Hydroelectric engineers design, construct, and maintain hydroelectric facilities, oversee daily routines, and ensure employee safety. The profession emerged in the late 1800s with Lestor Pelton’s waterwheel design. Hydroelectric engineers require a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and experience. Their job duties include design and construction within budget and legal guidelines, using design software and modern technology.
A hydroelectric engineer is usually directly involved with the design, construction, and maintenance of hydroelectric facilities, which include hydroelectric power plants, dams, and other water-carrying sites. Daily routines at a hydroelectric plant are usually overseen by a hydroelectric engineer, because he is usually responsible for ensuring the safety of employees. This can include educating employees about workplace safety, reviewing and reporting mechanical defects in the factory, and providing safety training for employees and other professionals. In addition to enforcing safety regulations, a hydroelectric engineer is involved in the planning and implementation of hydropower plant and/or construction projects.
Hydroelectric engineering emerged in the late 1800’s and was introduced by Lestor Pelton, who was interested in mining during America’s gold rush. While exploring and studying mining on the west coast of the United States, Pelton built a waterwheel to power the mining industry’s tools and transportation systems. This renewable energy source became more and more popular and the position of hydroelectric engineer grew rapidly. Since the late 1800’s there have been many adaptations of the waterwheel, but these designs are still mostly based on Pelton’s design. Engineers in this field have spent the last century tweaking the original renewable energy source model to provide locales with a more efficient model, which still needs further tweaking.
Today, this energy concept is widely popular because it is eco-friendly, but there are still a number of imperfections that a hydroelectric engineer needs to work on. The hydropower sector is constantly evolving and this career implies innovations that will make this energy source cheaper and less threatening due to flooding. Due to the complex nature of this career, most companies or government agencies require a hydroelectric engineer to have at least a bachelor’s degree, preferably in civil engineering, and several years of experience.
Job duties in this profession can vary greatly depending on the facility he works at, but design and construction are by far the most important tasks of this position. A hydroelectric engineer must help in the construction of a hydroelectric machine while staying within a certain budget and also ensuring that the product complies with all legal guidelines. The design process is highly complex and he or she must be extremely familiar with a variety of design software, other hydropower projects and all the modern technology used in building these facilities.
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