Arc Flash Forum :: View topic - Your Job and How Long

I'll try to keep it short:
I did things kind of backwards you could say, out of high school got married and started a family young (no regrets tho) not sure what I wanted to do, got into the field as a draftsman, met a "old-timer" who introduced me to the industry he was also a Navy veteran (electrician during world war 2 and Korean war) who then became an EE, and was a exceptional teacher, and extremely knowledgeable of both the contractors world and the engineers world (troubleshooting etc.) when he specified or indicated something on the plans he knew how it would fit how it could be wired and all the internals etc. he was also a volunteer on weekends I got involved with volunteering on the weekend also assisting electricians, moved from draftsman to learning and understanding electrical design, since have returned to school taking classes at night at a local university and am finishing up by bachelors degree in electrical (power) engineering (almost complete summer 2010 target date) hopefully to then purse a MBA, PE, LEED RCCD, all that good stuff, there is nothing else I would rather do I love the work the challenges it brings, and the ability to make an impact and impression, I love to learn and try to keep an open mind to new ideas and technologies as they come up, and am glad to be a subscriber / member to this and some other electrical forums the intranet has created a great place for thing like this to be able to learn from other experiences and knowledge is truly great. Also curious how many here are linked to a linkedin account It would be great to "hook" up with allot of you? I am also looking at how social media can be used in corporate instutions to help improve employee dedication, satification, learning, etc. and have to say it is very interesting. and last but not least a happy holidays to all.

Author:	TxEngr [ Mon Nov 02, 2009 9:57 am ]
Post subject:	Your Job and How Long
We all bring different perspectives to the forum and sometimes it's helpful to know a little bit about this perspective. So I'm kicking off a "What's your Job and How Long Have You Done It thread. You don't have to reveal much, just generalities. But I think it might be useful to understand the perspective everyone brings to the discussions. Me - I'm an engineer with over 20 years experience in heavy industry dealing primarily with 15KV and below equipment. Next?

Author:	Gary B [ Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:56 pm ]
Post subject:
I've been Electrical Engineering since 1981, first 8 years as a distribution field engineer for a regional power company, then worked for three different consulting companies (large, medium and small) and for the past 10 years have a small consulting company of my own. The work we do is for industrial (refinery, paper mill and sulphuric acid plants), utility (small town utilities, local PUD) and commercial building (I do not persue this work, because others can do it faster, but we have a few good repeat customers) projects. It has been quite a ride. Gary B

Author:	JJH [ Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:11 am ]
Post subject:
I've been an electrical engineer since 1988. Got my PE in 1996. Worked in industrial plants for my entire career doing project work (new equipment, retrofits, etc.). Started doing arc flash surveys for my company's 21 facilities 2 years ago. Experience is mainly with 600 volts and less.

Author:	WDeanN [ Fri Nov 06, 2009 1:07 pm ]
Post subject:
I went into the US Navy and trained as an electrician. After getting out, instead of going straight to school, I went to work as an electrician. After going through the IBEW Apprenticeship program, I finally made it to college, and got a degree in Electrical Engineering. Now, at over 35, I just qualified and sat for the PE exam in October. Hopefully that will turn out well...

Author:	chris kennedy [ Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:37 am ]
Post subject:
I'm 49 and a licensed J-man electrician. Been twistin tools for about 25 years. I'm one of the guys the members of this forum are trying to keep safe. I would like to thank you all for your participation here.

Arc Flash Forum https://brainfiller.com/arcflashforum/

Your Job and How Long https://brainfiller.com/arcflashforum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=744	Page 1 of 2

Author:	Jim Phillips (brainfiller) [ Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:35 am ]
Post subject:
WDeanN wrote: I just qualified and sat for the PE exam in October. Hopefully that will turn out well... Best Wishes! I hope it turns out well!

