Meet Team Member Alaina Tango-An

Alaina has joined the Energenecs team as a Project Manager after recently marrying and moving across the state. A Project Manager is responsible for the design, management and profit & loss of controls and I&C based projects, from inception through start-up and acceptance. Each project adheres to Energenecs design standards as much as possible, though projects will have their own variation allowing for creative or alternative designs and solutions.

What is your background?

After graduating, I worked for a healthcare software company as a client manager and also provided technical support. I married this summer and moved back across the state, so I was looking for a job in the Milwaukee area as an electrical engineer before joining Energenecs.

How would you describe your job?

I work with the electrical side of the control projects that Energenecs provides. I design panels and systems and coordinate the installation of those with our customers, contractors, service techs and programmers to make sure everything goes smoothly. There is a lot of coordination required on these projects.

I work with our panel fabricators in our UL shop and with drafting who provides the CAD drawings. I really appreciate having all of their expertise, and they feel comfortable to come to me with suggestions. It’s a big team effort!

When designing panels, sometimes I’ll have specs from the engineering firm to go off of, so I can go line by line and incorporate everything into the panel. Other times we work directly with municipalities so I will get the specs off of the proposal which lists the different components that the customer wants. Each job has its own requirements but they all contain the same core elements, such as the power components and the programming logic controller (PLC). Not only do I need to make sure that we meet technical requirements but I also need to make sure that the system will function as desired which may require component and or design modifications.

I am in the process of designing an upgrade of a mid-sized water control system for a suburb of Appleton, WI. A new water storage reservoir is being built, and I am designing the control panels and variable frequency drives that will operate the pumps in the new reservoir. Not only are there new panels being installed, there are also existing controls that must be integrated and modified to fit the new construction and processes. Several new measurement devices, valves, and switches (specifically water level sensors, flow meters, a flow switch, and solenoid valve) are also being added as part of this project.

Another very exciting large project I am working on with others at Energenecs is for our hometown in Saukville. It is a comprehensive upgrade of their wastewater treatment plant controls and SCADA software, as well as upgrades to the water distribution well houses, water storage towers and lift stations.

How long does a typical project take?

I just closed out a project, it didn’t have any panel design, just field work, field programming and installation which took about three months. But I have several that have to wait for approval from an engineer, waiting for all the components to arrive in the shop, plus the building and programming. I would say projects typically take about six months on average.

What do you do in your spare time?

I really like to craft and recently made decorations this Christmas. I also like to do calligraphy, making signs and playing the piano. At work I use the analytical side of my brain and at home I like to exercise my creative side.