Technology Will Address the Menace of Vandalism
USA: I was born
and raised in Kano, I attended Science College, Dawakin Tofa. I have a degree
in Electrical & Electronic Engineering and a Master's in Electrical
Engineering.
I worked with Royal Haskoning Engineering as a
Technical Support Manager before joining Kaduna Electric in 2015. My Area of
interest is Control and Automation. I am now the Head, Group Emerging
Technology in Engineering.
CCD: How about your journey to Kaduna Electric?
USA: I started
working as linesman in Gonin Gora Service Centre where we were saddled with
responsibility of managing 11KV Federal Housing and 33KV Gonin Gora Feeder.
My performance caught the attention of the
management and I was transferred to Head Office as a Network Design Engineer.
My key responsibilities then were network design and feasibility studies for
new projects and their commercial benefits.
CCD: What has been your experience since becoming
Network Design Engineer?
USA: Well let me
start by saying I am pleased to have this group under my watch because like I
said earlier my interest lies in control and automation. I believe with the
recent reassignment my team and I will give our best to the company. I am
certain that in a very short term we will reposition the Engineering Department
through Control and Automations.
CCD: A lot of people still don't understand what
Emerging Technology in Engineering is; can you shed more light on this?
USA: Emerging
technology comprises technical ideas, which represent progressive developments
in engineering department. To put it simply, we look at advanced technology in
a broader view and relate that technology with our business for a competitive
advantage. If you look at it, you will understand that outdated systems
dominated our operations and therefore we need to do more to overcome these
challenges by deploying digital technologies into our networks so as to
decrease the complexity of our network and operations.
CCD: What are your plans in your new position?
USA: When we look
at what we do, you would realize that data collection is very critical to our
business. Properly shared and detailed data has the potential to improve our
services on several dimensions, such as improving services through better
access to more information when making critical decisions in the
business.
Currently, a lot of valuable information is missing
along the way in the process of collecting data therefore our plan is to see
that we bridge these gaps by deploying remote control and automation systems to
our networks to allow real-time operation of the network and its connected
resources and collect network data to improve situational awareness and utility
services.
Secondly, the way vandalism and asset theft are
growing is disturbing and, of course they are causing a serious set back to our
business. Relying on community and security agencies to notify us has not
worked; that is where technology comes to the rescue. We have a plan to design
security surveillance devices that will protect our assets wherever they are
located.
USA: I see myself
in a couple of years as a successful engineer who would be proud to be part of
Kaduna Electric transformation despite all the current challenges.
CCD: What do you think we can do for the growth of
the company?
USA: We all have
the resources to make Kaduna Electric better but all that is missing is the
right attitude. We should have a paradigm shift, where we take the ownership of
the company and see ourselves as part owners. My advice is to ensure that all
hands must be on deck to see that we reposition Kaduna Electric from a revenue
bleeding company to revenue generating company.
CCD: What would consider your greatest achievement
so far?
USA: As at now, we
are about reviving the remote operation of our injection substations in
NAF Base, Narayi and Gonin Gora and in a short time we are going to have
them as a model for the rest of the substations.
No comments:
Post a Comment