Silvia Martini
Interview
Senior Engineer
Joined the company as an intern in 2019 and as a full-time employee in 2025
Italy
I am a senior engineer in the R&D Strategic Planning Division at Nissin Electric, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Electric. My role focuses on researching microgrid technologies and developing microgrid solutions that leverage the unique products of Sumitomo Electric and Nissin Electric.
To deepen my technical expertise, I attend conferences in Japan and abroad and I also engage with potential clients, research institutes, and utilities to discuss microgrid-related technical topics, including best practices and approaches to overcoming key challenges. In addition, I review international and Japanese standards and collaborate with potential partners to design an appropriate architecture for a proof-of-concept microgrid. Overall, my work centers on technical and strategic planning — assessing the feasibility of microgrids and identifying ways to create competitive solutions by maximizing our company’s unique strengths.
One of the most rewarding experiences so far has been working on an outline for a concrete microgrid design process and a conceptual microgrid architecture from what initially began as broad, exploratory research. By integrating insights from international conferences such as IEEE Power & Energy Society, discussions with U.S. utilities, companies, and research institutes including National Renewable Energy Laboratory, as well as a thorough review of standards, past internal projects, and new and existing products, I contributed to developing a realistic microgrid design process and an initial microgrid architecture that leverages the unique strengths of Nissin Electric and Sumitomo Electric. Seeing these technical ideas evolve into a clear strategic direction has been especially fulfilling in my role as a senior engineer in strategic planning.
I joined the company because it offered a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of advanced power engineering and long-term strategic planning within a global manufacturing group. Nissin Electric, as part of the Sumitomo Electric Group, combines deep technical expertise, high-quality products, and a strong commitment to R&D, which aligned well with my interest in developing practical, system-level solutions, specifically microgrids, which I have been interested in since my university years. I had also previously joined Sumitomo as an intern, so I already had a good sense of the working culture and team environment, which I found quite positive. That experience gave me confidence that this was a place where I could grow and contribute over the long term.
Alongside my passion for power systems engineering, I have a strong interest in martial arts. I hold a black belt in karate, and martial arts have been an important part of my life for many years. Since coming to Japan, I’ve continued training in karate and remain deeply interested in martial arts in general, which I enjoy both as a physical discipline and as a way to challenge myself.
In Kyoto, I have the chance to work near many of our factories, and I was able to join a couple of factory tours. One of them was at a facility related to our beam and plasma business (the part of the company that works on ion beam and electron beam technologies). I found this particularly interesting since it’s quite different from our main power systems work and highlights both the breadth of technologies at Sumitomo Electric and the long history of this field in Japan, where the company has been developing these technologies since the postwar period.
What I most appreciate about Sumitomo Electric is its long-term mindset and strong commitment to engineering quality. The company invests steadily in R&D and values technical depth, which allows engineers to work on complex problems without being driven solely by short-term results. I also appreciate the emphasis on reliability, collaboration, and knowledge sharing across group companies, which makes it possible to develop better system-level solutions and grow as an engineer over time.
