Meet Kelly
Our team members come from diverse and experienced backgrounds in electrical training, and many have been in critical power for years. We pride ourselves on choosing the best people to service our customers to ensure that you get the most out of your equipment.
Meet Kelly
Our team members come from diverse and experienced backgrounds in electrical training, and many have been in critical power for years. We pride ourselves on choosing the best people to service our customers to ensure that you get the most out of your equipment.
Kelly Akers
Region: South East
As a Marine Corps veteran, Kelly first began learning about electronics when he worked as a technician on radar scopes. Now, a seasoned Critical Power Field Technician, he shares his experience working on UPS systems and why he thinks service is so important.
Certifications
Basic Electronics USMC, Advance Electronics USMC, Radar Repair School USMC, Associates in Electronic Engineering Technology, OSHA 10, OSHA 30, NFPA-70, Samsung Batteries, VRLA Batteries, Lithium-Ion Batteries
Field Trained
9900D; 9900CX; 9900B; 9900AEGIS; SUMMIT Series®
Where are you from?
“I live in Canton, GA, a suburb of Atlanta. I was born in Ocala, FL and spent all my earlier years in the great state of Florida. I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps while living in Tampa, FL.”
How did you find Mitsubishi Electric and start working in the critical power industry?
“I 'fell' into the critical power industry while visiting a Marine brother in Middletown, NY. He was working at a company called KW Controls. They were a German-based company and did everything in the critical power industry.
I learned how to work on Rotary UPS, Static UPS, switchgear, Diesel generators, Turbine generators, PDUs, monitoring systems, batteries (all types) and flywheels. I worked for KW Controls, [which] later became Piller for 21 years.
After my time with Piller, I worked for a company called ISO, Intelligent Switchgear Operations. And later, a company called Active Power came calling and hired me to work on their UPS. I found Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Inc. through a headhunter.”
You've had a long career in the industry. What keeps you in the business?
“After so many years of doing this, I’ve just come to the conclusion in the last couple of years that this is what I’m born to do. I am a Field Service Technician. I’ve been one for 36 years. And I don’t wanna brag, but I’m pretty good at it. I still learn. The day you quit learning is the day to quit.”
What sets our Field Service team apart?
"It’s our people. We like each other and get along. When on the road with other techs, we spend time together after the job. We help each other out when there are problems that we need additional help with. It’s a great team to be a part of. Shout out to Cynthia Gandy who really brings this thing together for us - best boss I ever had!”
Who do you think is best equipped to work as a Field Service Technician? What's the common characteristic between you and all your colleagues?
“First of all, you have to not mind the travel. You have to understand that you’re going to get - I call it getting "shot-gunned" - you’re going to get shot-gunned out of bed or you’re going to have to change plans. You have to be flexible.
And there are guys like that - they love to travel. Travel doesn’t bother them. And there are guys who hate it, and those guys who hate it usually don’t stay with it too long cause, truthfully, it’s a travelling job. You rarely go to the same place every day, which I like. I like being in different places, different towns, meeting different people.
You have to also understand that you’re going to get thrown into a lot of stressful and unique situations. You must be able to handle that. Don’t crack.
You got to be able to repair the customer, as well as the gear because some of these guys, man… some of their jobs are on the line. And I’ve had that happen where it wasn’t even the guy’s fault, and he made a mistake, and they fired him.
The stuff that we do…it looks after millions and millions of dollars of revenue. If they lose any of that, it looks poorly on them, and some people lose their job over it. We can lose our jobs over it if we go in and foul up. That’s just the nature of the beast so be prepared for that if you’re going to do this.”
In what ways has the critical power industry changed since you've started? What do you think will change in the next few years?
“After over 30 years in the business, there’s not enough time to tell you what’s changed... how about everything? As far as what’s next, only God knows.
I can tell you what hasn’t changed is Service. The facilities personnel rely heavily on us. Good service goes a long way when considering a UPS system.”
What is one thing you can think of that has changed?
“The thing that comes right to my mind is the software. So, when I first started, software was used very little to control the UPS. Mostly, it was hardware.
Over the years, the software has developed to where you have less components because you’re using software versus hardware, so that means you have less chances of failure. Software generally doesn’t fail. For the most part, it’s pretty solid.
Hardware components are what you have break down and fail so, over the years, the industry has moved to using more software than hardware - so that jumps out at me right away. That made my life a little easier…
And the footprint size - that’s definitely changed. The UPS are smaller now. You get more bang for your buck. They’re smaller in size but they can deliver as much power as [larger UPS had].
You have a smaller footprint so that leaves more room for things you want to power up, like servers - things that make the customer money.
Servers, IT equipment, that kind of thing - whatever they’re using that they need UPS power for - they have more room for those devices cause you’re not taking up all the space with the UPS and their peripherals.”
What is something people should know when looking for the ideal Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)?
“Several things come to mind: Reliability, affordability, and quality of service.”
What advice would you give to a facility manager?
“The same thing I tell them all the time - ‘Don’t be a hero.’ If there is an issue, record all pertinent information and call the Tech Support line or your local [Mitsubishi Electric] service representative.”
What is the best advice you have ever received, personally or professionally?
“I was once told by a Vice President (who later worked for Mitsubishi), his name was George Danbury. He told me, ‘You can recover the money, but you can’t recover the reputation.’”
If you weren’t in critical power, what would you be doing?
“I’d be a baseball player.
I played college baseball at Florida A&M University. I played Division I baseball. I played baseball until I was 40. So after college, I tried out for the Kansas City Royals, and I got released - I didn’t make it. I was really good, but it didn’t happen for me.
So when I turned 30, there was thing called the Men’s Senior Baseball League here in Atlanta and you had to be 30 [or older]. When I was 31, the team won the Men’s Senior World Series Championship.”