Robert Frye has been fascinated with construction sites and electricity transmission since he was a kid growing up in Chattanooga.
In high school while other boys were tinkering with cars or chasing girls, Frye built an electrical substation in his house, converting the 120-volt line coming into the house into 46,000 volts output from the device he assembled from parts he collected at work and through purchases around town. At the time, Frye was working for Tennessee Transformer Co. in Chattanooga, where he quickly learned about building transformers and power transmission.
“I grew up sneaking into substations as a kid and this is what I always wanted to do,” Frye said Thursday after TVA recognized the 55-year-old transmission specialist as the winner of its annual Ike Zeringue Engineer of the Year award.
Frye, who was accompanied to the TVA board meeting Thursday by his 97-year-old mother, said his mom wondered when thinking back on her son’s early electrical experiments if they had adequately supervised their young engineer.
“My parents gave me the support and chance to succeed and I guess it all worked out,” he said.