Calling all Electrical Engineers working in MEP consulting firms! 1

[toro45]

Hello;

MEP is Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing by the way.

I graduated from college with a minor in micro electronics and semiconductor fabrication but I ended up in the MEP consulting business. For those of us that are in the MEP consulting business, we all know this type of work is not rocket science. My typical day is laying out circuits and lights in buildings such as schools and offices and seeing that I have a fully functional electrical system in the building. The more challenging work is in building renovations and retrofits but it's basically the same thing. (I work on low to medium voltage)

I admit there are important coordination issues across the disciplines involved and the architect and owners, but this isn't challenging enough from a technical stand point.

I would like to know what any of you guys employed as electrical engineers in MEP consulting firms do? What skill sets can I learn to make myself more marketable in this business as an electrical engineer? Please under you skills section in your resume, let me know what skills and abilities you have included (voltage drop calculation e.t.c)
What kind of software do you use as an electrical engineer in your firm?

The most difficult calculation I do is between short circuit current rating, feeder sizing and voltage drop calculations. The funny thing is that I only have 4 years of experience in this business but I feel like I have been doing this for ages.

Thanks.

 

[z633]

Do not sell the MEP business short. I have worked in bunny suits and the MEP world. The breadth of knowledge obtained in the MEP job is greater than or equal to the microscopic world of the microelectronics, in my opinion. Just think of each e-sheet as a macroscopic silicon ASIC design. Plus sometime you get to see the firsthand results of your labors. Sure the electronics sims and modeling tools are high tech, and maybe, just maybe you will get to do a partial derivative or an integral. But as you age, and your eyesight strains to adjust to looking through the microscope, not to mention the immense competition from eager beaver foreign national PHd grads, the excitement might just wane a bit.
If you are tired of the routine feeders and branch circuits, try and expand into the rapidly expanding building automation trades and energy controls, not to mention the bread and butter of the really difficult aspects of mundane illumination and the associated controls.

Sure the Aerospace world has its lure, but , in the reality, it is just another confined office cubical with another asinine supervisor. Money is better I think, though. I had to get out of the MEP type of work I was doing because of a paradigm shift to contracting the in house design to “the design build” contracting system. At that point the engineering is now clerk work. Still do design as a side line. It is amazing how many PHd’s and electronic engineers do not have a clue about the construction electrical design.

 

[HVAC68]

Agree with z633. MEP engineer sounds like a simple job - it's not. If you start getting "bored" and have started feeling that you are doing too many things in a "routine" manner, start expanding your skill set. Start looking at low voltage systems, elevators, fire alarm system, fire fighting, HVAC, BMS - the list can go on and on in MEP, especially building services.

There's a huge demand for building services engineers.

HVAC68

 

[kontiki99]

From an aerospace perspective, it sounds like MEP work offers some great advantages; like working in the city of your choice.

I'm tired of leaving places I like because the airline died.

One previous employer is gone, and two are in bankrupcy.

How do you break into the world of MEP?

 

[jbelectrical]

I'm not an electrical engineer, but more of a junior electrical designer without an engineering degree. Anyways...

If all you're doing is designing electrical contract documents for schools and offices, you may want to look into possible employment at another MEP firm. There are several in my area and one of them specializes in health care facilities and various large-scale projects that its competitors (Like the firm I'm employed at) won't even touch. It's my understanding that those types of buildings are a bit more challenging.

If you're looking to learn some new valuable/marketable skill sets, I would suggest the following:
-Learn how to use a lighting photometric calculation program, such as Visual or AGI - if you haven't already.
-As stated by two other posters, take a look at fire alarm system design, building automation, low-voltage, and energy controls.

kontiki99,

There are MEP firms willing to hire people with little to no relevant experience - all they require is some sort of a CAD background. New hires start out as draftsmen and are eventually trained as designers. Given your background, you should have *very* little difficulty breaking into the field.

 

[GMcD]

Considering that Buildings have a huge impact on our environment (materials use, pollution, energy inefficiency etc.) consider looking into alternate energy design and devices. Become a photovolataic panel expert, a wind generator expert, LED lighting designer, etc. While the basic electrical infrastructure is pretty "codified" in terms of how to design and install it (like plumbing and fire protection), there are many interesting channels in the low energy/green/sustainable building directions.

 

[CarolinaPE]

I tend to disagree that it is easy to break into MEP, I found it tough to break into. Most places are looking for someone with 5 years exp in the field (why 5, why not 4 or 6?), it is actually pretty comical how they all list "5" in the job description. That being said I had about 8 years exp as an ME (none in MEP) and my PE license and I still had difficulty getting into the field. After knocking on enough doors someone finally let me in.

 

[casseopeia]

How about taking a different track? Try marketing. It's a whole different skill set. Call on some potential Clients, or ask your boss if there are some cold calls to make (no one likes those).

It's hard work and you don't get many technical people willing to do some marketing. But if you manage to land a new Client, or just a job from an existing Client, it increases your value to both your current employer as well as to their competitors.

And it is totally different from engineering. You will not be bored.


"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"