Issaquah Councilmember Tola Marts was honored as the elected official of the week by Sound Cities Association.

The association said it chose Marts because he used to build spaceships — and now he saves kids’ lives in Africa. He is also passionate about preserving Issaquah’s natural environment and unique neighborhoods.

“Councilmember Marts is making a difference in the lives of people in this region and around the world,” said SCA executive director Deanna Dawson. “His leadership and vision are inspiring.”

SCA represents 36 cities in King County, serving as a catalyst for King County cities with populations under 150,000, through leadership in areas such as economic and community development, transportation, land use, health, government operations, the environment, education, public safety, social welfare and other public policy issues.

Marts works as a research scientist and senior mechanical engineer at Intellectual Ventures Laboratory, which focuses its research on the very beginning stages of invention, validating the concept and refining the technology to demonstrate its potential for commercial or humanitarian use. He received a degree in mechanical engineering and then took a job selling and providing support for engineering computer programs.

“However, you never really get to see the fruit of your labors as a salesperson, so I decided to try my hand in the aerospace industry,” Marts said. “For the next eight years, I worked as a practicing engineer for Blue Origin in Kent. There, I was able to drive good ideas into real hardware, or in this case, scribbles on a cocktail napkin to spacecraft.”

More information is available at www.SoundCities.org.