Although she was just a child in 1990, Ina Tamosiuniene understands the significance of energy independence. She remembers the blockades and dark streets as her country – Lithuania – became a self-governing nation. “I saw history … I saw my parents fighting for independence.”
These memories have given her day-to-day work added meaning, and last year she received the telephone call she had long been waiting for. “I heard my commissioning manager say: ‘Success – we’ve done it.’” In her work as a project manager at Siemens Energy Lithuania, Tamosiuniene had helped her country synchronise with Europe and achieve full energy independence, a momentous achievement. “As project manager, the buck stops with you.”
Tamosiuniene had been recruited by Siemens Energy to oversee two pivotal projects that enabled the Baltic state to realise energy autonomy. These are the connection of four battery parks, which can provide instant backup for the grid, and the installation of three synchronous compensators, which allow for stability within the system.
These SynCon units are part of Europe’s biggest grid-independence project in decades. Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia successfully disconnected from the Russian grid in 2025, synchronising with Europe and strengthening energy security.
A background in automatic systems and economics helped her get to grips with the scope of the project in all its complexity – the first of its kind for the Baltic nation. Often she’d find herself navigating uncharted territory, and it was in part her ability to ask difficult, even what she calls “stupid” questions, that helped her succeed.
“I had to ensure all my teams had what they needed to get the job done. A project manager is the person who has the overview and who must make the best decisions in the interests of the overall work.” Supportive managers were always on hand to advise, she adds.
“If you’re open to challenges, can communicate and are not afraid to fail, you’ll be just fine in [the energy] sector. That’s what I really appreciate about Siemens Energy – you will never be punished for a wrong decision, if you can explain why you made the call.”
Even today, whenever she glimpses the physical infrastructure she and her team helped build, she feels a moment of deep satisfaction. “I’m proud that Lithuania created this, and I’m really proud that Siemens Energy was part of the project and I had the opportunity to be there too.”
Early in her career, which began in transport, she was often the only woman on the team. Today more women are taking senior positions within the energy sector. A constantly evolving key industry, energy will continue to offer jobs and opportunities long into the future, she says. “At Siemens Energy you can find the right project – whether it’s in logistics, management or engineering and there are fantastic opportunities to work on projects around the world.”
If Tamosiuniene is inspired by national energy independence, then Hamburg-based engineer Marvin Rust is determined to help clean up a historically polluting corner of the energy sector with pioneering technology. Both energy professionals share drive and expertise to lead change in an industry where new skills are in high demand.
As renewables are transforming energy systems across Europe, the marine sector has been slow to change – worldwide, shipping is responsible for nearly 3% of greenhouse gas emissions. “We are trying to reduce this,” says Rust, who aims to hasten the transition to cleaner fuels and electrification.
He cut his teeth refitting ageing ships with new software and hardware systems and he’s witnessed dramatic improvements in some parts of the marine world. “It really is an innovative sector with a lot of improvements in progress.”
Today as group manager of Siemens Energy’s ship solution department, he oversees alternatives to traditional diesel engines. For smaller yachts and ships, this can include novel battery systems with back up from relatively cleaner fossil fuels. Some short-distance ferries are even using fully electrified engines.
“These are really complex systems – a ship is basically a small city that needs to get from A to B without the lights going out,” says Rust. Ships need energy not only for propulsion but also to power day-to-day life and systems on board, and to keep crew and passengers safe, he says. “Safety – keeping the lights on at sea – motivates me to engineer reliable solutions,” he says.
He’s largely responsible, along with some 30 colleagues at home and abroad, for pioneering a cutting-edge approach to marine power that features a catalogue of modular, scalable solutions. These include emerging technologies linked to batteries and solar panels, for example compact ship batteries that reduce the need for bulky hardware, such as diesel generators.
Energy solutions tailored for individual ships could be key to moving away from traditional fossil fuels, he believes. “There’s a big opportunity for the marine world to shift toward this catalogue-style approach.” He’s proud to have consulted with US colleagues to create New York state’s first electric-powered ferry, using this modular approach. It is now operating reduced-emission journeys to Governors island in New York Bay between Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Rust is confident the next generation of marine engineers can help combat the sector’s famously traditional mindset, and as ports modernise and electrify, there will be improvements in shore-based charging infrastructure.
Having been with the company for roughly 15 years, he is also involved in training up apprentices on a dual programme. “I have five at the moment. It’s a really great programme,” he says, adding that one of the big benefits is that after four and a half years the apprentices have grown into the company and are used to its ways and people. They are up to speed to be developed into lead engineers and project managers. “I really love doing that,” he says of his motivation.
“If you want to achieve different ways of working, you have to inspire colleagues – show them a target, a ‘flag on Mount Everest’ that will help them develop and grow,” he says.
