Rachel Ruzicka

Engineering came naturally to Rachel Ruzicka—both of her parents are engineers and she was focused on the field from a very young age. But it took a while to find her niche. 

After beginning her bachelor’s degree studying biomedical engineering at Marquette University, Ruzicka transferred to UW-Madison where she majored in electrical engineering. In 2018, she had a coop in her hometown of Neenah, Wisconsin, at Kimberly-Clark, working to help install a new experimental fiber line.  

During an internship the following year at Madison-based Alliant Energy she got hooked on power engineering. As a distribution engineering intern, she conducted substation mini-studies, analyzing monthly and yearly metered loading data to determine the safety of backfeeding substations and helped map pre-1983 segments of cable and produced cost estimates for replacing them. 

After that, she knew she wanted to continue on in power distribution. “I love how the technology is always changing and moving towards the goal of providing clean energy,” Ruzicka says. 

During her free time, she enjoys open water swimming, volleyball and participating in triathlons and competitive running. 

Since graduating with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering in May 2020, Ruzicka has continued her work at Alliant Energy as a system protection engineer.