UA Little Rock Senior Gains Experience During Summer Internship at Southwest Power Pool

Hannah Jones, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering at UA Little Rock, gained valuable experience this summer through her internship at Southwest Power Pool.

Working with the Engineering Modeling team, Jones contributed to the development of both current and future electric grid models used for studies and forecasts.

"My main role was to update data for the Renewable Dispatch Workbook (RDW)," stated Jones. "This is a workbook that stores peak electrical generation from solar and wind units for different seasons that go into the electric grid models. This involved sorting through past data, finding and updating data by looking through applications such as Power System Simulator for Engineering and the Interconnection Agreements, and communicating across departments within Southwest Power Pool to find the correct data."

Despite her background in mechanical engineering, Jones felt integrated into her team and gained a deeper understanding of the electrical grid. She and the other interns gained real-world insights into the electrical industry through experiences such as touring the Murray Hydro Dam and observing real-time grid monitoring operations.

"Prior to this internship, I never considered what it takes to even turn on the lights, but now I have a much better understanding," stated Jones. "Even though I am a mechanical engineering student, I found that my team was willing to explain concepts I wasn't familiar with and assist me whenever I needed it. I felt very included in what was going on and understood how my project fit into the larger picture."

In addition to the technical skills she gained from her involvement with Southwest Power Pool, Jones was also able to overcome challenges and strengthen her communication and problem solving abilities.

"I had issues when entering new generation units into the RDW since the naming conventions between departments were different," recalled Jones. "This involved me using several resources to map correct names into the workbook and communicating across multiple departments to locate the correct unit."

Overall, Jones gained valuable experience and insight during her internship.

"This experience helped me to build my professional portfolio and understand what it's like to work in a professional environment. It also helped me identify qualities that Southwest Power Pool had that I would like to see in future places of employment."