Intl' engineering student visit to L.A. - Electricity-related places to visit?

[NordicPower]

Hi

Me and my Power Engineering student colleagues are planning an international student visit to L.A. in spring 2014. Our aim is to visit some electricity/energy companies, research institutes and academies to make new contacts and to see how electricity-related things are done in U.S. (systems & regulations seem to be somehow different in US and Europe ), and to enjoy sights&activities of L.A., of course. Our interests are energy production / transmission/distribution, renewable energy and building automation systems.

I would like to hear your suggestions for places to visit. Caltech & UCLA are quite obvious, but how about companies? Maybe a grid/power plant operator, renewable energy operator/manufacturer, wind/solar farm... preferably within easy reach from L.A. I have already emailed some companies to their addresses, but with zero results. So if you know some persons to contact, I would be really .

Thanks!

BR,
Mr. Ville Leino
Power engineering student, graduating BEng in spring 2014
Finland, Europe

 

[mgookin]

I suggest you request Caltech & UCLA to arrange the visits, and send your request through your University, for security reasons, and because companies will respond to a request by a local university more so than from a foreign student (no offense intended).

You didn't mention Stanford physics dep't. Not going there?

Enjoy your trip!

 

[cowboyjwc]

I would probably agree with mgookin. If they can arrange a trip to a DWP distripution station, I think you would enjoy that. Pretty interesting.

 

[John120/240]

How far is Hoover Dam from Los Angles ? three or four hours drive ?

 

[junkhound]

Some of the best places I've been probably wont let you in, but you could try contacting their public relations offices.

1. General Atomics Fusion lab north of San Diego, they do have tours for professional conferences.

2. Boeing Satellite Systems in El Segundo (right near LAX), satellite solar arrays. They 'might' agree to arrange a tour for a group of students.

3. Wind Turbine farms at Palm Springs do have public tours; http://www.southpoint.com/states/ca/windmills.htm

4. You could also contact Disneyland, possible they would have a 'behind the scenes' tour for students, did have a small facilities tour as part of a conference in the 90's.

 

[junkhound]

I would probably agree with mgookin. If they can arrange a trip to a DWP distripution station, I think you would enjoy that. Pretty interesting.

WOW, that is one of those typos with about 4 alternate inferred meanings <G>

 

[zbang]

How far is Hoover Dam from Los Angles ?

Hoover Dam used to do "hard hat" tours for bona fide engineers, don't know if they still do. They were about $100/person for a 5-6 hours tour, but that was 15 years ago. Check their web site for a contact, then try emailing from your university.

 

[NordicPower]

Thanks for the excellent suggestions & tips! Disneyland didn't even come to my mind in this case, but let's try... By the way, in Scandinavia - or many parts of Europe - a visit request made by university on behalf of students would be frowned upon: why didn't those guys contact by themselves? Well, these are just cultural differences and it's great to have international forums where you can ask (no offense either )

 

[Timbert]

How far is Hoover Dam from Los Angles ? three or four hours drive ?

Depends where in L.A. you start, traffic, and how fast you drive. Expect 4.5 to 5 hours.

Of course after such a long trip, seeing how all the electricity is used is important too. So, you would need to schedule a trip to the Las Vegas strip.

As much as I love the Art Deco architecture there, I would suspect it would be too far during a short trip. Although, it would give a unique perspective to European students about how vast the North American transmission grid is.

I too would say contact the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) to see if they can assist. I know they do tours for younger students, but I have to imagine they have something for college students.

 

[NordicPower]

Hoover Dam seems to be a little too far away for us, maybe we should arrange a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate our graduation anniversary 10 years later There's also a great deal of hydroelectricity in northern Finland with 400 kV transmission distances of 400-500 miles (oh yes, you have 5 times that distance, but anyway), so maybe we are more interested in solar and wind power.

 

[cowboyjwc]

Hoover Dam seems to be a little too far away for us, maybe we should arrange a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate our graduation anniversary 10 years later There's also a great deal of hydroelectricity in northern Finland with 400 kV transmission distances of 400-500 miles (oh yes, you have 5 times that distance, but anyway), so maybe we are more interested in solar and wind power.

Call the County of Los Angeles Building and Safety, they have a huge solar project that they're inspecting, maybe they could get you a tour of that.