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February 2021 Member Spotlight: Dawn Frye
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February 2021 Member Spotlight: Dawn Frye
Dawn Frye is an active UAI member and provides outstanding influence and contributions to the UAI community through any of our multiple channels, including, but not limited to engagement on UAI Connect, volunteering with UAI, involvement and/or leadership in monthly Community Conversations, and/or speaking at UAI events, plus so much. As thanks, we are featuring her in the February UAI Member Spotlight.
Dawn Frye, Manager Smart Grid Data at Orlando Utilities has been with OUC for a total of 17 years. Rejoining OUC in 2013, Dawn served as IT Enterprise Application Services Manager. In the fall of 2016, Dawn moved over to the operating area as Manager, Meter Data Operations/Smart Grid Data. She and her team report into the Operations area – Electric and Water Distribution Department.
Dawn graduated with her MBA from Florida Institute of Technology with her MBA and BS from Old Dominion University. Fun fact: Dawn lives in Cape Canaveral and gets to be “on vacation” every day where she experiences space launches, sandy beachside walks and sunsets against the Banana River.
Kevin: How did you get into the utility analytics industry?
Dawn: As a college student, I was able to work for Nassau County in NY for the department of sanitation and sewers. For three summers, I was able to work and see the sewer system from design to development by working side by side the Professional Engineers. Then, while with EDS in the 80s, I worked on long distance billing conversion projects for MaBell and Baby Bells. Finally, in 1991, when I relocated to Orlando, FL, I answered a newspaper ad for a Business Analyst at OUC. I was the first BA hired in the IT department.
Kevin: What project have you enjoyed working on most in your career?
Dawn: I have two. The first one was the warehouse distribution system I developed back in 1986 for General Motors. It was the coolest technology back in the day “barcode readers, miles of conveyor belt systems, unmanned picking systems, and wireless workstations on forklifts”. That development helped me understand the difference between clean data and bad data as well as recursive logic. However, My most recent project here at OUC, the Meter Data Platform (MDP) launch was equally as enjoyable and exciting. The team has been able to capture data since April 2019 from the Head End systems and convert it from raw xml into platform for future Smart Utility Use Cases. We are currently building out 30 new business processes utilizing this data that until recently was literally thrown away or unreadable in raw XML.
Kevin: What has been your biggest professional challenge and how did you work through it?
Dawn: Great Question – my biggest professional challenge was to leave IT and move over to the business operations in 2016 here at OUC. I got through it because I had to realize that sometimes you have to move out to move up. Leaving something that I had been doing for years and move over to a very technical side of the business operations – “water and electric metering” was daunting. I was lucky as I did receive some excellent coaching from an outside resource to help me let go of the past and look forward to an exciting future.
Kevin: If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice before entering the utility analytics industry, what would it be?
Dawn: Can it be two?First one is don’t stop being hands on (even in your free time) because your programming skills will get rusty.
Second one is don’t be afraid to try. Seriously, try a new technology, try to answer a business question with data, try to teach the team a new way to develop (waterfall versus agile), etc.
Kevin: What would you like to talk to fellow colleagues and members about in UAI Connect? Or, what issues or topics would you like to see more discussions on in UAI Connect?
Dawn: I think the most pressing issue ahead of all of us is upskilling our teams. The technology continues to rapidly change. The Decentralized/Centralized support models continue to converge. Self-sufficient business operations using data to make daily decisions require new skill set. The Upskills effort must include learning the technology tools as well as focus on the soft skills such as data visualization standards, data governance standards, presentation skills, and business capability modeling.
Kevin: Thank you so much for sharing with us and for being a highly engaged member of UAI! Do you have any final thoughts, ideas, or comments you would like to share with your fellow UAI members?
Dawn: I really enjoy UAI and it does take a commitment to stay engaged with other members. Working remote is often times making it harder for all of us to slow down and connect authentically with other peers within our work network, outside networks and industry networks. I welcome the opportunity to slow down and just have a good conversation on a key industry/data topic. I think the investment of networking is often lost because we all get “too busy” to connect. I’m thankful for UAI and the reminder emails and engagement that the forums have fostered. I learn a lot from them.
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Kevin Praet
Membership Coordinator
Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
Boulder CO
315-440-3033
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1 Reply
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Thanks for making my day, @Ben! This is great!
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Leslie Cook
Membership & Digital Engagement Manager
Utility Analytics Institute (UAI)
719-203-8650, lcook@endeavorb2b.com
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-02-2021 12:04
From: Ben Ettlinger
Subject: Data Analytics CandidateI met this Data Science Candidate fellow out side my apartment building during yesterday’s storm. Would you hire him? Wasn’t very emotional but seems like he can weather the storm. Adores Tableau ( definition: group of models or motionless figures representing a scene from a story or from history). Was bowled over on Snowplow Software. He refuses to work with Spark, will not go near Spotfire, loves Snowflake, Jupyter Notebook is cool enough, H20.ai needs to be cooler, goes gaga over Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor)
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Ben Ettlinger
Emerging Technologies
Enterprise Architecture & Engineering Group
New York Power Authority
White Plains, NY
914 681 6496
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