What it takes to become an Energy Efficiency Engineer
Miriam Vazquez is a product engineer at General Electric Company. Energy efficiency engineer is responsible for providing technical expertise and support in the development of energy conservation initiatives associated with energy distribution systems for residential, commercial and industrial clients. Energy efficiency engineer focuses on finding efficient, clean and innovative ways to supply energy.
TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES
The job description can vary depending on sector of industry:
- Energy efficiency engineer conducts energy audits to inspect, survey, model, and analyze the primary energy flows (mechanical, electrical and thermal) in existing residential, commercial and industrial buildings. The purpose is to reduce energy consuming and improve energy efficiency.
- Energy efficiency engineer assists the construction industry with the energy-consuming components, such as heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems; green buildings; lighting; air quality; or energy procurement.
- Energy efficiency engineer helps corporations developing energy-usage goals, and guiding, monitoring and mentoring their energy team to ensure those goals are met.
SKILLS
Professional
- Scientific and Mathematics skills:
using mathematics, scientific rules and methods to solve problems. - Analytical skills:
analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design as well as information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems; determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes. - Technical/Engineering skills:
using practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods (technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models) and services; having knowledge about machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance; having knowledge about circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming - Writing, Reading Comprehension, Presenting, Foreign Languages:
communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience; understanding written texts in work related documents; talking and presenting to others to convey information effectively; building the conversation in Foreign language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Personal
- Teamwork skills:
job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude. - Management and leadership skills:
implementing business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources; managing own time and the time of others; being prepare to lead, take the responsibility, and offer opinions and solutions. - Complex problem-solving skills:
identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop, evaluate and implement efficient solutions - Critical thinking skills:
using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of suggested solutions, methods or approaches to the system issues - Effective communication skills:
applying media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media. - Customer service skills:
providing customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. - Active learning skills:
selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things; understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
HOW TO BECOME AN ENERGY EFFICIENCY ENGINEER:
For Energy Efficiency Engineer jobs you have to have a bachelor’s degree in engineering, applied science, environmental science, or a related scientific or technical field. A master’s degree in one of these fields can increase your chances of getting a more creative job.
Which subjects´ knowledge is essential for a career?
Energy efficiency engineering combines the fields of physics, math, and chemistry with economics and environmental engineering to increase efficiency and further develop renewable sources of energy.
HOW TO GET EXPERIENCE:
- Summer Camps, e.g., Young Engineering Minds, European Space Camp, and so forth.
- Trastea Club, University of Deusto, Bilbao http://www.trastea.club/
– CAREER PROSPECT:
If you will choose a career of Energy Efficiency Engineer, you can also work as a specialist in area of Corporate Social Responsibility, Renewable Energy Generation and Efficiency, Green Construction and Manufacturing, Recycling and Waste Reduction, Environmental Consultancies, and energy engineering research, and so on.
Q: If you could start all over again, how you would change your career path?
Miriam Vazquez
A: There are a lot of new careers today related to industrial engineering. Perhaps, my career would still be industrial engineering, but I will also consider biomedical engineering, because I’m very interested in the medical part and give solutions, in the end. It’s all a matter of I like to be able to provide solutions related to people’s health. But I think that I will study again industrial engineering. This would be one of my first option.
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