Title: Sales Application Engineering Manager
Company: Danfoss Drives
Location: Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States
Gary T. Baase II, Sales Application Engineering Manager at Danfoss Drives, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Engineers for dedication, achievements, and leadership in Industrial Electronics.
Mr. Baase’s career spans more than two decades in the engineering and industrial electronics sector, where he has distinguished himself as an expert in the application and advancement of variable speed drive technologies. He has served as a sales application engineering manager at Danfoss Drives, a company headquartered in Denmark that develops, manufactures, and supplies variable frequency drives, since 2026, after previously serving as acting manager. In this capacity, Mr. Baase leads a geographically distributed team responsible for supporting technical sales efforts across North America.
Among a range of responsibilities, Mr. Baase is tasked with mentoring newer remote team members, managing a comprehensive database of field-submitted technical questions to ensure prompt responses, coordinating group scheduling and travel logistics to provide effective customer coverage, and prioritizing assignments when multiple travel requests arise. He also works directly with salespeople and established customers to solve complex application challenges and recommend optimal products. Additionally, Mr. Baase is instrumental in implementing new customer relationship management systems and developing communication tools that track team activities and justify additional resources.
Mr. Baase’s journey with Danfoss Drives began in 2021 when he joined as a technical business development manager, a role closely aligned with application engineering. Initially supporting sales teams across the western U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, he provided virtual technical expertise to help customers understand product applications and supported the broader sales organization. As the company’s needs evolved and demand increased, Mr. Baase’s responsibilities expanded to cover the entire country. The growth of his function led to the creation of a dedicated department that he now manages, a milestone he considers among his most significant professional achievements.
In addition to his engineering accomplishments, Mr. Baase has built a parallel career in real estate investment since 2004, a venture that began with the strategic purchase of a duplex while still an intern. Over time, this initial investment evolved into an extensive portfolio of rental properties managed alongside his wife. Together they launched a property rehabilitation business focused on renovating distressed homes for resale, a business they have operated for well over a decade, and both earned their real estate agent licenses before achieving broker status. Since 2012, they have owned Kazi Realty in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where his wife manages daily operations while Mr. Baase provides strategic oversight.
Before joining Danfoss Drives, Mr. Baase served as a sales engineer at Yaskawa America Inc. in the drives and motion division from 2017 to 2021. Covering the Chicago territory, he leveraged his deep technical knowledge to transition seamlessly into sales, achieving record sales in two separate years and earning national recognition for his performance. Mr. Baase’s tenure was marked by strong customer relationships and consistent growth in his territory.
Between 2015 and 2017, Mr. Baase worked as a senior application engineer at LS Electric America in Lincolnshire, Illinois. As the primary engineer supporting the company’s products during its reestablishment in the U.S. market, he managed virtually every technical function, from support and warranty evaluations to field startups and customer training. The demands of this role required Mr. Baase to build processes from scratch and eventually hire additional engineers as responsibilities grew.
Mr. Baase’s earlier roles included senior product engineer at ABB in New Berlin, Wisconsin, from 2013 to 2015. There, he focused on redesigning variable speed drives and implementing improvements to ensure product performance. Although this position built on his prior experience, Mr. Baase sought greater challenges and opportunities for impact.
A defining chapter of Mr. Baase’s career unfolded at Pentair Water in Delavan, Wisconsin, from 2008 to 2013. As the lead engineer on a new pump-dedicated variable speed drive project at age 28, an opportunity rarely afforded so early, he partnered with development teams domestically and internationally to bring a patented product from concept to market launch within six months. Mr. Baase was credited as the lead electrical engineer among the inventors on the resulting patent at age 29. This accomplishment remains a point of pride for its collaborative nature and lasting industry impact. This project also marked Mr. Baase’s first major foray into customer-facing work, training internal staff and external stakeholders on product use, which he found especially rewarding.
Mr. Baase’s career began at Rockwell Automation in Mequon, Wisconsin, where he completed a two-year internship from 2003 to 2005 while attending college in Milwaukee. Upon graduation in 2005 with his undergraduate degree, he was offered a full-time position as a hardware engineer before advancing to a development hardware engineer through 2008. Mr. Baase’s early work involved testing new components and circuit-board-level changes for redesigned products used across diverse industries, such as pumps, elevators, amusement park rides and conveyors.
Mr. Baase holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering since 2005. This academic achievement provided the technical foundation for his success across various roles involving advanced electronic systems design and implementation. Mr. Baase is also a licensed real estate broker, a credential that supports his ongoing work within property investment and brokerage management. A commitment to lifelong learning remains central to his philosophy. He believes there is always something new to discover and that embracing ongoing education opens doors to unexpected opportunities.
Civic engagement plays an important role in Mr. Baase’s life outside of business pursuits. He has provided pro bono property management services for several rental properties owned by his parish,
Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, leveraging professional expertise for community benefit. Mr. Baase also served on the baptism committee from 2012 through 2020, where he welcomed families into discussions about faith traditions.
Throughout his career, Mr. Baase has demonstrated an unwavering willingness to step outside his comfort zone, embracing new experiences not as risks but as opportunities for growth and learning. This openness has allowed him to adapt across roles and industries while continually expanding his expertise in industrial electronics using variable speed drives, a level of mastery that sets him apart among peers.
Mr. Baase’s achievements have been recognized with multiple awards, including record sales years at Yaskawa America Inc., along with national recognition for outstanding sales performance. Looking ahead, he is focused on continued success, advancing into director-level leadership where he can operate strategically and develop comprehensive plans that drive organizational growth while contributing innovative ideas recognized at the highest levels within the company.
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