Name: Mridula Unni

Birthplace: Bloomington, IN

Major: Electrical Engineering

Student Classification: Sophomore

Name and location of company where you are on co-op: Duke Energy in Plainfield, IN

Job duties: Working in Transmission Planning, which primarily works with voltages between 69kV and 345kV. I assist the engineers with tasks that usually involve connecting new substations to Duke’s transmission system. I help draw maps and diagrams of prospective line or substation changes, additions, and retirements. I also perform some cost analysis by working very closely with the Economic Development department to assess new projects and see how the system will be impacted. Lastly, I conduct impedance reviews for studies, in order to help keep Duke’s Midwest main data index updated and test the feasibility of a new stress on the system. 

Why did you want to do this co-op/What do you hope to gain from the experience? Through this co-op I was really hoping to explore a field of electrical engineering that was critical to the community and our daily lives. I wanted to be able to see the direct impacts of the work I was doing, and I can through Duke Energy. They also offered a lot of great benefits and valuable work experience, where I could work in a new department every rotation.

Have you done other co-ops/internships as an ECE student? I worked as a lab assistant in a controls lab working with GPS signals. They were trying to create an internal measuring unit that could detect if a signal had been spoofed and would be able to ignore it if it was.

What are your ultimate career goals? Ultimately, I would love to be able to work in a field of electrical engineering where I could see my work helping people. Whether that’s at Duke Energy or somewhere else, I’m not sure yet, but I would want to be in a position where I would be able to use my engineering skills every day, and maybe one day have a management position so that I could lead a team. 

 

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