Sarah Szewczyk

2011 PES Scholar - University of Washington

What is your current job & what are you doing?

I work as an engineer for a large west coast utility in Transmission Operations. I work in our Energy Management Systems group supporting real-time operations developing and maintaining our transmission grid system models to enhance situational awareness and to ensure that system operators are able to operate the grid reliably and safely.

How being selected as a PES Scholar impacted you?

Being a PES Scholar elevated my confidence in my skills and abilities in this field. I came to the utilities industry from a completely unrelated industry-I like to tell people that when I took my first EE class, I didn’t even know what a resistor was. Being a PES Scholar made me realize that I had come a long way from that first EE class and helped me understand how far I had come in my learning.

What do you like about being in the power industry?

I like the service that the power industry provides to society. I also really like that there are ample opportunities at this point in time to re-imagine what the grid will look like in the future. Our industry is seeing rapid change and there is a lot of room to grow and challenge oneself professionally in the power industry. There is always an opportunity to learn more.