If the country’s electrical system were a living being, the transmission infrastructure would act as arteries because the energy that travels through the country flows through it. For its optimum functionality, it needs maintenance, but “thinking maintenance”, explains Carlos Vargas, electrical engineer and Operation and Maintenance Manager at Conecta.
Carlos and his team know the company’s infrastructure, “we know what hurts the company, its weaknesses and strengths; we generate routines to prevent its damage”. Seven years ago, he arrived to Guatemala and to the company to give structure to its management, and share his know-how and to implement maintenance focused on reliability.
Get to know him through his answers to the questionnaire we asked him.
As a child, what qualities did you have?
I really liked to sharing (spending time) with friends and family, that’s something I’ve enjoyed since I was a child: interacting with many people.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
To be a professional, and study at the university. Because of the specialty of at the technical school, I decided to study Electrical Engineering. The most complex part of the career was to understand what electricity is because you can’t see it. I liked the understanding on how electrical energy is born, grows and is used.
What were your biggest challenges?
Supporting myself in college. My father told me “you can get food and sleep at home, but there are no resources to support you with the university cost”, so I had to work on weekends.
What was your first job like?
As an electrician, my first job was as an Electrical Substation Operator. I learned what a substation is, how it works, and the implications of opening or closing a circuit and operating safely.
Who have been your mentors?
My main mentors are my parents who, despite their humble origins and the fact that in their time studying was not a priority, they always motivated us to study.
On the professional side there have been two: my first boss as an engineer because he gave me the guidelines on how to start being a team leader and the other has been Mauricio (General Manager of Conecta) with whom I have worked for more than 10 years and every day you learn from him.
How long have you been working at Conecta?
I have been on the payroll for 6 years, but physically 7 years because I was appointed by Grupo Energía Bogotá and I was an employee of that entity.
What do you like most about your job?
The challenges we face, the day to day not only to build but to ensure optimal energy service.
What is the biggest challenge to be able to balance your life as a father and work in the management you lead?
The biggest challenge is to leave the issues that affect us in each of the places, because a work issue cannot affect your family life and vice versa.
Because of the nature of management, you have to be available 7/24 because emergencies occur at any time so you must be very cautious to have the cell phone available but not to generate unnecessary alarms at home.
What have been your biggest challenges and how have you faced them?
The biggest challenge was to create the Operation and Maintenance Management from scratch, but thanks to the support of the entire Conecta team that was transferred from Project Management to Operation, we were able to face the challenge; I also believe that my personality of being able to relate easily helped me.
