Engineers Week: Meet Our Engineers
For Engineers Week, we interviewed engineers at NYPA. Read below to learn more about their work.
Meet Lead Project Engineer I, Michael Pioggia
Michael Pioggia earned his Bachelor of Science degree at Rochester Institute of Technology with a focus in Electrical Engineering. He has been working at NYPA for one year.
He mentioned his favorite parts of being an engineer are, “The technical aspects and the associated problem solving skillset to derive a solution and apply it within a project.”
On advice for younger engineers entering the workforce Michael said, “The engineering foundation was presented to you in school - now apply your discipline practically but with an open mind to alternative solutions.”
Michael continued, discussing engineering challenges. “Being a new employee, the biggest challenge for me has been all assigned projects, because I am learning how NYPA helps their customers in many ways – from power generation to sustainability to financing to energy efficiency overall.”
It’s also important for him to stay up to date. “I stay engaged through NYPA-offered internal and external training, as well as connected with professionals within local American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) chapters.”
Michael concluded by saying, “I get satisfaction from seeing the work product installed and operating properly to meet the customer’s needs while exceeding their expectations.”
Meet Project Engineer I, Rebecca DiBella
“I enjoy solving problems,” she said, “but most of all I value helping people save money as well as decreasing the environmental burden from energy usage of their buildings.”
For young engineers, she replied, “It may not be easy to find your niche at first, but keep getting as much experience as you can.”
She then discussed the project that she is working on now. “Currently, I am working on HVAC and LED Lighting upgrades for the Long Island Rail Road. Doing a project with the LIRR requires a lot of coordination.”
To stay up to date technically and technologically, Rebecca recommends reading relevant articles in ASHRAE, ASME, AEE magazines and other sources online.
Summing it all up, she commented, “It is satisfying to see a design project come to fruition in construction. Knowing how the building system improvements save customers maintenance and energy costs is very gratifying.”
Meet Lead Energy Services Product Development Engineer, John Markowitz
John earned his engineering degree in electrical engineering at Manhattan College and has been working at NYPA since 2002.
“The aspect I enjoy most about engineering,” he begins, “is analyzing problems that have multiple variables and trade-offs to balance.”
His advice for young engineers is “Be open-minded. Not all engineers do design work. Industry needs engineers that can do all sorts of tasks – financial analysis, customer outreach, marketing and sales (for more technical products), overseeing construction projects, research, managing budgets, etc.”
John went on to describe the most challenging project he has worked on. “We are currently planning the installation of fast charging hardware for electric vehicles on the New York State Thruway. The project has a lot of moving parts forcing us to constantly ‘think outside the box.’ Very challenging, but incredibly interesting and a meaningful project for moving New York towards a cleaner future.”
To keep up to date technically and technologically, John talks with his colleagues, customers and vendors, and he also attends conferences and takes continuing education classes.
Concluding the interview, John said, “Engineers are like magicians. Things come into existence and ‘the impossible’ becomes reality due to our efforts. None of it is really magic – just a lot of hard work. But it is fun to be old enough to see things formerly considered impossible, like electric cars with 300 mile batteries and rapid charging, become almost commonplace. That’s the kind of satisfaction I get from engineering that I could not get from any other kind of work.”
Meet Civil/Structural Engineer II, Mark Ferisin
Mark studied for his Bachelor of Science degree at Manhattan College. His technical discipline is Civil Engineering with a focus on overhead and below grade transmission and substations. He has worked at NYPA for a year and a half, assigned to Transmission Life Extension & Modernization projects at St. Lawrence and Massena Switchyards, partial rebuilds of Northern New York overhead lines, and supports several proposed interconnects.
Prior to working at NYPA, he worked at Con Ed for eight years, starting out as a Civil/Mechanical Engineer in Substations and Transmission. The highlight of his time there was his work as an Emergency Management Municipal Liaison with the Village of Irvington, immediately after Superstorm Sandy in 2012, which required him to interface with administrators and the public as they helped restore power to the community.
That led to his involvement on the storm hardening program for the severely impacted Manhattan substations and two years later he expanded on that experience by changing departments within Con Ed to work as an estimator on large-scale civil works in Manhattan.
Mark continued, “I enjoy visiting the job site with my team and stakeholders. A large part of this job involves travel because good conversations and collaboration happen when you are physically present and together with your team, you observe the physical challenges to doing work.”
