Kelly Wunderlin

December 2001

Job Title: Power Systems Control Engineer
Employer: Wisconsin Public Service Resources



Job Description:
Engineer communications, control, and metering projects including hardware design and software development at WPSR and customer facilities. Provide field-engineering support and answer engineering questions from field personnel. Develop procedures and provide assistance to ensure equipment is functionally tested before it is put in service. Development of new and innovative command control schemes to improve and/or replace existing systems. Provide guidance to the engineering group (technicians and designers) to ensure project scope and deadlines are met. Lead teams to evaluate new technologies and provide technical solutions to problems. Analyze existing control systems (communications reliability, cost reductions, service hours, obsolescence, required maintenance, etc).


UWP Experience:
I started at UW-Platteville in the fall of 1996 with an EE major. My emphasis was in computers and controls. I was involved with IEEE through out my time at Platteville, served as vice president and secretary for IEEE. This was a great way to get involved with in the EE department. I did a co-op with the Kohler Company in Kohler, WI for a summer and a semester. I was also fortunate to get a summer internship with GM in Janesville, WI. I had an interview with WPSR through the recruitment center on campus, and I was hired.


TYPICAL WORK DAY:
My work varies from day to day which is challenging yet keeps things interesting. The main thing I work on is programming RTU's, Remote Telemetry Units, for our substations. This includes communications between substations and our system operating in Green Bay, remote control of equipment in the substations, status of alarms, and collecting metering data. I take calls from field personnel, check drawings, and attend project meetings. I also am present at the startup of a project I am working on which gives me a chance to see the final product and trouble shoot any problems.


Sample Project Description:
An example of a project is adding remote control capabilities to a generation plant on our system. I worked through drawings to locate what points in the Plants controller, GE Mark V, started and stopped the plant locally. I then tied those points to outputs from the RTU. I also input the status of those points into the RTU. The RTU is programmed to turn those outputs on when an operator, in our system-operating center, selects it from their operator interface. I also updated the HMI, Human Machine Interface, in the substation to show the status and metering data of devices in the substation.