A day in the life of a Project Engineer
My responsibilities as a project engineer changes dynamically between two disciplines during the project life cycle, one of Project Engineering and Project Management .and involves both office  and site work activities.
My day as a project engineer changes everyday depending on the project phase since different skills  are required and different activities are performed  at different stages  of the projects.
Project Engineer
A typical day during engineering phases of a project (initial phase and execution phase) involves:
•    Design review meetings with all stakeholders (Client, engineering consultants, draughtsman)
•    Project specifications compliance, design modifications, drawing designs approval procedure with all stakeholders’ involvement.
•     The design implementation process happens during the project execution phase (onsite) and if the approved designs do not work on site  the design changes, modifications
•    Consultation with subject expects from different disciplines including, mechanical, civil, metallurgy depending on the project’s scope of work, and our involvement in the design as stipulated in the contract.
Important skills: Paying attention to details, technical astuteness, working with other professionals.
Project Manager:
My project management responsibilities have a longer lifecycle than engineering ones, as they stretch from project initiation to project handover, and they consist of:
•    Contract’s administration which involves full understanding of types of contract strategy and different conditions of contracts (ECC, FIDIC, GCC & JBCC) that one is dealing with at any point especially when handling multiprojects.
•    Procurement of all project’s equipments, material and services, this forms first area of cost management for the project to ensure the profitability of the project.
•    Project scope management, site progress monitoring, reporting and managing. Through daily site work update, routine site visits and site meetings to re emphasize the importance of Safety, Quality and Time management
•    Site teams management and managing project risks throughout the projects to ensure that all clients objectives deliverables are l met in time within budget, and that one’s projects remain profitable

Important skills: General management skills, human relations, communication skills, deligation and time management.

Power Generation Plants:

A facility designed to produce electric energy from another form of energy, such as fossil fuel, nuclear, hydroelectric, geothermal, solar thermal, and wind.

A power generation plant is a facility designed to produce electric energy from another form of energy, such as:

• Heat (thermal) energy generated from:
  • fossil fuels;
    • coal
    • petroleum
    • natural gas
  • solar thermal energy
  • geothermal energy
  • nuclear energy
• Potential energy from falling water in a hydroelectric facility
• Wind energy
• Solar electric from solar (photovoltaic) cells
• Chemical energy from:
  • fuel cells
  • batteries

There are many different types of electric power generating plants. The major types generating electric power today are shown below.

Power generation to transmission

Wind generation

Transmission Lines
Transmission lines carry electric energy from one point to another in an electric power system. They can carry alternating current or direct current or a system can be a combination of both. Also, electric current can be carried by either overhead or underground lines. The main characteristics that distinguish transmission lines from distribution lines are that they are operated at relatively high voltages, they transmit large quantities of power and they transmit the power over large distances.

The types of transmission lines are:

• Overhead Transmission Lines
• Subtransmission Lines
• Underground Transmission Lines

Overhead AC Transmission Lines

Overhead AC transmission lines share one characteristic; they carry 3-phase current. The voltages vary according to the particular grid system they belong to. Transmission voltages vary from 69 kv up to 765 kv. The following are examples of different overhead transmission line structures in use today. The DC voltage transmission tower has lines in pairs rather than in threes (for 3-phase current) as in AC voltage lines. One line is the positive current line and the other is the negative current line.

Some typica transmission line structures

Transmission Lines

Woodtower Transmission Lines

Transmission Lines

Subtransmission Lines

Subtransmission lines carry voltages reduced from the major transmission line system. Typically, 34.5 kv to 69 kv, this power is sent to regional distribution substations. Sometimes the subtransmission voltage is tapped along the way for use in industrial or large commercial operations. Some utilities categorize these as transmission lines.

Subtransmission Pole

Description

Wooden Transmission Lines

Underground Transmission Lines

Underground transmission lines are more common in populated areas. They may be buried with no protection, or placed in conduit, trenches, or tunnels.

Transmission lines are installed in a tunnel,which enables many circuits in a limited area.

A typical power generation, transmission and distribution system has these components:  Power Generation Plants, Substations, Transmission Line and Distribution systems.

From Power Generation to Consumer

Power Generation Plants

Substations

• Step-up Transmission Substation
• Step-down Transmission Substation
• Distribution Substation
• Underground Distribution Substation
• Substation Functions
• Substation Equipment

Transmission Lines

• Overhead Transmission Lines
• Subtransmission Lines
• Underground Transmission Lines

Distribution Systems

• Industrial Customer
• Commercial Customer
• Residential Customer
• Transportation Customer