Don't Let the Smoke Out (The Sparkies' Corner)

[mudpuppy]

I know there are a bunch of us EE/Power folks here. I'll start the introductions.

Thirteen years at a medium-sized electric utility in the midwest. Twelve of those in system protection, primarily specifying protection system designs and calculating relay settings for 46 kV to 345 kV systems. Also some experience in generator dynamic studies, both at the utility and in grad school.

The most interesting part of my job is helping out with post-mortem studies, trying to figure out what when wrong after things blow up.

 

[knight1fox3]

Fellow EE/Power guy here. Since 2004 I've been on the manufacturing side of things. I've worked in the terminal block and data communications industry, automotive industry designing OEM automated machinery for the "Big 3", and more recently the nuclear industry for close to 7 years. In nuclear my group was responsible for any overhead bridge crane design (either domestic or international) that handled any type of nuclear fuel. EEs pretty much did it all. We were responsible for power distribution, panel layouts, automation and corresponding programming, and customer-witnessed factory acceptance testing. The most interesting part of that job was seeing these large machines in action and pushing them to their limits during the testing and start-up phases.

April 2013 was when I made the switch to the consulting world. A small power engineering consulting firm to be exact. This firm deals with coal-fired, natural gas, and wind generation power utilities. Very heavily oriented on the power side of things and quite a difference from the manufacturing world. I do like the work I've been doing so far because no project (big or small) has been the same since I've been here. I also bring a new set of skills to this group by providing experience in the controls/automation world dealing with robotics, PLCs, HMIs, and VFDs. So I'm hoping to market these for the company to bring in some new business opportunities for the group.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

The most interesting part of my job is helping out with post-mortem studies, trying to figure out what when wrong after things blow up.

That's all I do...it is interesting.

 

[Matt Bellott]

I am an EE in power systems. I have worked for Entergy and Southwest Power Pool previously. I also did a very short stint in consulting. Currently, I am working at the Midcontinent ISO in Carmel, Indiana. It is a good job, but I really enjoyed the design of devices and systems, and there is not much of that here at MISO.

 

[Dark Knight]

EE/Power

20+ years in different areas like Distribution, Substation design (both distribution and transmission), Relaying (generation, transmission, and distribution), Power Quality, and most recently made a late career incursion into distribution planning and reliability. Also prepare settings for distribution feeders.

My favorite field was, is, and will always be relaying. From the construction, to the scheme testing and troubleshooting is the field I like the most. My most productive years were the ones I spent with a company in Florida as a Relay Test Engineer. Learned a lot and was a very productive employee too.

 

[mudpuppy]

I am an EE in power systems. I have worked for Entergy and Southwest Power Pool previously. I also did a very short stint in consulting. Currently, I am working at the Midcontinent ISO in Carmel, Indiana. It is a good job, but I really enjoyed the design of devices and systems, and there is not much of that here at MISO.

Interesting, how did you end up going from the South to MISO?

 

[ventilator]

I've been with a small industrial automation/construction company since graduation about 7 years ago. We do design, automation, and construction for different processes. I handle the power and design part which is mainly 480v motor load and PLC cabinets. I also do arc flash studies with SKM but that is a smaller part of what we do.

 

[user 26087]

I've been with a small consulting firm for 8 years now. The best thing I like the most is probably coordination and arc flash studies. Hoping to hear good news for the PE exam because it opens a huge door for me with my company.

 

[engineergurl]

I am hijacking this thread to see if I can get a bacon butt showing for the last poster on the threads,..

 

[knight1fox3]

Nope

 

[Tx_spurs_pe]

Sparky here, started as an electrician, graduated high school, got my BS in EE (power) went to work for an engineering contractor for my local utility doing distribution design, (no not planning), and then hired on with the utility itself being a glorified secretary in distribution design LOL. Two things on my mind currently as I wait for my pe application to go through its approval process in texas, I miss the comraderie of being an electrician and I'm downright craving something more technical. I cant really complain though I have good benefits and get my teef cleaned once or twice per year. sparkies want what sparkies want as the ol saying goea

 

[Tx_spurs_pe]

and on another note wow this post is old LOL

 

[Surf and Snow]

I'll add another post to this dinosaur thread, as I think it's kinda neat to get a feel for actual background of all these random screen names on the interwebs.

Power PE here, with a BSEE specializing in Power. I work in high voltage power transmission (115kV - 500kV) for a fed gov agency that owns and operates 3/4 of entire transmission system in the Pacific Northwest. I do a ton of different things, but primarily I deal with new interconnections to the grid, such as when a public utility district wants to build a new substation and interconnect to our existing transmission network. Been doing this for 5 years now, and prior to this I spent 10 years as an ASE Certified Master Auto Technician specializing in electrical systems diagnose & repair, and designing electrical systems for custom buses. I loved working electrical systems, but in the automotive world I basically reached the top of the proverbial ladder at about 80k/yr and I wanted a new challenge and open path to advancement so I went back to school and became an EE. Now I work on much bigger, cooler projects, making 6-figures and have room to advance. I'ts been a lot of challenging hard work, but very rewarding and enjoyable.