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ELECTRICAL ENGINEER INTERVIEW
Meet Beatriz Mendez Lora, the president and CEO of M-P Consultants

Please share your name, title, and a description of your job responsibilities.
My name is Beatriz Mendez Lora. I am the president and CEO of M-P Consultants, an electrical and systems/communication consulting engineering company. I provide my clients the best solutions and technology for their projects, whether it is new construction, expansions, or improvements to their existing facilities. For the past decade or so, I have concentrated mostly in the transit industry, designing electrical systems for light rail and commuter rail projects.

There are various aspects of what an electrical engineer may design for these types of projects: traction power substations, overhead contact systems, head end power systems, signaling systems, platform electrical and communications, and maintenance facilities. I primarily focus on the head end power, platform, and maintenance facility side of the designs for transit. That would include power distribution, heating, lighting, security, passenger information, and fare collection systems.

In the past, I was heavily involved in the electrical design of water and wastewater treatment facilities. Unlike transit, the design is mostly concentrated on motors, pump controls, power distribution, emergency power design, lighting, fire alarming, security, and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems. Although the two industries are not directly related to each other, the engineering is mostly the same, except the codes differ. Becoming familiar with the applicable codes to a particular industry is key. Applying the codes to the design theory is what sets the two industry design models apart.

What is a typical day like at your job?
Usually, we all work a core of eight hours a day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with some flexibility. But my hours can be erratic at times. I will put in whatever hours that are required to get the job done. There have been several times that we have put in a 24-hour day to meet a deadline. There aren't many of those, but I have personally seen a few sunrises from my desk.

Our particular type of engineering is in the construction industry. We put together plans and specifications for construction. Therefore, we have two primary stages of work that our clients hire us for: design and construction support services. During design, we primarily work from an office developing the plans and specifications. If the project involves work in an existing facility, we make field inspections to annotate the existing conditions and how they will affect our design or address any constraints that the contractor may encounter during design. Once the design is done, bid, and awarded to a contractor, we put on our hard hats and get into construction oversight mode. We meet with the contractor and review materials such as shop drawings to verify that the contractor is furnishing the materials that were intended for that project application. The contractor may have questions during construction that will require the engineer to clarify the means and methods of the design and facilitate the construction. At times, during these processes, there will be a change due to an unexpected circumstance, so the engineer will work with the contractor to ensure delivery of a successful project to the client. It really is a start-to-finish process, where a concept becomes a reality.

How did you get started working in this field?
I was always good at — and loved — math and science. My dad was a civil engineer who designed wastewater treatment plants, and my mom worked for the same company in the electrical group as one of their drafters.

I knew I wanted to major in engineering since the ninth grade. I went to a private all-girl school where class sizes were small. I had some really great math and science teachers. Fast forward: after graduating from college with an electrical engineering degree, my first job landed in my lap quite miraculously. I went to work for an environmental engineering company, designing electrical and control systems for wastewater and water treatment facilities. I had some really great mentors and learned a lot in those eight years.

Eventually, I decided to leave and start my own consulting company. I saw a niche for qualified electrical engineering consulting companies that were certified minority and woman-owned companies. I continued working in the municipal industry for a few more years, but luck again steered my company toward Minnesota's first light rail project and then Minnesota's first commuter rail project. It was the commuter rail project where sustainability played a major role in our designs. Since then, I have become more and more invested in providing energy-saving solutions, innovative lighting alternatives, and investigating alternative methods of power generation. I truly am blessed to be a part of this profession. I love the people I work with and the clients I am privileged to serve. Every day is a learning opportunity.

What sort of training or education do you have?
I graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering. I am a registered Professional Engineer (PE) in various states. A lot of the training in terms of what it takes to be a successful consulting electrical engineer came through on-the-job experience. Most of the knowledge learned in college was theoretical and is applied in some aspects of our work, but most of the work I do deals more with various codes, like the National Electrical Code and the Fire and Life Safety Code. You don't learn about codes in school. Our designs primarily affect the public's safety, and we must be cognizant of that fact.

As part of our registration regulations, we are required to attend 24 or more hours — depending on the state's regulations to maintain the registration — of continuing education. In addition to the ongoing education, it is important to take the initiative to do research on your own about what engineers in other parts of the world are doing. I'm amazed sometimes how much more progressive Europe can be with their technology than the United States. For example, the other day I was reading that five to seven percent of Europe's energy is derived from wind power. In the United States, only two percent is derived from wind. We have different regulations and testing procedures that our products have to pass before we start to apply them.

And when I was first looking at LED (light emitting diode) for my projects, I found many examples where this technology had been implemented in Europe. Yet I wasn't yet able to get lighting vendors to provide me with that technology here. LED is a semiconductor device that emits a visible light when electric current passes through it. In some markets, it has been found to be more energy efficient and to have a longer lamp life than fluorescent lighting and high-intensity discharge lighting (lighting used for outdoor parking lots, outdoor street lighting, etc.).

