00:07I'm in the company of Antony Giacomoni, the new vice chair of NGN International
00:13Executive Committee. Hi. Good morning. You've been secretary for the last two
00:19years and you just became vice chair. Congrats. Thank you very much. What does
00:24it represent for you, this title and this new role? So it's great. So we
00:29created the NGN International Executive Committee in 2020 and I was served as the
00:34secretary for the first two years. And so now transitioning to the vice chair role,
00:37it's great to see how the number of NGN groups has grown from about 15 in 2018 to
00:43well over 30 this year at the 2022 Paris Session. And there's several new NGN
00:48groups that are forming and so we hope to further increase that during the 2024
00:52Paris Session. Yes. Why did you join SIGRE in the first place? Maybe you could
00:58tell us a little bit more about your own journey as an engineer. I first joined
01:03SIGRE as a graduate student at the University of Minnesota. I was working on
01:06my PhD and I joined because my research advisor at the time recommended I join
01:10SIGRE and a couple other professional organizations. However, other than
01:14receiving a copy of a lecture in the mail every two months and maybe getting some
01:18emails from the central office or the national committee, I really wasn't very
01:21involved in SIGRE. And it wasn't until I entered and started working in the
01:25industry that I became much more engaged. And then in 2017, one of the directors
01:30of my company was convening a working group and she was looking for a secretary.
01:34And she thought that my background fit well with the topic that her working
01:37group was covering. And so I accepted the position and by being in that, serving
01:43that role, I was really able to see the full evolution of how working group in SIGRE
01:47worked from the formation of the terms of reference all the way up through the
01:52publication of the technical brochure. And I became much more familiar with the
01:55technical side of SIGRE. Also during that time, I was a member of the Next
01:59Generation Network. But after attending the 2018 Paris session, I became much more
02:04involved at the international level. And that further increased when, as I
02:08mentioned in 2020, the steering committee tasked the NGN with sort of
02:12formalizing our structure. So prior to 2020, we were really operating on an informal
02:17basis. So we got all the NGN groups together at the time and when created the
02:21International Executive Committee to help coordinate activities at the
02:24international level and also improve communication between NGN groups. And as
02:29a result of that process, I mentioned, the number of NGN groups has grown quite
02:32considerably, which I think is a great achievement.
02:34So for those who are still maybe hesitating to join, can you tell them and
02:39us the DNA of NGN and why this should come?
02:44Sure. So I'll give two main benefits that I think that young engineers can really
02:48get from participating in SIGRE. The first is the ability to network and start
02:52building your network, whether it's through your NGN group or your national
02:56committee or even internationally. It's a great way to connect with people working
03:01in the power industry in the very same specific area that you are. And I don't
03:05know of any other professional organization that you're able to network on
03:08such a global scale. That's right. The second benefit I think young engineers can
03:12really benefit from participating in SIGRE is the working groups. So I encourage young
03:16engineers to get involved in working groups on topics they're interested in or
03:19passionate about. A lot of times young engineers are hesitant because they don't
03:23think they're experts in the topic, but by participating in a work group, they will
03:26be an expert by the time the working group is completed. And also, they're also
03:32hesitant because they worry that they might take away a seat from a more
03:35experienced member. But national committees can nominate NGN members in
03:39addition to a regular member from the national committee. So they're not taking away a
03:44seat, but they're able to work with the experienced members and also provide
03:47unique perspectives that might be lacking in the working groups.
03:50Thank you for sharing your passion and thank you for coming by. Thanks.
03:54Thank you very much for having me.
