Today is my last day working at National Grid for the "Fall Term". I expect to return here for the summer right after school is out, by the end of May. The following is a job summary that I submitted back to Cornell as part of my co-op assignment. Wow, I have been here 20 weeks.--------------------
In 2007, National Grid acquired Keyspan Energy and its Power Engineering Department (PED) on Long Island, NY. National Grid was originally a transmission and gas distribution company, based in the United Kingdom, and it began acquiring similar companies in the New England region of the United States in 2000. Only recently has the company expanded into the electricity generation business after the 2007 acquisition of Keyspan Energy. During my co-op assignment, I was a part of the Power Engineering Department of legacy Keyspan Energy. The department’s focus is on power generation including eleven steam units in five power stations that produce electric energy by burning using fuel oil or natural gas. Specifically, I worked in the Plant Project Engineering & Mechanical Design group with the majority of the available projects having to do with power plant repair, improvements, and other modifications.
During this fall term, I worked on a wide variety of projects and assignments from drafting engineering drawings and designing parts to performing engineering calculations and corresponding with vendors. One of my first projects was database work for a new program National Grid was starting up for the assessment of safety and pressure relief valves for the power stations. We were evaluating the costs, procedure, and framework for routine inspections of these valves in all the power stations. The inventory lists were then submitted to the plant manager of each site for review and updates.
In the meantime, I worked on creating a cart-mounted fuel oil strainer drain system for the Port Jefferson Power Station. The goal was to create a portable version of a typically in-line drain system that allows fuel oil strainers to be cleaned without stopping the flow of oil. This comprehensive project allowed me to create a design, draw and dimension it in AutoCAD, and generate a purchase list of parts. I was able to see this design to completion after General Shops manufactured the design according to my engineering drawings.
Other major projects I worked on during my first term include calculating heat capacity and procuring a bill of materials for three unit heaters for the Port Jefferson Power Station, assisting in the filing of a NYC house boiler permit for the Far Rockaway Power Station, and studying documents and providing input for National Grid’s contribution to a NYC program for climate change risk assessment on infrastructure. I also worked on miscellaneous AutoCAD drawings for other engineers varying from pipe supports to piping modifications.
I was surprised to discover that between the assignments I was given and the more substantial projects I participated in, the things I learned at Cornell proved very useful in intuiting and understanding operating processes and components. Classes like Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer, and Fluid Mechanics had immediate applications to type of work in which I was involved. The informal training I received also helped a lot. I was provided pertinent reading material that served as a primer for how power plants generate electricity and I received assistance when I asked my co-workers many questions.
Perhaps the greatest thing I learned from working at a this job is that projects and other things in the real world do not move with as much speed as I was used to at Cornell. Even though our Power Engineering Department was relatively small and keeping in mind the several power stations we worked in conjunction with, there was still a clear presence of corporate bureaucracy that ultimately slowed down the process of getting jobs completed. The biggest challenge I faced was not having unanswered technical problems, but rather waiting for more tasks or waiting on others to update pending projects.
Working at National Grid in Hicksville, Long Island has given me opportunities and experiences that I don’t think I would have otherwise had. I was fortunate enough to live at home in Brooklyn, which essentially eliminated the extra cost of food and housing, and I commuted for about two hours from Brooklyn to Hicksville by taking the NYC Subway and Long Island Railroad. Because National Grid’s power stations are scattered throughout the island, I learned about new places when we made site visits, and that made the trips all the more interesting. I was able to obtain a newfound appreciation for Long Island and its history. Before working with the company, I had never truly explored Long Island east of Queens; now, it is no longer a foreign place to me.
Being away from school and living at home had both benefits and drawbacks. I did not have to deal with the stress of classes, assignments and projects, and exams that I have come to expect after going to Cornell for several years. Outside of work, I was virtually free, with time to reengage in several hobbies that I had been forced to set aside or abandon at Cornell and time to pursue other personal ventures. I was able to catch up with friends from New York City whom I typically rarely get a chance to see and I was able to meet up with other Cornell co-op students in New York City. Still, the major disadvantage of being away from the Cornell campus is missing out on the social and academic events on campus, especially when classes were in full swing. It was one thing I had to learn to get used to.
Working at National Grid had enabled me—for better or for worse—to get a real sense of the kind of jobs mechanical engineers may get involved in. While I got a chance to put what I have learned to action, I quickly realized the enormous scope that mechanical engineering actually covered and that what I was taught in the classroom is, for the most part, a merely idealized situation, designed for a specifically contrived application. While I was excited to see that the classes I took and the things I learned in school had a positive impact on my ability to perform at work, I was more excited to discover that there is always more to learn on the job. This co-op assignment with National Grid was a positive experience overall.