Best Practices for Energy System Hardening  

Ajay Sitaula is Vice President and Chief Engineer at CLP Engineering (CLPE), a full-service electrical engineering firm which is part of City Light and Power (CLP) companies. At CLPE, he leads all aspects of engineering services and activities including design, planning, studies, standards, field support, and smart technologies including support for CLP's utility privatization (UP) contracts. Prior to joining CLPE in 2012, Mr. Sitaula worked as an electrical maintenance engineer at Seattle City Light, a municipal utility company, and as an engineering supervisor at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL). Mr. Sitaula is a power system relaying and protection engineer by training and holds professional engineering licenses in the States of Washington, Colorado, and Iowa. After years of design, construction, commissioning, troubleshooting, planning, and analysis experience, Mr. Sitaula possesses a deep understanding of electrical substation and distribution systems across North America.

Aaron Tickle is the Manager of Grid Resiliency at Dominion Energy. He has 24 years utility industry experience spanning roles in engineering, operations, and project management. Aaron's current responsibilities include guiding multiple initiatives that are part of Dominion's Grid Transformation Plan. His efforts are specifically focused on Mainfeeder Hardening, Voltage Island Mitigation, Intelligent Grid Devices, and Voltage Optimization.

Commander Josh Lewis, a native of Chino Hills, CA, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Ocean Engineering. He holds a Master of Science degree in Ocean Engineering from Texas A&M University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from American Military University. From 2020 to 2022, he served first as Resident Officer in Charge of Construction (ROICC) Andersen and then as Operations Officer at OICC Marine Corps Marianas managing the $8.7B Defense Policy Review Initiative construction program in Guam. He holds credentials as a Project Management Professional (PMP), and DAWIA certifications in Contracting (Lvl III), Program Management (Lvl II), and Facilities Engineering (Lvl II) He was selected as the enterprise-wide NAVFAC Military Engineer of the Year in 2022. His personal awards include the Meritorious Service Medal (2), Navy Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (3).