An enthusiastic engineer explains how a miscommunication when he was younger carved out his career.
Mikolaj Kukawski, who lives in Scunthorpe, is a Delivery Engineer for Northern Powergrid, working in the Major Projects team, and has been in his role for five years.
The 40-year-old has a master’s degree in electrical engineering and is incredibly passionate about his role at Northern Powergrid.
His day job sees the father-of-two working on some of the largest substations in the Humber area, replacing older assets, expanding the network for homes and businesses, and making sure the current network is fit for purpose.
One day he could be laying cabling that operates at 132kV, the next he could be working at height or making critical decisions about the operation of the network.
The variety of the role is what keeps it fresh to Miki after all these years.
Alongside Miki’s day job, he is also called in for major incident cover when a storm arrives, meaning his whole day can be turned around by the direction of the wind.
That’s why it’s so important for Miki to be organised in his role and have everything planned down to fine details because although you might get warned about the weather, you never know how it can impact the network.
Miki said “I started my career back in Poland where I did my master’s degree in electrical engineering at Technical University of Lublin. When I was younger my mum suggested I picked this faculty over physics because it sounded like something to do with computers – I guess she wasn’t entirely wrong.
“I used to work for a Private Networks O&M company that covered all of UK and saw me spend lots of time away from home, working at Northern Powergrid means I get to use my skills to better my local area and I love that.
“In my role I am surrounded by people who are incredibly knowledgeable in their roles, so if I ever find myself stuck, I know that they can look at my problem and give me honest helpful advice.
“Working for Northern Powergrid means you get to see the best practice of your trade both in the people and in the process that are there to keep you safe, this is something that initial attracted me to the role.
“I like all the planning that goes into my work, it might mean that you are thinking about things that can be happening weeks, months or even years in the future but planning for every eventuality is part of the job for critical infrastructure projects of this size.
“We are always solving puzzles and problems, thinking of new and different ways of making our network work for all of our customers.”
David Sillito, Head of Major Projects for Northern Powergrid, said “The passion that Miki has for his job and teaching others is invaluable in our department.
“I know that he is always going to go the extra mile and work incredibly hard for our customers every day, whether he is doing his normal work or helping out during a major incident.
“In Major Projects, we design, plan and deliver long term projects to ensure the future capacity and reliability of the network.
“Our projects often cost millions of pounds and serve thousands of customers, so we must ensure that we deliver quality and reliability through every step of the process.”
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