Author:	THE CABLE GUY [ Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:55 am ]
Post subject:
I have an Associates degree in Electrical Technical Engineering, started work as an industrial electrician with a major producer of wire and cable. Attended several schools but never finished EE. Worked my way up the ladder to electrical project manager and currently titled as Electrical Maintenance Area Coordinator. I have over 30 years in low voltage industrial electrical work experience. I have been researching electrical safety for the past 6 years and worked with our facilities with the standards and one-line models. My mentor, Mr. Chat Davis of ESA and his classes has taught me a lot over the years on arc flash methodology. My wife and I also have a home based business, helping engineering companies with arc flash documentation, technical documentation, statistical data analysis, brochures and flyers.

Author:	acobb [ Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:46 pm ]
Post subject:
Good Job, Jim!!! Alan

Author:	Canuck01 [ Tue Nov 10, 2009 6:39 pm ]
Post subject:
How long? Too long... Started as an electrical helper in '87 - got my ticket in '91. Spent 5 years as an electrical foreman in construction doing projects 300k to 1 million electrical. Moved to maintenance and worked in underground coal for 3 years until the Japanese economy took us down. Spent the next 5 years as maintenance foreman in automotive industry until the writing started to show on the wall in '04 (who knew???). Took a maintenance general foreman position in food fabrication until I got sick of the blood, guts and politics. Moved to surface coal for 3 years as maintenance/project foreman until the global meltdown happened. Project funding dried up so I decided enough of coal. I'm now electrical general foreman at a large mine. The economy affects us but long term prospects are good and the product will be in short supply when demand is back. Electrical experience is pretty diverse - 120 volts to 138 KV, mining systems, High and low resistance grounded neutral systems, etc. Arc flash is part of what we do all the time. the company is US based so we've been following NFPA 70E since '06, now we have Z462-08 to comply with. This is a good forum - glad I found it!

Author:	mike01 [ Wed Dec 09, 2009 8:33 am ]
Post subject:
Job Exp. I'll try to keep it short: I did things kind of backwards you could say, out of high school got married and started a family young (no regrets tho) not sure what I wanted to do, got into the field as a draftsman, met a "old-timer" who introduced me to the industry he was also a Navy veteran (electrician during world war 2 and Korean war) who then became an EE, and was a exceptional teacher, and extremely knowledgeable of both the contractors world and the engineers world (troubleshooting etc.) when he specified or indicated something on the plans he knew how it would fit how it could be wired and all the internals etc. he was also a volunteer on weekends I got involved with volunteering on the weekend also assisting electricians, moved from draftsman to learning and understanding electrical design, since have returned to school taking classes at night at a local university and am finishing up by bachelors degree in electrical (power) engineering (almost complete summer 2010 target date) hopefully to then purse a MBA, PE, LEED RCCD, all that good stuff, there is nothing else I would rather do I love the work the challenges it brings, and the ability to make an impact and impression, I love to learn and try to keep an open mind to new ideas and technologies as they come up, and am glad to be a subscriber / member to this and some other electrical forums the intranet has created a great place for thing like this to be able to learn from other experiences and knowledge is truly great. Also curious how many here are linked to a linkedin account It would be great to "hook" up with allot of you? I am also looking at how social media can be used in corporate instutions to help improve employee dedication, satification, learning, etc. and have to say it is very interesting. and last but not least a happy holidays to all.

Author:	WDeanN [ Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:29 am ]
Post subject:
WDeanN wrote: Now, at over 35, I just qualified and sat for the PE exam in October. Hopefully that will turn out well... brainfiller wrote: Best Wishes! I hope it turns out well! I passed!! Being in the arc flash field has definitely been a part of that. Arc flash studies touch on so many aspects of the electrical system that you cannot help but learn a lot about electrical engineering being in this field.

Author:	THE CABLE GUY [ Mon Jan 11, 2010 12:28 pm ]
Post subject:
Great news WDN. I hate taking test. Good luck on your future as a PE.

