Professional InterviewInterviewee: Kate Ngo

Interviewee Field: Mechanical Engineering

Interviewer: Michael Diaz
Class: Principles of Engineering
Block: 4th Block
Date of Interview: October 21st, 2015
Date of Submission: October 29th, 2015
Location of Interview: Starbucks off of Anderson
Mill and 620

Interviewee name: Kate Ngo

Interviewees degree: Mechanical Engineering

Interviewees place of employment: Powerfin Partners
Interviewees business email address: kngo@powerfinpartners.com
Initial Contact: I met her at church.

Michael Diaz: Your name is Kate Ngo, right?

Kate Ngo: Yes
Michael Diaz: Okay cool, whats your specific degree?
Kate Ngo: Its in mechanical Engineering
Michael Diaz: Okay, where is your place of employment?
Kate Ngo: Its a firm called Powerfin Partners, *proceeds to spell it for me
as I write it*, and we are a solar development firm.
Michael Diaz: Do you have a professional email address?
Kate Ngo: I do! Its, um, k-n-g-o, at powerfin partners, all one word, dot
com.
Michael Diaz: Uh, Please describe the field of engineering you are in in
general.
Kate Ngo: Okay, certainly, um, so, doing solar design or engineering, um,
youre applying a lot of different skills. So, I dont think there are degrees in
solar engineering I know theres degrees now in renewable engineering but
youre bringing together a lot of different components. Um, certainly it is
very heavy in electrical engineering, but then there are other components.
There are civil, where you are looking at the terrain that youre actually
installing because we do utility scale. Um, and so when youre looking at that
youre looking at grade, topology. Youre looking at the, um, soil types, so
youre doing so geologic research and so on top of that youve got your
mechanical. Youre putting in racking, you have to know all of your material
science, know your forces, we do wind loading, stress tests, and even when it
comes down to how do you secure solar panels onto that racking, you have
to do kind of finite element analysis to understand how the loads interacting
on the panels are affecting your clamp points. Because you can have a stress
build up at those points, right? And then obviously the electrical. SO you
have direct current electrical, and then you are using an inverter to
transform that to AC. Um, alternating current, and thats typically low voltage

but then you use your transformer to step it up to medium or high voltage.
And then on top of that youre interacting with the electrical grid and so
youre having to figure out how you interconnect your system to the overall
grid and insuring one, that there are safety features in place to disconnect
from the grid if necessary, and then two how do you get more power into the
grid while not destabilizing it. So um, theres a lot of considerations when
you look at the project as a whole. Which is why its so interesting because
you get to apply all these different engineering focuses and bring them and
bring them together.
Michael Diaz: Okay cool, thank you! Very interesting. So what is your
current job title?
Kate Ngo: I am the vice president of engineering and operations for my
firm.
Michael Diaz: Oh wow, interesting. Please describe your particular job and
duties.
Kate Ngo: That will be the hardest question you ask me! So I oversee a
team of engineers who honestly get more into the details than I do these
days because a lot of my job at the moment, entails more strategic thinking
on how to implement the program. So if youre saying were going to roll out
800 roof top solar systems, yes, the engineering of each system has to be
done. But then looking at a more strategic level, you have to say things like:
well if these are going to operate for 25 years, then I need to choose
equipment that meets the power requirements but that also has warranties
that match the lifetime of how long were selling power for. After I got my
engineering degree, and worked for 5 to 6 years in the industry, I went back
and got my MBA. So this job that I have right now really brings these two
worlds together. You know, youre trying to understand an inverter, how does
its, um, functionality work with the grid, and how is it boosting power when
sunlight is low. But when you kind of have to marry those requirements of
your equipment, to: its a great piece of equipment, but it only has a life span
of 10 years and so I need it to last for 25 years. And so thats going to affect
my bottom line because Ill have to buy new equipment in 10 years so
maybe its not the best choice for implementing even though its the highest
functioning piece of equipment, its going to cost me more in the long run.
So, I bet youre learning already that engineering has many constraints and
so it always has a tradeoff. And so right now at this point, I have a much
more strategic view of how do we deploy this in a way that makes sense
from a functionality but also a business sense. So a lot of contracts
involved.
Michael Diaz: Wow. I bet. So, what is your average work schedule?

Kate Ngo: *Deep contemplative breath* I would say that my average work
day I begin early. I start at 6:00 am or so. And, I have about 3 hours in the
morning, where nobody shows up, and so, no one comes to work until 9:00
am except for me, so I use those three hours in the morning to do my actual
engineering so Ill design systems, I will lay them out I will review the work
from my engineers that come across my desk, um, and then when 9:00 hits,
thats when I start I with all my, business management, meetings, and
contract work. Its mostly just compiling a bunch of work for different
functions within the business. Then the rest of the day I spendmeeting
suppliers, talking with customers, talking with lawyers. Doesnt sound like
much fun but, thats basically how my day goes.
Michael Diaz: So, starting with high school, describe your educational back
ground chronologically.
Kate Ngo: Chronologically?! Weeeell, when I was in kindergarten- no Im
just kidding, starting at high school. So, um, in high school, I started taking
some of the more advanced-Ive always liked math and science. Thats not to
say I was excellent at them, but Ive always liked them. So when I started in
high school. I started taking as advanced courses as I was able to. So, I
followed that track. I always like biology and physics, not chemistry as much,
but, thats just what I found interesting and so I always took the AP courses.
That was pretty much all we had back then were the AP courses. And I just
kind of followed that all the way through high school. Im trying to think of
what else. I didnt really do any internships, I did however one summer, I
worked out at a Cub Scout camp, and I was their maintenance crew. And so
that was a really cool job. I didnt expect it, like I wanted to be a counselor,
and they were like: well people usually start in the maintenance job. But it
was really fun. Like I was in charge of fixing things that broke at the camp. I
mean I had to take out the trash and things like that too, but then when all
the chores were done, they were like oh: the irrigation system is broken, why
dont you go take a look at it. That was one of the coolest jobs Ive had in my
life. Like even looking back. It helped that I got to drive a golf cart around.
There were just so many things to do and explore. Other than that my high
school career was pretty normal.
Michael Diaz: How about college?
Kate Ngo: Oh yeah, college. *long pause* I guess the best part to start
with is when you have to choose a major. Which is, kind of, the beginning, to
middle summerish time when you go and you are kind of introduced to your
options and the classes. I remember going and saying I was interested in
engineering in a way that helped the environment. And so my advisor was
like: Oh, you want to do environmental engineering. And I was like yes, and
they said: Thats in the college of civil engineering. You know designing water

