National Engineers Week: Meet Devon MarcAurele
At Avangrid, we’re accelerating transformation for our customers and communities by pioneering a brighter energy future. In honor of National Engineers Week, we are highlighting the brilliant minds behind the innovations we’re making. Meet Devon MarcAurele, Supervisor – Interconnections.
What is your current role?
Supervisor – Interconnections for NY supporting both New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas & Electric. I oversee distributed energy resources (DER) impact studies that determine the impact and upgrades necessary to interconnect these customers to our system. I also am responsible for driving policy changes internally and externally in New York regarding DER study methodologies. This includes fundamentally changing how the state reviews battery energy storage systems.
What made you pursue engineering and why did you choose the energy industry?
I come from a family of engineers. My mother has always been who I aspire to be. She is a nuclear engineer by trade and bounced between Operations in the power plant and System Engineering. Early in my career I was following her footsteps and even took over some of her systems during my brief time with Dominion. My family advised me that nuclear power was a dying industry, and I found a passion in power. I happened to find myself in a DER Planning job at Eversource and loved the pace of being in Planning.
What drew you to Avangrid?
Opportunities and investment in personnel. Previously working for the other utility in Connecticut, I was naturally drawn to Avangrid and knew plenty of people who had made the switch. Many of my friends have exceled since coming to Avangrid and the same is true for me. I appreciate Avangrid’s investment in training and providing resources to help employees excel.
Can you share an example of a project or idea you have been working that you’re particularly proud of?
Every day in planning is critical to shaping the energy future. Our states have aggressive decarbonization goals. Most of these investments are taking place on the distribution system. Interconnections is critical for bridging the gap to the long-term solutions that Distribution Planning is working on to support electrification and integration of DERs. Every DER project or every EV charger my team gets online is a step closer to meeting the state energy goals.
What aspects of your work as an engineer do you find most rewarding and why?
Being able to see your work from inception to being built. I love seeing the designs I recommend get built in the field. I often find myself driving around looking at the new circuit, new devices, etc. that I proposed be built in the field. It also feels good to see the project get built and could be interconnected to the system. It is also good to see that solution go online without issues, meaning you ran the study with the correct assumptions!
What is unique, special, or interesting about your job?
In Interconnections, every day is different. I love waking up to new challenges with every study being different. The fast pace and unique nature of customer interconnections keeps every day different and makes the days fly by! Plus, doing interconnection studies exposes you to different parts of the company and allows you to get a general knowledge of other disciplines (such as SP&C, Distribution Engineering, Substation Engineering, etc.).
What advice do you have for young people interested in pursuing a career in engineering?
Be a sponge. Absorb whatever knowledge and skills you can get. Always seek out new learning opportunities. Don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone. Soft skills are also crucial such as public speaking and writing. A great idea only works if you can clearly define and convince approvers that it is a good idea. Know your audience. There will be times you need to define complex engineering issues into layman’s terms.
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