Pushing boundaries to impact future generations

Managing high voltage equipment is all in a day’s work for our senior engineer Tan Jie Yi. She works in the Transmission Operation and Maintenance team, part of the 24/7 operations that contribute to Singapore’s world-class network reliability.

No detail is too small when conducting maintenance work for switchgears – key components in the smooth distribution of electricity to customers in industries, businesses and households. With 13 years of engineering experience under her belt, Jie Yi is unfazed by the technical and hands-on nature of her job.

Join us as we discover how Jie Yi’s career has come “full circle” for her and has fuelled her passion in engineering.

Tan Jie Yi, Senior Engineer in Transmission Operation and Maintenance team, finds joy and fulfilment in keeping the nation’s world-class electricity grid running. Finding her path into the engineering industry more than a decade ago, Jie Yi’s passion for scaling new heights led her to where she is today in SP Group.

Formerly in the switchgear manufacturing industry, Jie Yi literally switched gears when she joined SP, as she deepened her technical expertise by learning to manage the full cycle of switchgears – from installation to maintenance.

“Now that I’m on the client side, I can better appreciate the priorities and challenges faced during maintenance and understand how we can address them during the project installation phase. Like most engineers, I enjoy problem-solving. The adrenaline rush keeps me going!”  

Here, we see Jie Yi assisting to perform switching work in a transmission substation. Electrical networks have to be shut down safely before maintenance work can be carried out. The team performs equipment maintenance and renewal according to a rigorous schedule.

When asked about what it takes to prove her mettle in a field that has been conventionally male-dominated, Jie Yi’s advice is to strengthen one’s competency.

“You need to put in effort to have sound knowledge of the operations and protocols. Gender doesn’t get in the way when you can stand up to the quality of your work.”

Jie Yi is currently undergoing training to attain her switching certificate. This will allow her to operate high-voltage equipment independently.

Jie Yi’s advice to those interested in engineering is to start from ground up to build a strong knowledge foundation, and always be hungry to know and learn more.

“When you start from the bottom, there is nowhere to go but up,” she shares.

This philosophy is mirrored in her own career, where she started as an engineering assistant and worked her way up to become a project manager.

To Jie Yi and her team, they believe that the work they are doing today, is an investment for generations to come. This also holds true as she embarked on a new journey as a first-time mum to twins!