Job Responsibilities
Coordinating Research Projects within larger program - 6 hour/wk
Developing and evaluating Future Commercial Plants' Operating
and Maintenance budgets - 12 hr/wk
Research and Reporting on Technology evaluations - 12 hr/wk
System Engineering design, review, evaluation - 5 hr/wk
System and equipment trouble-shooting and enhancement - 5 hr/wk
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Job Requirements
I have dual engineering degrees in electrical and mechanical
disciplines with interdisciplinary concentrations in power
generation and system control theory/application. This kind of
education is available at most Engineering schools, although it
would be quicker and easier to complete the requirements and
elective coursework at the larger, more focused schools like
Georgia Tech, Lehigh, Case Western, Stanford.
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Uppers
Being involved in new technology development and demonstration that will
eventually have major impacts on quality of life issues like the environment,
energy availability, and economics. I've earned a measure of self-direction,
being able set aside time to develop substantial individual contributions to the
program over the years.
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Downers
Time issues and budget constraints working together to prevent
pursuing all possible ideas. The amount of time spent to
maximize performance within those issues and constraints can be
frustrating. It is not unusual for many of us to 10 hour days
in order to meet the required timelines.
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Lifestyle
To maximize personal productivity, I usually start by 6A and work to 4-5P
(monday-friday). Travel varies with projects, ranging from 2 day/wk to one trip
per year; most of the travel is to vendor's or partner's plants, or to technical
conferences. Our research center is a "plant" environment where ties are a
safety hazard; most personnel wear "business casual" or golf shirts and
khakis/jeans. There is a great challenge to find younger engineers interested in
non-computer related work, and we take time to encourage students into science
and engineering specialities.
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Compensation
As a Principal Engineer, I am equivalent to our second level of
management and receive between $90-100K/yr in base salary with
additional annual bonus of cash and stock options averaging 40-
50% of my base salary. The company has a good 401K program with
75% matching of the first 6% of an individual's contribution;
contributions could either be before or after taxes are
deducted. There is also a "cafeteria" plan for insurance
benefit selections, with the company contributing additional
money above salaries to fund the insurance benefits selected.
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Advice to Jobseekers
There will continue to be an ever-increasing need for engineers
in today's (post-)industrial society. Energy and environmental
performance will also be an important focus for future research,
as the world will be forced to get more energy from less raw
materials and with almost no (net) emissions.
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