‘It may be hard to find women role models, but they’re out there’

I’ve been working in the field of power systems for over four years, and it still feels like I have just started. After my bachelor’s degree, I had two main interests: Energy and artificial intelligence (AI), and I was keen to learn how to combine these two reasonably different fields. I started my master’s degree in Electrical Power Engineering at TU Delft in the Netherlands with exactly this hope. Starting a technical degree like this can be daunting, but the excitement, adrenaline, and some lovely people got me through it.

I think the most significant opportunity I had when I first started was meeting smart and like-minded people with the same interests and passion, from professors and PhD students at the same university to my fellow students. But one thing that always stood out was the lack of enough girls in the classroom. It was a ratio of about 20 to 80. And I think that’s a self-perpetuating cycle. The fact that girls don’t take up these fields because there’s a sense that there aren’t any women to learn from or look up to – and vice versa.

One key piece of advice I’ve always relied on is to surround yourself with smart and kind people who will inspire you. I've been fortunate to have always had great mentors and managers. I’ve always felt that working with people who inspire me makes me constantly want to learn and grow. And in some ways, it may be hard to find women role models, but they’re out there. It’s so helpful to get out to networking events, attend workshops and webinars, cold email people if you have to, and find mentors who inspire you and those who have a lot of knowledge to impart and experience to draw from.

Another thing that helped me during my career to date is zeroing in on my passion. Because I pursued something I was genuinely interested in, I've always enjoyed what I do. I always look for ways to improve and learn in the same field, and it helps that the energy industry is evolving rapidly. So, personally, my career has always been driven by my interest and passion for the field.

The solar industry, in particular, seems to be more accessible to women, potentially because it feels like a “newer” industry. It doesn’t feel age-old like the traditional sector of oil and gas. We have the opportunity to be flag bearers to the entire energy industry as we need as many people as possible contributing to support the energy transition. We need to champion these causes, and work really hard over the next few decades to reach climate goals and targets nationally and globally – and who better to champion them than women who’ve been doing it for centuries and generations?!

Medha Subramanian is a Senior Power Systems Engineer at Elgin Energy, in Dublin, Ireland. She focuses on Power System Modelling across various markets, tool development and automation, and the use of AI for Power Systems. Prior to this, she worked with Smart Wires which is a Grid Enhancing Technology company, where she focussed on power system modeling across a range of software platforms to optimize power flow control devices. An electrical engineer by education, she has a master’s degree from TU Delft, Netherlands where she specialized in Smart AC and DC Grids. She worked with TenneT, the Dutch Transmission System Operator for her thesis which focussed on using AI to deal with power system congestion.

Interested in joining Medha Subramanian and other women industry leaders and experts at Women in Solar Europe? Find out more: www.wiseu.network

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