Like many of the readers of this publication – and our industry in general – I’m part of that huge chunk of the population commonly known as “Baby Boomers” (or simply “Boomers”). I’m proud of what my generation has accomplished. The many things we’ve created over the past half-century were mostly the result of hard work and dedication, but admittedly, we won some of those battles simply by the sheer numbers of us.
The most notable upside of the industrial revolution also occurred during this generation, creating the demand for millions of blue-collar workers across the North American continent. Industries sprang up, the economy grew and jobs flourished. But just when it seemed that we were on top of it all, the roof came crashing down. Over the past decade we have witnessed – and continue to see – a massive exodus of those jobs to less developed parts of the world begin to overtake our ability to replace them. Now, we find ourselves trying to rationalize what is happening to our great accomplishments and the jobs, careers and lifestyles we so painstakingly dedicated ourselves to creating.
One reason for this dramatic shift is that while the power industry in North America has been downsizing, much of the rest of the world’s power infrastructure has been building – and will probably continue to do so for decades to come. Given those realities, we must not only recognize these changes; we must capitalize on them, and to do that some very deliberate actions must be initiated. Arguably the most vital of those are:
• Education. We must rapidly place increased emphasis on helping the emerging legions of workers in our industry capitalize on what we have learned over the past several decades. This will be no small task, and it will not be satisfied by half-hearted attempts at on-the-job training or in-house tutorials. Real education will necessarily involve a much broader purview that exposes new hires and apprentice-level workers to the best practices our industry has to offer on a national – if not an international – scale. This means more participation in webcasts, short courses, conferences, exhibitions and symposia for these junior workers rather than reserving these activities for only the most senior staff although their presence remains a vital ingredient in achieving this important knowledge transfer.
• Investment. We can no longer afford to postpone long overdue grid investments, especially in our T&D infrastructure. Transmission congestion, equipment at the end of its life cycle and an aging workforce will not magically be corrected on their own; proactive efforts and specific commitments are needed now to stem, and eventually reverse, these alarming trends. Yes, there are ways to extend the useful life of assets, and new hires will numerically mitigate the head count losses, but these are small steps when viewed against the backdrop of 20+ years of insufficient investments in human and asset renewal.
• Automation. The archaic notion that automation unnecessarily displaces workers must be rejected, and we must redouble our efforts to make full use of automation wherever possible and as quickly as possible. Automation is the best and most flexible toolset we have readily available to fill the voids left by a dwindling workforce and to capture the knowledge and experience that will be lost if immediate steps are not taken to avert these losses. Automation is all too often looked upon as a solution of last resort when it should be among the very first. Today’s automation is effective, affordable and readily available.
Also, no discussion of the changes taking place in our industry would be complete without emphasizing those taking place on a global level. As I said earlier in this text, energy companies in many other parts of the world are building as we in North America are downsizing – yet these developing regions are looking to us for guidance on how to grow. Perhaps nowhere was this better illustrated than at the recent IEEE Power Engineering Society T&D Conference & Exhibition in Dallas, Texas in May. As you will recall, this conference – originally scheduled for New Orleans last October – was forced to relocate as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
Frankly, I had my doubts about how well the event would be attended with all of the disruptions and abrupt change of venue. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only was the show a success, but it actually set an all-time record for exhibitors (over 600!) and was extremely well attended by a diverse cross section of utilities, suppliers, consultants and others from around the world. Indeed, the Monday night networking reception looked more like a United Nations event than a power industry gathering. I don’t recall exactly how many countries were represented there, but there were many.
Perhaps the most eye-opening observation for me, however, was on the second day of the conference as I was on my way back to my hotel from the Dallas Convention Center. I was one of the last to board a jam-packed shuttle bus and took a seat near the back. After getting settled in, I looked around to see if anyone I knew was on board. Nope, not a soul – a totally new experience for me, since I’ve been an active IEEE/PES member for well over 20 years and had grown accustomed to being at least casually acquainted with a respectable portion of its constituents.
Then, upon further observation, I noticed an interesting demographic on this busload of power engineers. That is, substantially all of the gray-haired guys (like me) were Americans, and we were definitely in the minority. By contrast, the vast majority of the riders were 20- or 30-somethings, many dressed in the native garb of their home countries. It was an eclectic crowd, most engaged in animated discussions about what they had seen and heard during their day at the conference.
Although notably, most of the conversations were in some form of English, I heard French, German, British, Indian, Spanish and other accents during the short trip to the hotel. Far from being an aberration, my subsequent bus trips for the next two days proved that this was the norm; not the exception. So what was going on here, I wondered? Then it occurred to me that while the US and Canada have been sending fewer delegates to this conference each year, the international community was more than making up for those deficits. But unlike the international participation of the past – composed mainly of students and junior-level technicians – these were engineers and managers in responsible positions, there to learn how to shape their power grids in ways that would mimic the legendary North American reliability model.
It occurs to me that the people on those buses were quite possibly a microcosm of the future of our industry: Young(er) people from around the world learning from a global brain trust formed over decades. So, I guess you might say I’ve seen the future, and though the transition is still in progress, my generation’s role in it is diminishing and will soon be coming to an end. Although we can all take pride in what we created, we’ll have to act fast if we want our legacy to be preserved for those who will need it to survive the mistakes of the past and meet the challenges of the future. - Mike n
Behind the Byline
Mike Marullo has been active in the automation, controls and instrumentation field for more than 35 years and is a widely published author of numerous technical articles, industry directories and market research reports. An independent consultant since 1984, he is President and Director of Research & Consulting for InfoNetrix LLC, a New Orleans-based market intelligence firm focused on Utility Automation and IT markets. Inquiries or comments about this column may be directed to Mike at MAM@InfoNetrix.com.