He recommended, ”Seek out a mentor who encourages you to collaborate with others and take on increasing responsibility. Also, join NYPA’s Toastmasters “Speakers with Authority” to practice your public speaking and leadership skills. Our club was chartered over thirty years ago! During the three years that I’ve been involved with the international organization, I’ve held officer roles and achieved both a Competent Communicator certificate and a Competent Leader certificate.”
On challenging projects, Mark said, “The Communications Backbone Program which improves the statewide public electric power transmission system has been challenging. This program is one part of NYPA’s effort to become the nation’s first digital utility and ultimately will improve the efficiency and reliability of the transmission infrastructure. A compressed timeline, managing several consultants and coordinating with several stakeholders are all part of the job. Soon we will be designing reinforcements for existing structures which will bring new challenges as well.”
Staying up to date technically and technologically, Mark mentioned “I am currently enrolled in a class for overhead transmission design at Gonzaga University’s online Master’s program, which is based in Spokane, Washington. I recently completed classes in the electrical aspects of transmission design and transmission structure design.”
Finally, Mark finds a lot to enjoy in his day-to-day tasks. “My work at NYPA has purpose – energizing the State of New York and serving my community. As far as the daily work goes, I’ve always enjoyed sketching my ideas, laying out plans, sections and elevations and developing details. Yet another aspect that I enjoy is using leading edge LIDAR technology and 3-D structural analysis software to efficiently analyze long corridors of Transmission lines.”
Meet Construction Engineer II, MIchael Jeckovich
Michael studied for his engineering degree, with a focus in electrical engineering, at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He has been at NYPA for about a year and a half.
Michael said, “What I enjoy most about being an engineer is the creativity aspect, the ability to apply various technical understandings to achieve a cost effective solution to a particular problem. Creating something new, whether it is an invention, a process, or policy. The creative aspect of it all is what I enjoy the most. To quote Einstein ‘scientists investigate that which already is; engineers create that which has never been.’
He continued, “The best advice I can think to give to young engineers entering the workforce is to get comfortable with your surroundings and your co-workers. One of the most difficult tasks for any new engineering is adapting to the new environment. I feel that gaining familiarity with your environment, the people, the processes will allow you to adapt quickly and become a contributor to the team faster and more effectively. Knowing where to go, how to get there, and who can help, will make the assimilation process faster, more effective, and easier for the young engineer.”
Discussing work challenges, he commented, “The most challenging project I have worked on at NYPA would have to be the Life Extension Program Project at the Niagara Power Project’s Lewiston Pump Generator Plant. The project incorporates many engineering disciplines: electrical, mechanical, civil, and even some chemical. The project requires the team members to have a broad working knowledge of the various pieces of equipment and the processes they involve to run functionally as well as an understanding of the process involved in their repair/remanufacturing. Together the cross functional team needs to work in parallel, trusting that each contributor will satisfy their requirements in time and defect free, in order to achieve the long list of objectives that this project entails. The biggest challenge for me was digesting all the new information and developing relationships with the various members of the large multidiscipline team.”
Michael also feels strongly about keeping up to date both technically and technologically. “Read, don’t let a day go by without keeping your ‘ear to the ground’. Things evolve faster today than they ever did. Technical advancements are constantly reshaping the industry as we know it. If you fall asleep you might miss the bus. Subscribe to engineering newsletters, read related industry feeds, attend new trainings and seminars when you can. ‘Never stop learning’ is one piece of advice that everyone should use, not just the engineer. Stay abreast to changes so that you can adapt as the industry adapts, because if you don’t, someone else will.”
On the satisfaction of being an engineer, Michael mentioned, “Two items that I find most satisfying about engineering that I wouldn’t find in other types of work are the ability to solve real world problems and the ability to solve those real-world problems utilizing your own creativity and understanding of newly engineered solutions and technologies. Engineering work is highly varied, challenging and founded on the latest, cutting-edge information. This is because the work is influenced by changes in technology, science, business, and the planet. Being an engineer means you must stay aware and adaptive to new technologies, business processes and science if you want to solve the problems in question with the best modern engineered approach. I don’t think any other industry gives you the freedom to solve a problem with such a wide range of potential solutions. You can be as creative as you want to be as an engineer, and that ability to be so creative gives a strong sense of satisfaction…along with a nice paycheck. It’s like being an artist with a better salary forecast.”
