Schweitzer Drive

Electric power is critical to people's lives. We need look no further for an example of this than what happened in Texas in February. Because reliability and security are essential to the power grid, the communication systems—or operational technology (OT)—that connect the control devices that manage electric power systems have historically remained independent of connections to the information technology (IT) side. However, in recent years, the electric power industry has begun to explore how to safely benefit from merging OT and IT. In this episode, Dave Whitehead discusses the topic with Phil O'Reilly, vice president global head of enterprise for Juniper Networks, a leader in the development of IT and networking solutions.

Safe, reliable, and economical electric power is essential to our daily lives. The recent events in Texas are a reminder of just how important these adjectives are when it comes to providing power for homes, daycares, schools, businesses, hospitals—and the power generation facilities themselves. In this episode, Dave Whitehead talks with SEL president and power system protection pioneer Dr. Ed Schweitzer and power systems expert David Costello about what happened and how to prevent it from happening again.

In our increasingly technology dependent world, cybersecurity threats have become an unfortunate feature of our daily lives. So many of us have been victims of identity theft or data breeches. But what happens when the target is an industrial control system like those that control large campuses, industrial operations, or the power grid? In this episode, Dave Whitehead talks about industrial control system cybersecurity with Robert M. Lee, the CEO of Dragos and a leading expert in the fields of industrial security incident response and threat intelligence.

One of the most important concepts for a business to understand is that a customer is never under any obligation to buy its product or service again. Repeat business and customer loyalty must be earned. In this episode, Dave Whitehead talks with Todd Bridges, vice president of Sales & Customer Service at SEL, about one of the most powerful competitive advantages there are—outstanding customer service.

When innovation is key to your company's success, building the right team is critical. But what does that mean? Do you need more specialists—people with deep expertise in one area? Or do you need more generalists—folks who have a working knowledge of many disciplines? In this episode, Dave talks with SEL Distinguished Engineer Tony Lee, a veteran product developer and leader, about finding the right mix.

One of the best ways to attract and retain great employees is to offer great benefits. In this episode, Dave Whitehead talks with Joey Nestegard, SEL Chief Business and Financial Officer about one of the most valuable benefits a business can offer employees—ownership.

We've all experienced the frustration of having to wade through layers of automated phone prompts trying to get through to a customer service rep or had to wait weeks for a technician to come out—and even then you have to block a half day window. In this episode, Dave Whitehead discusses how this model can look very different with two SEL experts, Dr. Ed Schweitzer, founder, president and chief technology officer and David Costello, chief Sales and Customer Services officer.

It's been said that teaching is selling. In this episode, Dave Whitehead talks about the art of teaching and selling with Laura Stento, Senior Sales Manager. Laura talks about the work she does to help customers solve their challenges and the importance of providing value first.

Whether in engineering or business, Dr. Ed Schweitzer, a prolific inventor and founder of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, always encourages going back to first principles. In this episode, Dave Whitehead talks with Dr. Schweitzer about how creativity, innovation, business and economies thrive in a free, flat, fair, and open environment.

Did you know that the power system can reconfigure itself when a fault occurs, and that it can automatically adjust line voltage so that the energy delivered to your house is just right? Did you know that adding wind and solar power to the grid can make it less reliable? Join Dave Whitehead as he talks with automation engineer Bryan Fazzari about how distribution automation is meeting these engineering challenges head-on.