Kayla Knudtson still remembers the moment in middle school when an aptitude test pointed her toward engineering.
The result surprised none of her teachers. Knudtson had always gravitated toward science and math and loved puzzles that demanded careful logic. When she took a high school engineering course a couple years later, she began to imagine new possibilities for her career.
“It really came down to applying math and solving problems,” said Knudtson, who graduated in 2025 with an electrical engineering bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Her personal interests and problem-solving skills were a natural fit for electronics, a field bubbling with possibilities to advance sustainability and green technology. She’s now contributing to that future as an electrical engineering grad student at UWM’s College of Engineering & Applied Science. She focuses on renewable energy systems, such as microgrids, and teaching undergrad students.
“I’ve always had a passion for the environment,” she said. “Renewables are a huge field right now, and they’re growing really fast.”
Designing solutions that matter
One of Knudtson’s favorite projects to date unfolded last year during her senior design course at UWM. The capstone course is designed to immerse engineering students in a team effort to solve a real-world problem.
Working with classmates, Knudtson was inspired by her love of the Racine Zoo, where she clocked more than 1,000 volunteer hours as a teen. Her team decided to build an automated feeder for orangutans. Although their materials had to be repurposed for future student projects, the invention could enable zookeepers to schedule feedings remotely through a web interface. The device would reduce the need to approach the enclosure, making the process easier for staff and allowing for more natural foraging for the orangutans.
Ultimately, the project combined multiple layers of Knudtson’s passion for conservation and a healthier planet. “I’ve always loved animals,” she said. “And I want Earth to stay inhabitable for them.”
It also tapped into a certain mental satisfaction she first discovered while solving problems in high school: “It gives me that dopamine rush,” Knudston said.
Engineering beyond the classroom
Before beginning grad school in early 2026, Knudtson spent nearly two years working as an intern at Johnson Controls, contributing to testing and development for a new cooling control system for commercial refrigeration.
She’s since felt a sense of pride in those contributions, knowing they’ve benefitted grocery stores and other businesses implementing the technology. “I had helped with the testing on this product,” she said. “It was an ‘aha moment,’ like this is real, working on things that have an impact.”
Back on campus, she shares stories from her real-world product testing with younger engineering students. Knudtson serves as a teaching assistant for Electrical Circuits and Electronics I, a core course that focuses on the fundamental principles of electrical engineering for undergrads.
Powering smaller, smarter grids
More recently, studying under electrical engineering professor Robert Cuzner, Knudtson’s graduate research focuses on microgrids.
These small-scale energy systems can operate either independently or alongside a region’s main power grid. But microgrids can also power entire neighborhoods, campuses and even communities in remote parts of the world.
One challenge with microgrids — and renewables in general — is the lack of constant reliability in your power source, such as weather impacting the wind and sunny skies. That’s the type of issue Knudtson wants to tackle in her future.
“With solar, the sun isn’t always out, so you need battery systems and controls to balance everything,” she said.
Knudston is still exploring where her work may ultimately lead. Lately she feels pulled toward large-scale renewable systems, like advanced wind farms that could power a whole city. That big-thinking approach could reshape the future of how communities generate and manage power.
“Improving efficiency, improving reliability — anything in that area is where I’d want to be,” she said.
