lab Future," will focus on how lab planners and lab managers can be more creative in their science facilities, how to do more science in less space, and how to reduce cost. For more information on the Lab Manager Design Summit, visit https://summit.labmanager.com/design
Lab Manager recently spoke with Mark about his career, experience, and personal interests.
Q: How did you get started in your lab design career?
Mark Paskanik (MP): I started out with a college summer job working in my father’s lab. Later on my graduate school professor always said to “find your niche” as an architect. I realized early on how much I enjoyed working on lab projects and it was a natural fit with my early lab experiences and finding that niche in the design world.
Q: What projects are you working on at the moment?
MP: A 500,000 sq. ft. lab project in Chicago. It will be the first of it’s kind in that market and our team is excited about its potential to create a hub for science and research. We also just finished a marine science lab for UNC Chapel Hill on the NC coast. I had the opportunity to go out on their shark research vessel to tag sharks.
Q: What made you decide to join the faculty of the Lab Manager Design Summit?
MP: I’ve always enjoyed the connections with fellow faculty and collaborating with attendees. I feel I can always learn by teaching as well.
Q: What are you hoping people will take away from your Design Summit presentation?
MP: Don’t always do things the same. Think about how you can be innovative and create that spark of genius!
Q: If you had to do something else for a living, what would it be?
MP: A Christmas tree farmer.