Profile: Allan Robinson, Tidal Power Engineer

The tides may be predictable, but for an engineer testing and developing some of the world’s first commercial-scale tidal turbines, conditions can be more than a little unpredictable. Just ask Allan Robinson, a senior electrical engineer at OpenHydro Group , a leading tidal power company based in Dublin. Robinson recalls one afternoon last March, when he was putting a turbine through its paces at an offshore test site near Scotland’s Orkney Islands. He and his colleagues were working on an elevated platform, installing power-metering equipment for the massive turbine that was whirling grandly beneath the waves, when they received word of an incoming gale. They had 20 minutes to evacuate before high seas would have forced them to spend the night on the cold metal platform. Corrosive seawater and marine organisms are tough on electronics, and Robinson says that’s what makes ...

Full article: http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/tech-careers/profile-all...

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@MidasIreland » 20 Nov '12, 8pm
RT @IEEESpectrum: Profile: Allan Robinson, Tidal Power Engineer: Creating cutting-edge energy systems to tap the tides [link]
@newsbeagle » 31 Oct '12, 8pm
Here's an up-and-coming career: electrical engineer for tidal power stations. [link]
@FrankAldorf » 31 Oct '12, 8pm
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@FrankAldorf » 31 Oct '12, 8pm
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Profile: Allan Robinson, Tidal Power Engineer: Creating cutting-edge energy systems to tap the tides [link] #ieeeSpectrum
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Profile: Allan Robinson, Tidal Power Engineer: Creating cutting-edge energy systems to tap the tides [link]
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Profile: Allan Robinson, Tidal Power Engineer [link] #tech #science
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Profile: Allan Robinson, Tidal Power Engineer [link] #IEEE #IEEEGreen
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Profile: Allan Robinson, Tidal Power Engineer [link]
@CleanEnergyPrin » 31 Oct '12, 8pm
Creating cutting-edge energy systems to tap the tides [link]
@nsisongeffiong » 31 Oct '12, 7pm
Profile: Allan Robinson, Tidal Power Engineer [link]