Unitil is recognizing its teams of engineers for the critical roles they play in the utility industry as National Engineers Week kicks off this week to celebrate the contributions that all engineers make in today’s world and inspire future generations.
The week, which runs from Feb. 22 to Feb. 28, aims to honor engineers, raise awareness of careers in engineering and technology, and highlight the importance of education to maintain a strong engineering workforce.
“Our highly skilled electrical and natural gas engineers serve an essential role in providing safe and reliable energy to our customers,” said Amanda Vicinanzo, Unitil’s manager of external affairs. “We acknowledge the invaluable work they provide throughout the year, but National Engineers Week is a time for us to really celebrate the accomplishments of these dedicated engineers.” 
They include engineers like Sheena Mason, a manager of gas engineering at Unitil. She was hired in 2021 and took on the managerial role a little over a year ago. Before joining Unitil, she was a gas engineer and supervisor of engineering at Maine Natural Gas, which was acquired by Unitil in 2025.
Mason’s engineering role involves overseeing system planning and design for the company’s natural gas distribution and transmission systems. The work includes designing metering and regulating stations, designing and permitting pipeline corridors, hydraulic modeling of natural gas systems, and a variety of other tasks.
It’s a career path she never thought she would take when she began college and initially attended nursing school because she thought she wanted to be a nurse.
“After the first semester, nursing didn’t feel like a good fit for me, and I was confused about what I wanted to do. In talking to my advisor, I told them all I wanted to do was take calculus because I really enjoyed math,” Mason said.
The advisor encouraged her to talk to the dean of civil engineering, which ultimately led her to pursue a civil engineering degree from the University of Maine. She is currently working toward her master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in Engineering Management at Southern New Hampshire University.
After college, Mason worked for seven years as a structural engineer, achieving her professional engineering licensure in 2011. In 2013, a fellow UMaine graduate at Maine Natural Gas informed her about a job opportunity with the company.
“I really enjoy managing people and watching them grow and come into their own. I like being able to encourage and support them through that,” she said.
Gas engineer Spencer Shample began his career at Unitil as an intern in 2021 while studying at the University of Kentucky and later finishing his studies at the University of New Hampshire, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. He became an engineering technician and was later promoted to engineer in 2025. 
In his role, Shample examines data to determine what may or may not be needed to bring a new gas customer online. He serves on the system planning team within Gas Engineering, which uses advanced engineering software and calculations to simulate how gas flows through the pipeline network.
He enjoys his work as a gas engineer and encourages anyone interested in a career in engineering to seek input from those in the field.
“If you’re looking to go into engineering, talk to somebody who works in engineering first. Ultimately it was the right decision for me, but there were a couple of times during my undergrad studies where I didn’t know if I could stick with it. I was in the weeds a couple of times, but if you can talk to somebody that can give it to you straight and you’re determined to do the four to six years, it’s worth it on the other side. Just make sure it’s really what you want to do because the reward does not come without some serious effort,” Shample said.
An electrical engineer who joined Unitil in 2018, Jeremy Kites serves as a senior engineer working in the area of distributed energy resources, which refers to small-scale energy systems like rooftop solar panels. Although his work involves all types of interconnections, much of his current focus is on larger solar array projects. Working closely with developers, Kites analyzes the potential impacts that power generation from a new installation might have on Unitil’s existing equipment. 
Kites attended Marine Maritime Academy, where he received a marine engineering degree. He worked in operations offshore in the oil and gas industry for several years and decided to change course and look for opportunities closer to home.
“One of the things I like about the job is I get to see into just about every department here and learn a little bit more about them. It’s been good for me,” he said.
Kites emphasized the importance of having a curious mind.
“Everybody here is so great to work with because you can be curious and ask questions. My coworkers are more than willing to help me out and pass along their knowledge, especially in the engineering department where there are a lot of people who have been in the utility industry for a long time and they have an endless amount of knowledge on the operations of the systems here and the industry as a whole,” Kites said.
Growing up, he never expected to one day become an electrical engineer, but he always assumed he would find a job that offered some hands-on experience.
“I always liked to learn, but I just didn’t like being told that I had to sit in a classroom. I was the kid who was always taking stuff apart that my dad had to see how it worked,” he said.
Photo Captions:
Top: Sheena Mason
Middle: Spencer Shample
Bottom: Jeremy Kites
