power systems engineer Review

My role involved looking at the future of the electricity national control centre in a 5-10 year timescale, focusing on the roles and responsibilities of the control engineers and ensuring that they have the correct capabilities to achieve Clean Power 2030. I worked closely with the control engineers day-to-day, and used horizon scanning to discover what might impact the control room, such as new generation technologies, additional transmission assets, and AI tools and automation.

I was given a great level of responsibility, personally progressing the hiring of brand new capabilities for the electricity national control centre, and communicating with external stakeholders such as transmission operators and distributed network operators. I was given the opportunity to write an operating protocol that would be used long after I complete my placement.

After only completing a single module of electrical engineering at university, I was able to develop my knowledge in this area drastically, thanks to the control engineers in my team. I learnt how to develop my soft skills and self identity, through workshops with early careers.

There was an excellent level of support available throughout the placement, both from the team I was a part of and also the early careers team. Support was only ever a teams message away, and the training provided at the start of the placement gave me enough guidance to feel welcome and set up for the year.

The company culture was extremely welcoming at the start, and once I had settled in it was if I was a full time employee, equal to colleagues and managers. I never felt underutilised or forgotten, and people are always open to answering questions.

I have thoroughly enjoyed it to this point, and would recommend to anyone who wants to get into the energy industry, and wants to feel like they belong in a company with great values. The work/life balance was well maintained, and I was never bored even on slower days.

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