Cheryl Warren Works Hard. Vice president of asset strategy and investment planning for National Grid, Albany, New York, U.S., Warren also serves as secretary of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) Power & Energy Society (PES) governing board. Somehow, she finds the time to help mentor young engineers. But Warren realizes all work and no play can make for a dull life.

“I believe firmly that you should play as hard as you work,” Warren said. “Whatever your form of play is, you should do it.”

Warren follows her own advice. Whether scuba diving in Cozumel, Mexico, or on safari in Africa, this busy executive makes sure she takes time to recharge her batteries.

A graduate of Union College in Schenectady, New York, Warren always dreamed of traveling. “I was Air Force ROTC in college,” she said. “After graduation, I fully intended to go into the Air Force. In fact, I wanted to fly on the space shuttle. Unfortunately, my eyes weren't good enough, and I blew my knees out training for marathons in college. So I was bounced out of the Air Force for medical reasons and lost my Air Force scholarship.”

To help supplement her schooling, Warren went to work for General Electric in the relay group and “fell in love with the industry.” When it came time to interview for a job toward the end of her senior year, the new engineer decided she wanted to work for a utility and accepted a position at Central Hudson in Poughkeepsie, New York.

“At Central Hudson, I was part of a group that started to introduce the first microprocessor-based relays onto the system,” she recalled. “We always used to laugh because we put the relays in, but all they did was alarm — they didn't actually control.”

In the meantime, Warren received a fellowship to pursue her master's degree from Union College. She then took a job as a consultant for Power Technologies Inc. (PTI), where she spent the next nine years, followed by a three-year stint at Navigant Consulting. In 2002, Warren joined National Grid, where she remains today.

Warren became involved in the IEEE during her time at PTI. In 1990, she took over as chair of the Working Group on Distribution Reliability (known then as the Working Group on System Design), which began working on IEEE Standard 1366 Full-Use Guide for Electric Reliability Indices.

“We had participation from more than 130 organizations, including manufacturers, consultants, academics, utilities, regulators, you name it,” said Warren. “We came up with a new way of defining major events for the industry. So, instead of having 50 different ways in the United States and all sorts of ways in other countries to define what a major storm is, we created a standard that said this is how you identify it and this is what you do about it. Not everyone is using the standard, but each year more and more folks are, so it's pretty neat.”

Warren also has served as chair of the IEEE PES Awards and Recognition Committee, as well as vice-chair and chair of the Distribution Subcommittee. Last year, she was elected secretary of the IEEE's PES. Despite her hectic schedule, she manages to make time for what she enjoys most — traveling the world with her husband.

“I didn't think I would ever get married, because there was nobody who was going to put up with me,” laughed Warren. “As luck would have it, there is someone who can put up with me, and he loves to travel as much as I do. We just celebrated our 17^th anniversary.”

New Guinea, South Africa, and Mexico are just a few of the places the couple has been. To share her passion for travel, animals and photography, Warren recently wrote The Life of Big African Cats: A Photographic Safari, a children's book.

“I've been really fortunate,” said Warren. “I've traveled all over the world and been blessed with sightings of all kinds of animals that few people get to actually see. I wanted to write a book to give something back.”

She also gives back to the community by offering guidance to new engineers both at National Grid and within the IEEE. Warren says it's important to her to be involved in things that help change society and make it a better place. She also believes today is one of the best times to be a member of the power industry.

“I would very much encourage folks to not only come into engineering but into power engineering,” she said. “I think we're in a unique position today. There really hasn't been a major change in the distribution industry in 50 or maybe even 100 years. But right now, with the Smart Grid and with the public's appetite for change in terms of the climate and environment, I think we have an opportunity to make a difference in how we interact with energy — how we use it and how we harvest it. I definitely want to be involved in this as I move further along in my career.”