Wind Energy Engineer
Career Area: Engineering
Occupation Group: Chemical, Biomedical, and Related Engineering
Salary
Percentile wages tell how much a certain percentage of an overall population in a geographic area or within a given industry or field makes. The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.
An example would be the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value. At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.
A typical Wind Energy Engineer earns the following wages (national and state):
State
We do not have this data at this time.
National
The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $92,242
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Engineers and designs wind energy equipment and components or designs wind energy sites. Develops site specifications and design and installation plans for wind farms.
Employment Trends
The job demand and job growth statistics shown here were derived from job posts over the past year. Expected job growth projections are extrapolated from year-over-year job post listing history.
Job demand and job growth is expected at the following rates:
| Location | Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 0 | +6.7% |
| Nationwide | 27 | +3.6% |
Skills
A professional in this position typically utilizes the following skills in the course of everyday work in this exciting and challenging field:
Baseline Skills
The following are baseline skills every Wind Energy Engineer is expected to have in order to experience success in this field:
- Communication Skills: The ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently.
- Organizational Skills: Experience with a systematic process of structuring, integrating, co-ordinating task goals, and activities to resources in order to attain objectives.
- Planning: Working experience with the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve desired goals.
- Research: Experience performing creative and systematic work to understand a product, market, or customer, either before building a new solution, or to troubleshoot an existing issue
- English: English is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England and is now a global lingua franca.
Specialized Skills
These skills are specific to working in this career:
- Wind Power: Wind power is the use of air flow through wind turbines to mechanically power generators for electric power.
- Wind Turbines: A wind turbine is a device that converts the wind's kinetic energy into electrical energy.
- Professional Engineer: A Professional Engineer (PE) is an engineer certified by a state board of registration to practice engineering.
- Customer Contact: Experience working with business processes and technologies that are designed to engage customers and facilitate communication by a variety of channels.
- Calculation: A calculation is a deliberate process that transforms one or more inputs into one or more results, with variable change.
Distinguishing Skills
Any Wind Energy Engineer that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:
- Alternative Energy: Alternative energy is any energy source that is an alternative to fossil fuel.
- Punch List: A punch list is a document prepared near the end of a construction project listing work not conforming to contract specifications that the contractor must complete prior to final payment.
- Prepare Engineering Calculations:
- Construction Monitoring: Construction monitoring is an accurate and positive way of checking the quality, accuracy and progress of a construction project.
- Energy Modeling: Energy modeling or energy system modeling is the process of building computer models of energy systems in order to analyze them.
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills:
- Energy Modeling: Energy modeling or energy system modeling is the process of building computer models of energy systems in order to analyze them.
Experience
This position typically requires the following level of experience. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Experience Required | % |
| 0 to 2 years | 48% |
| 3 to 5 years | 39% |
| 6 to 8 years | 13% |
Many of the programs offered through NC State are designed for working professionals who need additional credentials to enhance existing work experience.
Students who do not have the expected level of experience may wish to look into internship and employment opportunities.
Common Job Titles
It is possible to find work in this field in positions commonly listed as the following job titles:
- Project Engineer P E Off- Wind Energy
- Project Engineer P E - Off- Wind Energy
- Energy Metocean And Load Engineer
- Energy Senior Grid Connection Engineer
- Project Engineer - Energy
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