Author:	acobb [ Mon Jan 11, 2010 7:40 pm ]
Post subject:
Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!! One of our guys sat for the exam in October and passed it as well. He is a member of this forum as madawson. Good Job!

Author:	WDeanN [ Tue Jan 12, 2010 6:51 am ]
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Thanks, guys. It's been a long road, and I'm not done yet!

Author:	haze10 [ Wed Jan 13, 2010 9:40 pm ]
Post subject:
I graduted with BE Electrical Engineering in 81 from SUNY Maritime and still hold an active USCG 2nd Engineer Unlimited License. Worked offshore oil for 5 years as electrician, Project Engineer in the Bering Sea, Gulf of Mexico and Cape of Good Hope. Came shore side in 86 and worked in the petro chemical industry since as Project Engineer, Maintenance Supervisor, Staff Engineer. Also did a lot of Energy Management, wheeling, and efficiency. Hold a Master Electricians License in CT and TX PE in RI, MA, CT and TX Developed Arc Flash program for my company and sister sites. Teach Arc Flash under my own company as well as general electrical consultanting.

Author:	BCR_1962 [ Tue Feb 16, 2010 11:39 am ]
Post subject:
I got my start in industrial maintenance in 1984. Became a licensed journeyman in 1990. I went to the university of Minnesota in 2001 and got my BSEE in 2005. Today I am a freshly minted PE. Even old dags can learn new tricks .

Author:	acobb [ Tue Feb 16, 2010 4:54 pm ]
Post subject:
Well, Congrats on a hard one to get!

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Author:	msaner@workrite.com [ Thu Jan 14, 2010 5:46 pm ]
Post subject:
I've been in the fire and safety equipment manufacturing business for 32 years. In the FR protective clothing business for 4 years. I've also been on NFPA and ASTM committees for most of those years.

Author:	jedstump [ Thu Jan 14, 2010 8:03 pm ]
Post subject:
Job and How Long mike01 wrote: I'll try to keep it short: I did things kind of backwards you could say, out of high school got married and started a family young (no regrets tho) not sure what I wanted to do, got into the field as a draftsman, met a "old-timer" who introduced me to the industry he was also a Navy veteran (electrician during world war 2 and Korean war) who then became an EE, and was a exceptional teacher, and extremely knowledgeable of both the contractors world and the engineers world (troubleshooting etc.) when he specified or indicated something on the plans he knew how it would fit how it could be wired and all the internals etc. he was also a volunteer on weekends I got involved with volunteering on the weekend also assisting electricians, moved from draftsman to learning and understanding electrical design, since have returned to school taking classes at night at a local university and am finishing up by bachelors degree in electrical (power) engineering (almost complete summer 2010 target date) hopefully to then purse a MBA, PE, LEED RCCD, all that good stuff, there is nothing else I would rather do I love the work the challenges it brings, and the ability to make an impact and impression, I love to learn and try to keep an open mind to new ideas and technologies as they come up, and am glad to be a subscriber / member to this and some other electrical forums the intranet has created a great place for thing like this to be able to learn from other experiences and knowledge is truly great. Also curious how many here are linked to a linkedin account It would be great to "hook" up with allot of you? I am also looking at how social media can be used in corporate instutions to help improve employee dedication, satification, learning, etc. and have to say it is very interesting. and last but not least a happy holidays to all. Good post Mike I have been in the safety clothing business for over 8 years and selling arc flash protection for a good 4 years now. There is so much to learn about the regulations such as the NFPA 70E and how it applies to the industries. Even though I do not work directly with electrical equipment I have a lot of people asking for advice on how to approach their purchasing decisions of protective clothing. A lot of people know very little about HRC and what type pf garments are available. I have been trying to find correspondence like this through the social media but all I seem to find is companies trying to sell the product. I am interested in learning about the safety side in understanding the arc flash analysis aspect. As foe Linkedin I do have a profile there as follows: http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/terry-smeader/18/2b1/191