Rona Mitchell

"My personality types are: developer, explorer, innovator. These are all very helpful to me as much of my job involves developing innovative projects. As a result of being persistent and helpful, I am is able to get other people to work together effectively to finish projects on time and within budget. As an explorer, I am understanding, helpful and passionate about sharing knowledge. This helps me to keep people interested in what I'm working on - it also means I can get the most out of people that I collaborate with. Within my job, I'm good at spotting errors and unforeseen consequences, helping to ensure that my work conforms to regulations and that the public is not put at risk."

"As an Innovation Project Lead, my job is to lead projects which test out innovative technologies or ways of working – evaluating whether it makes sense for UK Power Networks to transition them to business. Much of my role involves speaking to different people in the business to understand what innovations could help them in their jobs and helping to build the business case for trying something new. I have worked on various topics such as power cuts, software, vulnerable customers, drones...it has been very diverse! "

"I was lucky to get relevant engineering work experience in my summer holidays – it is a really great way to prove your interest in the field and investigate whether it's right for you. My first post-university job was for an oil and gas company. I was made redundant from this job when the company got into trouble from the oil industry crash. While I was looking for a new job, I took a temp job working for an opticians and loved doing something completely different.I then started working for UK Power Networks and have been here since 2016.A key inspiration for me was my dad, who is a mining engineer, and my mum, who is a nurse and wanted to help people. I feels that working in the energy industry means I can do both! "

"In my spare time I like to do different sports – bouldering, touch rugby, swimming and running. I'm also part of a public speaking club which I enjoy. I have a dog and a little boy who was born in 2021. I returned to work after my maternity leave really keen to get stuck back into things, but I chose to work part time so I have a bit more time for family life.In the future, I see myself continuing to work as an engineer in the energy industry. I would like to become a chartered engineer in the next few years and perhaps move into a more technical role."

"I spend most of my time working on different projects – I'm currently juggling 4. My days vary, sometimes I will have meetings with the commercial team to develop plans or I will work with technical specialist to develop detailed specifications and requirements. In addition to this, I sometimes get the opportunity to go on site for testing and installation. I enjoy the job because I'm helping the UK transition to a low-carbon economy. "

"I completed secondary school in Canada. Whilst I have no A-levels, I have a high school diploma including college credits for a number of ‘Advanced Placement’ courses. I studied a general Engineering degree (MEng) and then applied for various graduate schemes across the energy industry."