What sort of tools, machines, or equipment do you use regularly?
I mostly use a computer. Our electronic drafting work is done with AutoCAD or Microstation. We also use Microsoft Office for writing specifications and spreadsheets for calculations and cost estimating. We use some specialty software for running additional calculations. We use a light meter on occasion to verify our designs or to record existing light-levels so that we can use the information to discuss options with our clients for improving the quality of lighting.

I also rely heavily on my smart phone when I'm traveling. I have used it in the field to open files, photographs, word documents, e-mails, or even websites for discussions with other field engineers, clients, and contractors. Technology is great.

What skills or personal qualities are good for this job?
You must be willing to learn throughout this type of career. This is not a career where all your knowledge is acquired the first five years and you're done learning. Technology is constantly changing. Only a few years ago, LED lighting was not even an option. Now in the past year, technology has rendered it more and more efficient. You must also be willing to learn from your mistakes. No one is perfect. Acknowledging your error, correcting it, and learning from it is essential. I also believe that in order to succeed, you must work hard.

Also, because we work with a wide range of clients and other consulting engineers and architects, communication and personal skills are key. Not everyone will understand the technical intricacies of what you may want to say. Therefore, being able to convey a concept to a client or to discuss solutions with other engineers in a clear manner is crucial.

Listening is also key. People want to know that you are as invested in their project as they are, and that you are providing them with the best solution possible. If you listen to your client and understand what the ultimate goal is, then you can successfully meet their expectations.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
The three things I enjoy most about my job are: number one, working with a wide variety of people because I'm a people person. And two, sitting across from a client and hearing, "Wow, I really like that idea!" And finally, three is seeing the final product. I really enjoy when the design has been finalized, construction has finished, and the facility is up and operational. I enjoy looking at a tangible project and knowing that I had something to do with it.

How does your job benefit the environment?
Primarily, we look at energy savings. What type of energy-efficient equipment can we specify that will save on energy costs? How can we implement a control scheme that will provide operational cost benefits? What other methods of energy can we use other than electric? Lighting is a good example. There are many different types of light sources and controls that can be used to achieve a specific goal. We also look at the architectural elements and work with those to provide a lighting control scheme that will provide the client with energy savings by utilizing natural daylight as much as possible to minimize the need for artificial light. Our latest project, a light rail system under construction in the Twin Cities, utilized LED lighting for all the platforms. Our energy consumption for the platform lighting is approximately one-third of what a similar platform lighting plan would have been using conventional fluorescent and metal halide lighting.

Are there any common misconceptions about this type of work?
That's a tough question. I guess most people are surprised that I'm an electrical engineer. So the one misconception is what an electrical engineer is supposed to look like. We are not all pocket-protecting geeks! In fact, most of us are not. The only misconception of the type of work that we do — consulting engineering — may be that it's boring. It's not. Every project has its challenges. Whether it's the tree the client wants to keep or designing a system that surpasses an energy audit guideline. Every site is different. What may have worked fine at a one site, may not work at another site.

What changes in this field do you expect to see in the future?
I'm expecting to see LED lighting get more and more efficient, and perhaps also see changes in other light source efficiencies. I also expect to see more solar energy designs within our types of facilities, whether it's installing solar panels to store energy for lighting transit platforms or larger systems to provide power for an entire facility. And I'm hoping to see more wind energy utilization.

I'm also hoping to see more regenerative braking power capturing equipment instead of utility company dependent energy. Recently, a car company advertisement talked about regenerative braking technology with respect to a roller coaster. They explained how the energy-recovery mechanism would take the energy — that normally would have been dissipated as heat during the braking process — and store it so that it could be re-used. In transit, with light rail vehicles, this is very possible.

Competition in an industry is a wonderful thing. Once one company advances, it pushes their competitors to push that envelope even further.

What is your advice to someone interested in this field?
I suggest enrolling in an engineering program that will provide you with the essential knowledge. I also suggest that the summer jobs during the college years be spent as an intern at an engineering company. Not only will that give you a jump start on recruitment for a permanent job when you graduate, but it will also give you the opportunity to work at various types of companies and give you a perspective of how one firm may differ from another. If possible, enter a college that has a co-op program where the curriculum is divided into classroom teaching and other semesters are spent in the field training by working for a consulting firm, a construction company, a research and development department, etc. Co-op programs provide an opportunity to learn and help pay for college tuition.

Even though I chose consulting engineering, perhaps consulting engineering is not a career path that appeals to everyone. There are different jobs that an engineer can pursue, such as research and development, technical sales, and construction inspection to name a few. Even within the electrical engineering discipline, there are so many different career paths one can pursue. For example, you'll find electrical engineers specializing in telecommunications, power generation, power distribution, computer systems, signaling, electromagnetic, and even biomedical engineering. The options are endless.

Last word of advice, if you do enter into a field of consulting engineering, a professional registration is required.

Any final thoughts you'd like to add?
I enjoy taking a concept, putting it on paper, and seeing it being built. I do enjoy when a client walks away from a project happy that we have found solutions that meet their criteria, save them money, reduce their yearly maintenance costs, and are energy efficient and good for our environment. A pat on the back is a "job well done."