Electric Team Introduction

On the first day of our project, the Buildings and Grounds Management (BGM) electrical group introduced us to the basics of what they do.  They also took us on a tour through the electrical shop and the warehouse where they keep lights and where they purchase lights and other supplies.

My notes are below, and here are some of the more salient insights:

• Everything is broken up by zones.  The electric group manages academic spaces, but the med school manages their own lights, and RD&E manages their own lights.
• There's someone on call 24/7, and there's someone staffing 6am to 6pm M-F.  There's about one on-call response every 12-13 weeks (per each person?).  When a generator failed, S had to leave a family trip to Monterey Bay.
• BGM recommends facility design guidelines, but buildings can contract to anyone.
• They have to triage work -- safety hazards or things that disrupt research and education are top priority.
• It's hard to track errors to individual pieces of equipment.  They have electrical equipment vans that have the most common parts so that they can more easily fix it even if they don't know what's wrong before leaving.
• The MPCs are expert sand supervisors that prioritize jobs, consult with folks, and dispatch people.
• Some calls are easier to tackle than others.  Like if a professor can't find the light switch (really happened).
• They want to go unnoticed so that they don't disrupt research or education.
• "Bringing in the right people is important"
• Humility is important: "People come in with experience in other cultures that might not apply to Stanford"
• The Stanford legacy is important: "We have to deliver a level of service that Stanford University requires"
• Professionalism is important -- ie, tucked shirts.
• Purpose is important.  Do they care about Stanford or is this just a job?