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Many students are drawn to careers in renewable energy because of the opportunity to make a meaningful impact but understanding what these roles entail can be challenging.
In this Coffee Chat, Obinna Umeh shares his journey from software development into electrical engineering, working on renewable energy solutions such as solar microgrids. His experience offers a unique perspective on transitioning between disciplines and building a career in an impact-driven field.
Read this article to learn about the realities of working in renewable energy, the skills needed to succeed, and how to navigate early career decisions with intention and flexibility.
A: Honestly, I think it can be difficult to determine whether a company is truly impact driven. Really the only way to know for sure is to have access to every bit of information about a company’s business dealings, but that kind of information is often at least partially obscured, particularly when it could have a negative impact on the company’s public image.
However, there are a few things you can look out for when trying to evaluate how well a company sticks to its mission statement. Firstly, look at publicly available information about the products and projects that the company undertakes, and determine whether those business undertakings are consistent with the company’s stated vision. For example, if the leaders of an energy solutions company claim that they want to increase the number of people that have access to stable electricity, but none of their projects provide power to typically under-served communities, it’s obvious that the company isn’t as mission-driven as it claims to be.
Another way to evaluate a company’s commitment to its mission is to pay attention to the metrics that the company uses to track its progress. If a company is not just using the term “impact-driven” as a label, there will at least be an attempt to track how successful the company has been at achieving the intended impact. For instance, a company that focuses on improving the utilization of renewable energy sources might track approximate carbon emissions offset by their projects.
A: My time in the field has been extremely rewarding, so it isn’t easy to pick a single experience or decision as having the greatest impact on my learning. If I had to settle on one though, I would choose making the decision to transition from a software development focused role to an electrical engineering role.
When I started working at my current employer, it was supposed to be in a hybrid role that involved both software development and electrical engineering in equal measures. However, since my earlier internship had been spent working on a web application for the company, most of my time as a full-time employee was spent working in a similar capacity. While I was content with software development work, I really wanted to focus more on electrical engineering tasks that were more closely aligned with my undergraduate and graduate areas of focus. About a year into my full-time employment, I was still primarily working on our web app, and I realized that if I didn’t act soon, I was almost certainly going to settle into a long-term career as a software developer. Since that career path didn’t quite align with my professional goals, I had conversations with my supervisor about fully transitioning to the engineering team, and the company was able to make it happen.
Working in my current capacity as an electrical-focused product engineer has given me the opportunity to have a more intimate understanding of the individual components of remote renewable microgrid systems like batteries, inverters, solar panels, etc., and how these components interact with each other. I have found my work a bit more engaging, and the increased engagement has in turn accelerated how quickly I learn and implement the concepts required to complete my tasks.
A: My transition from software engineering to electrical engineering wasn’t too drastic since my software development primarily involved working on a web application that was going to help the company with designing and sizing microgrid systems. I was already incorporating electrical engineering concepts like power generation, customer loads, and the interaction between components of solar microgrid systems, so a lot of the technical knowledge required related to those concepts translated. Also, I would say general mathematical skills and logical reasoning translated in a straightforward manner.
In terms of skills that I felt developed from scratch, I had to learn more granular aspects of how microgrid components interact with each other. Up until the point I transitioned, most of my knowledge was large-scale and theoretical. For example I generally knew what it meant when someone says they have a microgrid system with inverters and batteries, but I had to learn how the inverter size could affect your choice of battery, how your choice of battery could determine the size of wire used to connect the battery modules, and similar essential details that are often overlooked. I also had to learn to represent these finer details in electrical documentation such as single line diagrams, cable and conduit schedules, and equipment elevations.
A: Documentation is especially important within the electrical engineering space. For me, there are many benefits for individual electrical engineers, and even more for engineering-focused teams and companies.
For individuals, documentation really helps keep track of your thought process and assists with communicating and translating that information to other people. If, for example, you’re working on sizing cables between a load center panel and control panels for a system, noting the electrical code sections you considered in clear and structured manner can help explain and justify your decisions to teammates and customers. Similarly, having those code sections documented allows you to reference them in the future when working on similar tasks.
From the perspective of an electrical engineering team or company, documentation is an absolute necessity. Documents like single line diagrams and network diagrams are really the only way to consistently communicate information about your system to customers, subcontractors, and other technical personnel. In addition to that, documentation is necessary for improving the reproducibility of individual tasks and entire products; there is no way to make multiple versions of a product if you do not have clear and accurate information about current and existing iterations.
