VIDEO: People Who Power New York: Electrical Engineer Finds Her Faraway Home
Growing up in Hefei, China, Wenjin Yan often watched her father, an electrical engineer, rush out the door to address a problem on the power grid.
“Sometimes during the weekend, or in the evening, or even at midnight, he got a call from work, grabbed his jacket and just went to save the world,” Wenjin said.
Wenjin says her father’s commitment to public service, along with her own passion for physics and problem solving, inspired her career trajectory as an electrical engineer.
Her father served on the operations side of the power grid, working to maintain substation and transmission facilities. As Manager of Generation Integration, Wenjin is proud to oversee planning studies related to the NYISO’s interconnection queue, where proposed renewable energy and other generation projects, new transmission infrastructure, and large loads, such as major manufacturing facilities, seek approval to connect to the grid.
She completed an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at the prestigious Southeast University in Jiangsu, China, and then moved to the U.S. for a master’s program at Texas A&M University College of Engineering. This led her to an internship at the NYISO in 2011. Two years later, Wenjin joined the NYISO as an associate planner.
Now in a management role, Wenjin’s responsibilities have grown, but the company’s supportive work culture and mission of public service have made the NYISO feel “like home.”
“People at the NYISO taught me a lot,” she said. “They helped me find my confidence in my own abilities.”
Interconnection planning studies are integral to maintaining reliability as New York adds more clean energy resources to the grid. These analyses require coordination with developers and transmission owners, and multiple NYISO teams, including legal, stakeholder services, market design, and operations.
“It feels good to be on the front lines, implementing these new renewable technologies,” she said. “The idea of being part of New York's future fascinates me.”
Learn More
- The interconnection queue, historic growth of projects, and what's next on our connecting to the grid page.
- Visit our careers page for more information on working at the NYISO.
- Access more videos in our People Who Power New York series.