City of Seattle, WA
09/09/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/09/2024 10:43
Seattle City (spot)Light: Mariah Kenny, Electrical Engineer
The Basics
How long have you been at City Light? I worked as a contract engineer at Seattle City Light for a little over a year before transitioning to be an official City Light engineer in July 2018. That makes it officially six years, or seven, if you count contracting. I'm lucky to have worked in a few divisions and work groups, including Joint Use & Wireless Engineering, Asset Management & Large Projects (now Project Delivery), and Distribution Services Engineering.
Division: Engineering & Technology Operations
Tell us about your role. As an electrical engineer in North Distribution Services, I design how buildings, both large and small, get connected to our electrical grid. I am a project engineer and work with our customers to design electrical services that meets their needs while also maintaining our design standards and the integrity of our electrical system. This includes anything from rewiring an electrical service for a residential customer adding an EV charger to designing a new service for a large commercial and/or residential building that requires high-voltage power and large transformers to be brought onto the property.
My day-to-day changes often, which keeps it interesting. I spend time in the field, create cost estimates, determine necessary materials for my projects, work with our crews to understand the feasibility of construction or engineering designs, check my peers' projects, draw designs in AutoCAD, review City Light construction standards, document processes, collaborate with our customers (architects, developers, electricians, residents, etc.), coordinate with other City agencies for permitting and right-of-way vault/duct bank designs, review customers' requests to add solar power to their homes, and the list goes on and on!
Background
Hometown: Kissimmee, Fla.
Alma mater: University of Central Florida
Discipline/Trade of study: Electrical engineering
Tell us about your family/pets: My family is spread out across the East Coast. I am a proud "Aunt Iah" to my two nieces and nephew. No pets, but A LOT of house plants!
just for fun
What's the most exciting thing you've done recently? Earlier this year, I went on the trip of a lifetime to explore Chile with the goal of backpacking through Patagonia on the W Trek in Torres Del Paine National Park. The trip was filled with so much hiking (about 60 miles in five days to be exact), exploring a glacier, swimming in waterfalls, seeing penguins in their natural habitat, and probably the best weather I could have hoped for. There was so much sunshine! It was such a rewarding experience.
What's a place you've always wanted to visit, but haven't had the chance to yet? The Dolomites in Italy, a trip to Banff to hike/backpack the Canadian Rockies, and more South America (Peru/Argentina) are very high on the list!!
What is your hidden talent or hobby? My hobbies are hiking, backpacking, and cycling!
I am a certified indoor cycling instructor and teach classes on weeknights at my local gym for fun. As much as I love road biking outside, I also love riding in a dark room with loud music! I love my gym community and am so lucky to be a part of it.
I am also a volunteer for the Snoqualmie Fire Lookouts Association and spend a few weekends during the summer as a volunteer fire lookout. As volunteers, we backpack up and stay in the lookouts, scan for fires, perform maintenance on the lookouts, and interact with the public who hike up to the lookouts. I spotted my first fire last summer at Kelly Butte lookout and called in a smoke report to the forest service. A helicopter was sent and dumped water on the fire!
What's your favorite way to spend a rainy day?
I spend my rainy days playing games and reading! I play Dungeons and Dragons with friends and thoroughly enjoy strategy board/card games. I could play an endless amount of cribbage! I also have been working on reading (and listening to) more books. I am a little over halfway through my reading goal for the year at 42/60 books!