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Coffee Break with… Dr Olivia Zeng

During this month’s coffee break, we caught up with our Head of Technical, Dr Olivia Zeng, who has worked with Powerstar for five years, with Olivia initially starting to work with Powerstar as a placement student.

Here’s what Olivia had to say…

What was your first job role within the Energy Sector?

I started as a KTP Associate and then my first job role in Powerstar was a product development engineer.

Describe a typical day at Powerstar

On a day-to-day basis I catch up and update the task plan with Research & Development (R&D) group members, improve the scheme and structure of the R&D product development tasks management, alongside technical product development tasks and solutions and supporting the service team for onsite troubleshooting.

What do you enjoy the most about working in at Powerstar?

I enjoy being involved in the development and customisation of the new and smart control solutions for the sites, which is challenging, interesting and also enables me to gain wider knowledge. I also enjoy the troubleshooting of sites, figuring out the issues and proposing solutions.

What difficulties have you had to overcome during your time at Powerstar?

There used to be many disturbances when supporting the troubleshooting of sites or affecting site work for technical product development tasks, and thus was difficult to focus on the technical tasks continuously. It has been improved a lot with our company service team building up to take over the site service work.

What are your proudest achievements to date?

It’s hard to narrow it down to one, so I have chosen 3:

1. I finished the KTP project well, alongside the development of the portal PV battery system prototype.
2. I introduced scrum structure into the R&D group management and, gradually introduced the structure of the online message group for teams and projects, which greatly enhance the efficiency of communication and cooperation, as well as the site service support to clients.
3. I managed the cycle of the new and smart control solutions for many commercial projects from the stage of development and customisation to the testing and implementation.

Do you have any hobbies outside of work?

Outside of work I enjoy gardening and micro landscape and miniature flower arrangement, alongside travelling and hiking.

What advancements do you think have had the biggest impact on the energy industry?

Smart grid technology and large-scale UPS technology.

If you had to give one piece of advice to people seeking jobs in energy, what would it be?

Keep agile to pick up the latest technology and be happy to face the challenge.

Why Powerstar?

Powerstar operates in a supportive and friendly working environment with flexible working allowing to partly work from home. Powerstar is also a pioneer in the large-scale UPS technology solution and aggressive in the smart grid technology, with an agile and hardworking team.

Describe Team Powerstar in 3 words

Supportive, agile, hard-working.

As Head of Technical, Olivia is a valuable member of the team at Powerstar and we look forward to continue working with her for many years to come