To build the skill before your first full-time role, it can be helpful to partake in independent or group research projects. Research projects often require you to incorporate information from multiple sources and then write structured reports that communicate your conclusions and inferences to other people. Also, reviewing datasheets and operation manuals for products relevant to your work can provide insights into different companies’ approaches to documentation.
A: About a year after I switched from software engineering to electrical engineering, I was quite concerned that I was not developing a defined skillset that would translate to other work environments. To be a bit more specific, I felt like I had surface-level knowledge about a variety of concepts, but I was lacking the requisite level of expertise in any one area of concentration to be able to present myself as an experienced engineer if I ended up interviewing for a role at another company in the future.
In general, I think that concern can be addressed in two ways. Number one, you can continue to increase the breadth of items you have a little bit of knowledge about, so you end up with a “breadth” of expertise that is wide enough to set you up for a more product manager or project manager type of role. The other, is to narrow the scope of your involvement to a few things and increase the “depth” of your knowledge instead which can take you on the path to being an expert on a specific subject matter such as controls, batteries, or solar generation.
For me, I had to be patient but intentional. I took on a variety of tasks and focused on trying to expand the breadth of my knowledge as much as possible. The confidence I gained from that expanded knowledge went some way towards addressing my concerns, and, in turn, created multiple potential areas of focus. I was then able to figure out which areas I was most interested in, and I communicated that to my supervisors. Together, we looked for opportunities within the company for me to take on more tasks that are aligned with my preferences.
A: I think the thing that surprised me the most is how the vibe of the company can change as it transitions out of its “pure” startup era and becomes a more established company. As the company establishes itself, its customer base grows, increasing the overall workload. Also, you end up having contracts of higher financial value, which in turn makes every product and project deliverable more impactful. Additionally, as time passes, it becomes paramount that the company proves its long-term viability to its investors that want some level of return on their investment.
These external and internal pressures have a way of trickling down the corporate ladder and affecting the company at a foundational level. You end up in this interesting situation where the team is growing, but maybe not necessarily growing quickly enough to match the increasing workload and the increasing seriousness of the workload. People are still working long hours and wearing different hats, but the increased pressure means that those burdens are no longer counterbalanced by the general levity and family-type vibe that you would typically expect at a startup.
That change in the baseline energy of the company is something that can catch anyone by surprise, so I think that it’s important to consider the stage of growth/development that a startup is in before joining one. Do some research or ask questions during interviews; anything to give you a clearer picture of the work environment you’re walking into.
Final Thoughts
Obinna’s journey highlights that careers are rarely linear, and that growth often comes from stepping outside of your comfort zone. His transition from software to electrical engineering shows the value of adaptability, curiosity, and continuous learning.
For students and entry-level professionals, the key takeaway is to remain open to change while being intentional about your development. Whether you choose to build depth in a specific area or broaden your skill set, what matters most is actively shaping your path and aligning it with your interests and long-term goals.
Danila Blanco Travnicek is the Director of Program Strategy & Evaluation at The Build Fellowship where she leads the education programming and its initiatives. She is a social entrepreneur who has been working tirelessly for over 10 years in the nonprofit sector to ensure more people have access to quality education. Danila holds a B.A in Business Management and a master's degree in Teaching and Nonprofit Management. She is a Professor at the University of Buenos Aires, an international speaker and facilitator and has managed and led programs with social impact in Latin America, U.S., Europe and Asia. She also received scholarships to study abroad in Finland, China and the United States.
Glenn Verburg is a business intelligence Build Fellow at Open Avenues, where he works with students leading projects in business intelligence. Glenn is a Senior Vice President at Sunstate Equipment Rental, where he focuses on the operations of the company. Sunstate is a rental company specialized in construction equipment and his role is to manage the fleet (strategy, procurement, maintenance and sales) as well as other operational departments such as indirect procurement, SHEQ, pricing. Glenn has over 20 years of experience in the business intelligence field. Glenn started his career at Ernst & Young Accountants where he worked as an auditor for six years. After his period with Ernst & Young he joined the Riwal Group which is an European rental company specialized in Access Equipment. The first 3 years he was part of the finance team after which he switched to the operations department to eventually become the COO of the Riwal Group. In 2024 Riwal was acquired by Boels which is the number 2 rental company in Europe where he become the Director of Fleet for the entire Boels Group. He holds an Executive MBA degree at the Nyenrode Business University and Bachelor in Science of Accountancy. A fun fact about Glenn is that he used to be a co-founder of a Boardgame company which had a successful launch of the game via Kickstarter.
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