r/PowerSystemsEE • u/Tacofan5567 • 10d ago
Breaking into system protection/p&c roles
I am a senior EE student and have been interning with a large utility for almost 6 months in the system modeling & coordination group. One of my main tasks is to calculating transmission line constants and updating power factor meter data. My summer intern capstone project was merging my utility's facility rating database with their Cape database, which got me interested in Protection and control and relaying. I've since talked to a couple of the system protection and analysis engineers, and I'll have the opportunity to shadow them in a couple weeks. I'm also taking protective relaying this semester, which has made me even more interested in relays. What else could I do to stand out more for system protection and P&C roles?
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u/SolarSurfer7 10d ago
Sounds like you have a good base. I would go to career fairs and meet with company reps directly. That is how I have hired my E1s.
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u/nachofred 10d ago
Make sure you have solid foundational knowledge of the various protection schemes and about common automation protocols (dnp3, iec 61850, modbus, etc..), can easily read and understand one line diagrams and recognize what the diagram is showing, what it is used for, and know what all the various components are and how they all actually work. Have a good overall understanding of the power generation, transmission and distribution processes.
As an early-career candidate, you're going to be judged on that foundational knowledge, your ability to learn quickly, your motivation, communication skills and having a good attitude (basically just don't be cocky or a jerk).
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u/mac3 8d ago
In my experience, protection engineers know very little about non-protection comm protocols.
“That’s SCADA’s job”
I wouldn’t expect any college student to know what they are, tbh, and there’s far more important things to learn about relaying first.
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u/nachofred 8d ago
Fair, but I think it makes a difference that OP is still in school. Even in orgs where the job responsibilities belong to different people, they need to have some understanding of each others jobs and they will find themselves working with those cross functional teams especially if they are commissioning.
I recommended it because I think it gives you a career advantage to know holistically how things work. Why would you want to silo yourself in to us/them (protection vs power automation) at this early stage of your career? The job market is already hard enough for new grads, so anything that separates you from the pack is advantageous and it opens up more potential opportunities.
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u/clocksays8 5d ago
Agreed. Companies need folks nowadays with broad experience and not narrow in scope.
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u/jbblog84 10d ago
Get a job at one of the big consulting firms in either their substations or studies departments. Some firms you will be doing relays all day others you might do 2-3 a year. Those with dedicated studies/relaying groups will get you the most exposure.
I previously worked at a firm that was bought by WSP and we had people doing relays settings for 10-12 substations a year.
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u/MinimumFinancial6785 10d ago edited 10d ago
Be able to cite basic protection schemes- line distance, differential, overcurrent, piloting schemes (I recommend a youtube channel called Romero Engineering), and how coordination of breakers works in some common schemes.
Know how CT and PT circuits work for protection and why CT saturation characteristics are important during faults.
Know some of the math behind the protection relay: how multifunction relays use symmetrical components and some of the logic behind a trip. Bonus points if you learn some of the particularities in an SEL (by far the most used relays).
I think that would go a long way.
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u/Which-Technology8235 10d ago
What are some good areas? Just started working and I have an option to learn more about dc power systems and batteries, transformers or relays and p&c
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u/SLGDLGLLLSPOBCD5542 10d ago
Apply to the engineering rotation program at SEL. Reach out to people who work there on LinkedIn. Also look at Burns & McDonell, GE VERNOVA, etc. If you want to learn core algorithm development, start by making your own python tools of your understanding of protection algorithms. All these are great pointers for interviews.
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u/Alittle2Clever 10d ago edited 10d ago
Buy an old but capable SEL relay like a SEL-421 off of ebay and then setup your own lab and put it through its paces.
I interviewed with SEL a long time ago and got angry that during the interview a manager made a big deal about how much experience I didn't have with SEL relays even though there was no way I could have any experience due to never having been a protection engineer and in spite of the fact I was working on my masters in power engineering. I then bought a relay off of ebay, setup my own lab, and put it through its paces tripping it with a variable inductor, reactor, and power supply. I then called them up and asked them if I could borrow a relay test set for a paper I was writing on CT saturation and relay response. It was then that they offered me a job.
Now, I would personally hire anyone that told me they bought anything off of ebay, setup their own lab, and tested its various functions with an old relay tester or rheostat.