treatment plants and such. And I was like: No, no thats not quite what I had
in mind. And so I was utterly at a loss and had to choose a major this day.
And I remembering going out to lunch and there were a lot of other families
there and we came across another family that had a son that was two or
three years older. And he was like, whats your major? And I go, I dont
know honestly. And he convinced me to do mechanical engineering. He said
you learn a little about everything. And so when we got back from lunch I
went to mechanical engineering building and it was kind of like finding home.
Like they had tables with just engine parts lying around. And like robotics lab
and an engine lab. And I was like, yeah, this is definitely for me. And I
mean, I really like college, it was really a good fit for me, um, I liked going to
classes. Some were challenging, some were awful, some were better, some
were interesting, I tried not to fall asleep in others, but the teamwork
involved and the teams you put together and the projects youd be given
were really fantastic. Working in the labs, it was a lot of fun. I did have
internships every summer. I worked at Motorola, I worked in various
departments for 3 of those summers. I worked for one of my professors who
had a grant from the department of energy and we did audits on
manufacturing departments. *Long pause* that pretty much covers it.
Michael Diaz: If you had a do over to your career or education, would you
do anything differently?
Kate Ngo: Good question. Huh, *very long pause* you know Im not one of
those people who have regrets in the way I do things cause I guess I believe
strongly that the path you take as long as you feel like youre being true to
yourself, is never a wrong path to take. Maybe I would have made it into
renewable energy sooner than I would have but then I would have missed
this whole other aspect of my career in Silicon Valley. So, I dont want to skip
the question Michael, but no I probably wouldnt have done anything
differently.
Michael Diaz: Thats cool and valid. And finally, what advice would you
give to me as someone who is interested in pursuing a career path similar to
yours?
Kate Ngo: Well, I guess I have a question back for you.
Michael Diaz: Yes maam?
Kate Ngo: What do you want to do?
Michael Diaz: Im interested in like, civil, mechanical, and nuclear. Its very
broad based but Im just kind of looking into that overall vicinity of
degrees.

Kate Ngo: Alright hearing that I would say do as many things as you can. I
know that kind of sounds like a cope out answer but I mean that was also
excellent advice I got from my uncle. His advice was Dont take a vertical
path. Take a horizontal path so that you do engineering, you do
manufacturing, you do finance, you do sales. And if you can learn lessons in
each of those areas, that as you grow into a career, youll do so much better
in what you want than anyone else who took the more straightforward path.
Dont be afraid to try things that are outside what is expected of you.
Because youll be so much happier in the long run. That way if you find
something you dont like, you have different choices you can follow. Thats
my advice to anyone thats kind of in your position starting out. So if you like
all those things, do all those things. Try and find out where you are most
comfortable.
Michael Diaz: Okay, thank you for meeting with me today!
Kate Ngo: No problem! Thank you for setting up this interview.
Michael Diaz: My pleasure.

Personal Reflection:
a) What surprised you the most about the interview?
I was surprised by the ease of the interview. After a few nervous
minutes I eventually calmed down and became a lot more comfortable.
I believe this actually helped in the end. Another factor that may have
helped this was the fact that all I had to do was listen and not really
say much during the interview. This helped calm my nerves a lot.
b) What was the most important piece of information that you learned
from the interview?
I believe the most important thing I learned was that it is important to
try different types of engineering to figure out what I want to do. Like
her advice to take classes. Beforehand I was set on doing one thing
and not differing but her talk has made me want to try new things and
discover new roles and jobs I could look into.
c) How has this interview influence your feelings about your future
career?

I feel more confident about choosing a field. I feel that if nothing else
works, I can take mechanical engineering and get a taste of every type
of engineering even if its just a little. This has definitely influenced me
to be more confident and a little less stressed about college and
choosing a major.
d) How has this interview changed or confirmed your plans regarding your
future career?
I am still going to look into Civil and Nuclear engineering as planned
before. This interview has not really changed my views or plans except
that I have added mechanical engineering as a sort of last resort if I
find the other two non-interesting. Otherwise, my plans are mostly the
same.
e) What is the next step for you to pursue your plans? Who do you need
to talk to? What information do you need?
The main next step for me to pursue my plans is to mostly just keep
my grades up so that I can get into a good engineering school. I would
like to talk to either a civil or nuclear engineer so I could get a taste for
what I would do and what the job is like along with information you
need to know. Information wise I would like some descriptors and ideas
about where to go to college for certain degrees and just some basic
knowledge on the engineering types I am interested in. Other than that
I think I am currently on the right track.