Tami has worked as an electrical engineer in the utility industry for 29 years. She is incredibly knowledgeable about transmission planning and has held a variety of roles in several different companies throughout her career. She shares her insights into work and family life balance and the challenges of navigating job changes with young children.

Episode Notes

Music used in the podcast: Higher Up, Silverman Sound Studio

Acronyms and Definitions

OASIS– The Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS), is an Internet-based system for obtaining services related to electric power transmission in North America. It is the primary means by which high-voltage transmission lines are reserved for moving wholesale quantities of electricity. (wikipedia)

FERC–Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

• Regulation of wholesale sales of electricity and transmission of electricity in interstate commerce.
• Oversight of mandatory reliability standards for the bulk power system.
• Promotion of strong national energy infrastructure, including adequate transmission facilities.
• Regulation of jurisdictional issuances of stock and debt securities, assumptions of obligations and liabilities, and mergers. 

Bio-medical Engineering– The application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g. diagnostic or therapeutic). This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine, combining the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical biological sciences to advance health care treatment, including diagnosis, monitoring, and therapy. Also included under the scope of a biomedical engineer is the management of current medical equipment within hospitals while adhering to relevant industry standards. (Wikipedia)

Welcome to the first episode of Ordinarily Extraordinary - conversations with women in STEM. Kerry has worked as an electrical engineer in the utility industry for 27 years. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience. In our conversation she shares her experiences working as a physical substation engineer, working in contracts for a renewable energy company, and her college life. She provides insights into technical aspects of the work she does in addition to her perspectives on women in engineering.

Music used in the podcast: Higher Up, Silverman Sound Studio

Acronyms and Definitions
NDSU–North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota
ROTC–Reserve Officers’ Training Corps
FORTRAN–a general-purpose, compiled imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing. Revisions of FORTRAN are still used today.
PFC–Private First Class. E1 – Entry level in the military. E3 – Private First Class.
Renewable Power–energy that is collected from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale.
Transmission– The movement of bulk electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation.
Generation– The process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy.
NERC–North American Electric Reliability Corporation–a not-for-profit international regulatory authority whose mission is to assure the effective and efficient reduction of risks to the reliability and security of the grid.
SCADA–Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition–A collection of hardware and software that is used to remotely monitor and control the electric grid.
Baseload Generation–The minimum level of demand on an electrical grid over a span of time.
Central Power– Refers to the large-scale generation of electricity at centralized facilities.
Distributed Generation–Refers to a variety of technologies that generate electricity at or near where it will be used.
Microgrids–a small network of electricity users with a local source of supply that is usually attached to a centralized national grid but is able to function independently.
Optimal battery operating temperature–77°F or 25°C
Substation –Transforms voltage from high to low, or the reverse. Between the generating station and consumer, electric power may flow through several substations at different voltage levels.
Wave Trap–A device that allow only a particular frequency to pass through it that it filters the signals coming on to it.
HVDC–High Voltage Direct Current–used to transmit electricity over long distances by overhead transmission lines or submarine cables.
Bushing–an insulated device that allows an electrical conductor to pass safely through a grounded conducting barrier such as the case of a transformer or circuit breaker, typically made from porcelain.
Bio-medical Engineering–The application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes.

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