©2006 Jaguar Media, Inc. &
Michael A. Marullo. All rights reserved.
The most notable upside of the industrial revolution also occurred during this generation, creating the demand for millions of blue-collar workers across the North American continent. Industries sprang up, the economy grew and jobs flourished. But just when it seemed that we were on top of it all, the roof came crashing down. Over the past decade we have witnessed – and continue to see – a massive exodus of those jobs to less developed parts of the world begin to overtake our ability to replace them. Now, we find ourselves trying to rationalize what is happening to our great accomplishments and the jobs, careers and lifestyles we so painstakingly dedicated ourselves to creating.
One reason for this dramatic shift is that while the power industry in North America has been downsizing, much of the rest of the world’s power infrastructure has been building – and will probably continue to do so for decades to come. Given those realities, we must not only recognize these changes; we must capitalize on them, and to do that some very deliberate actions must be initiated. Arguably the most vital of those are:
• Education. We must rapidly place increased emphasis on helping the emerging legions of workers in our industry capitalize on what we have learned over the past several decades. This will be no small task, and it will not be satisfied by half-hearted attempts at on-the-job training or in-house tutorials. Real education will necessarily involve a much broader purview that exposes new hires and apprentice-level workers to the best practices our industry has to offer on a national – if not an international – scale. This means more participation in webcasts, short courses, conferences, exhibitions and symposia for these junior workers rather than reserving these activities for only the most senior staff although their presence remains a vital ingredient in achieving this important knowledge transfer.
• Investment. We can no longer afford to postpone long overdue grid investments, especially in our T&D infrastructure. Transmission congestion, equipment at the end of its life cycle and an aging workforce will not magically be corrected on their own; proactive efforts and specific commitments are needed now to stem, and eventually reverse, these alarming trends. Yes, there are ways to extend the useful life of assets, and new hires will numerically mitigate the head count losses, but these are small steps when viewed against the backdrop of 20+ years of insufficient investments in human and asset renewal.
• Automation. The archaic notion that automation unnecessarily displaces workers must be rejected, and we must redouble our efforts to make full use of automation wherever possible and as quickly as possible. Automation is the best and most flexible toolset we have readily available to fill the voids left by a dwindling workforce and to capture the knowledge and experience that will be lost if immediate steps are not taken to avert these losses. Automation is all too often looked upon as a solution of last resort when it should be among the very first. Today’s automation is effective, affordable and readily available.
Also, no discussion of the changes taking place in our industry would be complete without emphasizing those taking place on a global level. As I said earlier in this text, energy companies in many other parts of the world are building as we in North America are downsizing – yet these developing regions are looking to us for guidance on how to grow. Perhaps nowhere was this better illustrated than at the recent IEEE Power Engineering Society T&D Conference & Exhibition in Dallas, Texas in May. As you will recall, this conference – originally scheduled for New Orleans last October – was forced to relocate as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
Frankly, I had my doubts about how well the event would be attended with all of the disruptions and abrupt change of venue. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only was the show a success, but it actually set an all-time record for exhibitors (over 600!) and was extremely well attended by a diverse cross section of utilities, suppliers, consultants and others from around the world. Indeed, the Monday night networking reception looked more like a United Nations event than a power industry gathering. I don’t recall exactly how many countries were represented there, but there were many.
Perhaps the most eye-opening observation for me, however, was on the second day of the conference as I was on my way back to my hotel from the Dallas Convention Center. I was one of the last to board a jam-packed shuttle bus and took a seat near the back. After getting settled in, I looked around to see if anyone I knew was on board. Nope, not a soul – a totally new experience for me, since I’ve been an active IEEE/PES member for well over 20 years and had grown accustomed to being at least casually acquainted with a respectable portion of its constituents.
Then, upon further observation, I noticed an interesting demographic on this busload of power engineers. That is, substantially all of the gray-haired guys (like me) were Americans, and we were definitely in the minority. By contrast, the vast majority of the riders were 20- or 30-somethings, many dressed in the native garb of their home countries. It was an eclectic crowd, most engaged in animated discussions about what they had seen and heard during their day at the conference.
Although notably, most of the conversations were in some form of English, I heard French, German, British, Indian, Spanish and other accents during the short trip to the hotel. Far from being an aberration, my subsequent bus trips for the next two days proved that this was the norm; not the exception. So what was going on here, I wondered? Then it occurred to me that while the US and Canada have been sending fewer delegates to this conference each year, the international community was more than making up for those deficits. But unlike the international participation of the past – composed mainly of students and junior-level technicians – these were engineers and managers in responsible positions, there to learn how to shape their power grids in ways that would mimic the legendary North American reliability model.
It occurs to me that the people on those buses were quite possibly a microcosm of the future of our industry: Young(er) people from around the world learning from a global brain trust formed over decades. So, I guess you might say I’ve seen the future, and though the transition is still in progress, my generation’s role in it is diminishing and will soon be coming to an end. Although we can all take pride in what we created, we’ll have to act fast if we want our legacy to be preserved for those who will need it to survive the mistakes of the past and meet the challenges of the future. - Mike n
Behind the Byline
Mike Marullo has been active in the automation, controls and instrumentation field for more than 35 years and is a widely published author of numerous technical articles, industry directories and market research reports. An independent consultant since 1984, he is President and Director of Research & Consulting for InfoNetrix LLC, a New Orleans-based market intelligence firm focused on Utility Automation and IT markets. Inquiries or comments about this column may be directed to Mike at MAM@InfoNetrix.com.
©2006 Jaguar Media, Inc. &
Michael A. Marullo. All rights reserved.
