Meet our people: Maria-Jesús Pedroche

Hola! I am Maria-Jesús Pedroche and I am proud to be a Principal Consultant on the Hitachi Energy Power Consulting Spain team based in Madrid.

I began my career in 1992, after earning a degree in Electrotechnics at Polytechnic University of Madrid. Growing up, I was always good at math and science, so I decided to study Engineering. But when it was time for me to choose a specialty at university, I chose electrotechnics only because it offered more job opportunities.

It was a non-vocational decision, but I have never regretted it. I still love my field and am glad to have dedicated myself to it for more than 30 years!

Electrotechnology focuses on the practical application of electrical and electronic principles. The possibilities offered by this discipline is very wide: design, installation, maintenance, and troubleshoot electrical equipment and systems.

Let's listen to the girl

When I started my career at age 25 (at a company eventually acquired by ABB/Hitachi Energy), I found myself in a world of men. When I attended client meetings, people referred to me as "the girl." In fact, for the first few months, I was “the voiceless girl”.

I may have been quiet, but I had big ideas and eventually I started sharing them. And people listened! I still remember in one meeting, the project leader said, "Hey, let's listen to the girl because she has a lot to say."

The realization that people respected and sought my knowledge and opinions was a turning point, and I remember it fondly. Of course, today, people know it’s inappropriate to refer to an adult woman that way, but at the time, it was said with much affection and respect.

Power Consulting in Madrid

There are about 25 of us in the Power Consulting team in Madrid. In contrast to my university days and the beginning of my career, the consulting team is very diverse and in fact consists of slightly more women than men!

We help solve the power industry’s most complex issues and challenges. We do this by conducting detailed technical and economic studies with our clients and are present early in the network planning process when system level issues are initially discussed or evaluated.

Utilizing their strong industry recognized experience and talent, our consultants then evaluate, analyze and recommend solutions and strategies to empower our customers to improve network performance, mitigate risks, optimize investment decisions and drive financial savings

The team offers strategic consulting services for industry, utilities, transportation and so on. We are experts at grid modernization and resilience, conceptual engineering services and site assessment, digital analytics and sustainable technology transformation.

Working at Hitachi Energy

Working with Hitachi Energy has been very good for me and the field we work in is after so many years as fascinating as ever! All the essential aspects for enjoying your job are here I would say. I've always had managers who respected, listened to, and supported me and I love the actual consulting work. The possibility to make a real impact on the world is there every day. The collaboration and global team spirit, makes it easy to learn from many different types of projects and colleagues.

During all these years I have not only had good colleagues, but I have made true friends.

I feel fortunate to be based in here in Madrid. Everyone says there's no place like Spain! And I think they are right. The climate, the atmosphere, the friendliness of the people are unmatched.

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