Vlad Gud: Keeping the Power On

Most of us don’t think about electricity — except when the power goes out. Electricity is more than just a source of energy to Vladislav “Vlad” Gud. The UW Tacoma senior recently finished a degree in electrical engineering, supported in part by the Neil Kepple Memorial Endowed Scholarship. He has already accepted an offer from a company that contracts with Puget Sound Energy. “There’s something about being able to supply power to people,” said Gud. “To know that people have homes that are heated and have the electricity they need.”

Gud transferred to UW Tacoma in the fall of 2017 from Highline College. “I took physics courses at Highline where we talked about electricity and that really sparked [no pun intended] my interest,” he said. Electrical engineering students can work in a number of fields but Gud was drawn to utilities. “I could have done something with smaller electronics like cell phones but I’ve always wanted to do something a larger scale.”

The youngest of four, Gud is the last of his siblings to earn a college degree. His older sisters are nurses and Gud’s older brother works in logistics. The family moved to the Pacific Northwest from Moldova before Vlad was born. His mother became a caregiver and Gud’s father went to work maintaining semi-trailers and railroad boxcars.

While on campus, Gud participated in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers [IEEE] club on campus. “There are only a couple dozen of people in the program,” said Gud. “We were very much like a family. Everyone was encouraging and ready to help whenever I didn’t understand something.”

To some extent, electricity is in Gud’s veins. His grandfather worked as an electrician back in the USSR (now Russia). “I like the idea that I’m continuing that tradition in some way,” said Gud. “The work I’m doing is just a step or two beyond what my grandfather was doing.”