Careers that charge ahead – Electrical Engineering Technician/Technologist
Categories: Canada
August 22, 2023 – Electrical engineering technicians and technologists may work independently or provide technical support and services in the design, development, testing, production, and operation of electrical equipment and systems.
Electrical engineering technicians working in the electricity sector can:
• Assist in the design, development and testing of electrical components, equipment, and systems.
• Assist in inspection, testing, adjusting, and evaluation of incoming electrical and electro-mechanical components and assemblies to ensure conformance with product specifications and tolerances.
• Conduct life tests (burn-ins) on assemblies and record and analyze results.
• Assist in building and testing prototypes to specifications.
• Install, operate and maintain electrical equipment and systems.
• Calibrate electrical equipment and instruments according to technical manuals and written instructions.
• Collect and compile operational or experimental data and assist in the preparation of estimates, schedules, budgets, specifications and reports.
CHART OF COMPETENCY
Electrical engineering technologists working in the electricity sector can:
• Design, develop and test power equipment and systems.
• Supervise the building and testing of prototypes according to general instructions and established standards.
• Conduct or supervise the installation, commissioning, and operation of electrical equipment and systems.
• Carry out applied research in fields of electrical engineering and physics under the direction of scientists or engineers.
• Set up and operate specialized and standard test equipment to diagnose, test and analyze the performance of electrical components, assemblies and systems.
• Write specifications, schedules and technical reports and control schedules and budgets.
PREAMBLE from the pages of Electrical Business Magazine:
A labour shortage in the skilled trades is on everyone’s lips, and the electricity sector is far from immune. And while the vocation of “Electrician” continues to be a popular calling for those seeking careers in the construction trades, we are going to need a lot more of them in the coming years.
As Canada continues its pursuit of decarbonization—largely through the electrification of anything and everything—our society simply won’t be adequately served by the current roster of construction or industrial electricians. Rest assured: we still need them, but we are also going to need a whole new slate of electrical pros for specialized work.
The work could involve something carried out by the electrical contractor (including high-voltage) or maybe the electric utility, or perhaps a whole new business model. But one thing remains certain: the electrical sector is not only competing with other sectors for talent, but also with itself; besides electric utilities, manufacturers and distributors of electrical solutions are also casting their nets into the same talent pool.
Some vocations are not even specific to Electrical, but we will need them nonetheless: project managers, welders, cybersecurity specialists, computer network technicians and programmers, and many others.
As such, it’s never too soon to start planning for who you will need in your workforce in the coming years.
Through its countrywide surveys, Labour Market Intelligence reports, roundtables, and so on, Electricity Human Resources Canada has established itself as a trusted source of human resources insight, programs, and tools for the electricity sector.
For that reason, we turned to EHRC to discover which electrical professions will be in high demand over the coming years (if not already!) during Canada’s energy transformation.
NOTE: This is one of four (2 of 4) career profiles highlighted in a Special Feature in the Summer 2023 edition of Electrical Business Magazine. For ease of reading, we have published them here as distinct, individual items.
