Location: Oconee

Q: What was your first job ever?
A: My first job was serving frozen yogurt at The Country’s Best Yogurt when I was in high school.

Q: What was your first job at Itron?
A: I’ve spent my entire professional career at Itron. I started out of college in 2006 as a Test Engineer in the Customer Returns department at the Oconee Manufacturing site.

After five years in Customer Returns, I moved to Research and Development (R&D) as a project manager and Test Engineer for the Meter Farm. Since 2013, I’ve managed R&D teams conducting automated functional testing, testing end-to-end integration and developing software products such as PC Pro+, OpenWay Tools and FDM.

Q: What is your alma mater? If applicable.
A: I graduated from Clemson University, class of 2006.

Q: What is your current role at Itron?
A: In my current role, I lead an integration test team in R&D. We focus on testing the full solution end to end as part of R&D projects, making sure data flows cleanly from the device all the way to the head end.

Q: What’s your proudest professional accomplishment at Itron?
A: I'm most proud of the projects I’ve worked on and the solutions we’ve delivered to customers. Helping introduce new and better ways for customers to manage resources has been very fulfilling.

In particular, I’m proud of the Gen5 Riva project, which was the first initiative after the Silver Springs acquisition to integrate Silver Spring’s technology with the Itron Riva metering platform. It was a significant accomplishment for the team and for me personally.

Q: How would you describe the culture at Itron’s Oconee site to someone considering a career at that location?
A: I’d say the culture at the Oconee site is friendly, supportive, and very team oriented. People are quick to help each other, and it’s easy to ask questions or learn from folks across different groups. There’s a lot of pride in the work we do, and you can feel it in the way everyone jumps in to solve problems and keep things moving. If you enjoy working with people who care about quality and community, it’s a great place to be.

Q: How has Itron supported your career development over the course of your career?
A: Itron has played a big role in my growth over the years. I’ve had the chance to take on new challenges, step into leadership roles and work on projects that stretched my skills. I’ve worked with a wide range of technologies and have been lucky to have managers and teammates who encourage me, trust me and push me in the right ways. With the support, opportunities and room to grow, I’ve been able to build a career here that I’m truly proud of.

Q: You supervise Co-ops at Itron, what are you looking for when hiring an entry level employee?
A: The biggest things I look for are initiative and the ability to learn. Attitude and motivation are also important—someone who’s willing to jump in, ask questions and take ownership usually does really well. You don’t need to know everything on day