“I help keep the lights on in Belgium.”

Dorien Jannis was still in primary school when she saw the founder of a well-known electronics company at work in a TV documentary. “I was just a child, but I realized then that I also wanted to help build the future.” And that is what she does today as an engineer at Elia, the operator of Belgium’s high-voltage grid.

Program Manager Infrastructure—those are the words on Dorien Jannis’s business card. As a civil engineer in energy, she manages fifteen project leaders at Elia and is ultimately responsible for a portfolio of various infrastructure projects. This means she delivers projects within the set budget, with the required quality, according to the right timeline, and with safety as the highest priority.

Dorien Jannis’s work area is often in the southeastern regions: Luxembourg, Liège, and Namur. “I am currently working on the renewal and reinforcement of the Eastern Loop. That is a 24-kilometre-long overhead connection between Malmedy and Brume. In this project, more than a hundred high-voltage pylons are being renewed so they can optimally integrate renewable energy into the grid.”

Elia is using new types of towers made from high-performance concrete for this. They take up less ground space than the standard metal towers with four legs. “I am also working on strengthening a major connection between Belgium and France. That work was briefly put on hold due to COVID-19 and the lockdown, but resumed once the necessary safety measures were in place. The development of the optical fiber network in Belgium is also on my agenda. This network enables, among other things, lightning-fast communication between the various high-voltage substations.”

Dedication

The diversity within her job is a definite asset for Dorien. Together with the project managers, she helps shape the projects within her program. She sets the strategy for those projects, carries it out, and isn’t afraid to question it either. She consults with municipal authorities, various stakeholders, and directs contractors on site. “All the way through to the delivery and commissioning of new infrastructure. That mix makes this job very fascinating and varied.”

She also likes that what she does is very tangible. “I see a project evolve from paper to the field. That gives a lot of satisfaction. The responsibility I am given is a challenge: it motivates me to give my best every day.”

Dorien also finds meaning in her job. “My work has a direct impact on Elia’s mission: developing the grid infrastructure of the future. What I do also has social value: I literally help make sure the lights stay on in Belgium.”

Young potential

Dorien started working at Elia immediately after her studies. She has now worked there for almost ten years. She was also a project manager at the grid operator for a few years. “In my final year at KU Leuven, I came into contact with Elia through my supervisor. That gave me access to relevant data for my thesis. I remember that first contact as very positive.”

Because she knew a few recent graduates who worked at Elia and were enthusiastic about it, she decided to take her chance as well. “I was hired in the young potential program. For two years, I worked for several months on different projects in various departments.”

In this way, Dorien quickly learned how the organization worked and built up an internal network. “But most importantly: I discovered which job suited me best. I had just graduated as an engineer and didn’t know what to expect in the workplace. This program really set the course for my career path.”

During her engineering studies, Dorien was one of the few women in the lecture hall. And today, she still mostly works with men. Yet she doesn’t see this as anything special. “In my master’s program, there were two women, including myself, and fifty men. But I never found that strange. I was always encouraged, during my studies and at home. I was taught that you can achieve anything if you work hard enough—and that you should do what you enjoy.”

Eyebrow

The fact that there are so few female engineers motivates her even more to prove that she is in no way inferior to her male colleagues. “As a female engineer, I can absolutely hold my own. Occasionally, an eyebrow gets raised when a woman suddenly steps onto the site, but that disappears just as quickly as soon as you speak knowledgeably. I am witnessing firsthand the evolution from a ‘classic men’s world’ to better gender balance. Elia always wants to send the best person for the job into the field, regardless of gender, ethnic background, or age.”

Dorien does not believe in stereotypical thinking about men and women. “Some people claim that women are better communicators than men, or better or more empathetic people managers. But those are clichés in my view. All those qualities are individual-related. There are both men and women who are better or less good in those areas.”

What does the engineer of tomorrow look like? “Someone who, in addition to technical expertise, is very communicative, can lead and motivate people, and who isn’t afraid to make decisions based on diverse data and information. In the coming years I would like to continue to evolve and grow in this role. For me, being an engineer is a calling.”