insights Amanpreet Singh - Proposal Manager for global offshore wind business

“Our future success depends on promising young talents”

With over a decade of experience in the transmission and distribution (T&D) industry, Amanpreet Singh brings his combination of commercial, engineering and renewables knowledge to Linxon in the UK. He is also a passionate believer in fostering young talents, which has led him to become a STEM ambassador and educator with the aim of helping shape the future of the renewable energy sector. Here he tells us more about the importance of learning and growth. Amanpreet first started giving lectures in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) to young students across various education levels in early 2018 – and has continued to give lessons on virtual platforms throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past year, he has volunteered 90 hours from his personal time in direct engagement with STEM UK. “I use the same philosophy to motivate my students – for example, the idea of saving planet Earth – but I use different teaching styles depending on age,” he explains. “For primary school children, I mainly focus on interesting them in the STEM field generally, whereas I deliver a bit more informative and analytical material to secondary school students. For college students, who can understand the details, I deliver a deeper level, such as emerging technologies and trends.” Amanpreet is motivated by his belief that there is a shortage of STEM talent around the world and especially in the UK. He considers himself not only a STEM ambassador but also an ambassador for Linxon, connecting his lectures with both Linxon’s business and its purpose of shaping energy solutions to empower sustainable connectivity. “I feel proud that many students and their teachers now know what we’re doing and who we are,” he adds.

Ample opportunities to learn

In fact, learning and growth are the most important factors in his career, Amanpreet says, and these are values that he also sees reflected in his current employer. “At Linxon, we have ample opportunity to learn with top talent, an excellent team and great leadership,” he underlines. He joined Linxon around a year ago and is responsible for bid management of high-value tenders for the EMEA, UK and Ireland region – with a focus on the renewable sector and technologies like full turnkey offshore wind farms.

“Every offshore wind opportunity is bespoke, and technology is developing dynamically. This industry certainly needs flexibility of thought and openness to learning,” says Amanpreet, who is working on a process for the offshore wind team following the basic principle of ‘stay lean, go fast’. “I’ve witnessed very good collaboration within Linxon and fantastic enthusiasm to grow, which ultimately grows the business. Linxon’s focus on safety, integrity and sharing common goals of carbon neutrality with our clients is making all the difference as well.”

What else attracted him to the company? “I see that Linxon is uniquely positioned in the market by being a new face, yet with a strong background and years of experience in the T&D sector,” he says. “I’m also convinced that our success comes from trust and appreciation of our colleagues.”

He reflects this appreciation in his own leadership style, which is influenced by John Maxwell’s statement: “Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.” Amanpreet follows a teamwork approach and believes that trusting your team is the key to any successful business. “In my previous role, I managed to secure some utilities business for Linxon with our key client on the same principles of collaboration within the team and the client,” he adds.

Young talents as the future of renewable energy

While Amanpreet is proud of his current role within the offshore wind sector and Linxon’s role in positively shaping this sector with its technologies, he also sees fostering young STEM talents as another way of making a beneficial impact on the future of renewable energy. “I firmly believe that our future success depends on inspiring and developing a promising supply of highly trained technical talents,” he says. “And I believe the responsibility for inspiring this next generation shouldn’t just fall on CSR representatives, but be on every science and technology professional.”

He highlights that meeting students has been a learning process for him as well. “The best part of teaching the students is the questions they ask since the way they think provides me with a fresh perspective – it enables me to look at the industry I’ve been working in for a while now with new eyes.”