Doble Engineering Company to Host Premier Training Seminar on Large Power Transformers

WATERTOWN, Mass., Feb. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Confirming its status as the go-to resource on best practices, methods and tools to maintain electric power transformers, Doble Engineering Company will host its twelfth annual Life of a Transformer (LOAT) Seminar, which will begin today, February 3, and run through February 7, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. This year, participants from over 150 utility, power-generating and industrial organizations will come together to share their transformer knowledge with each other, working to improve the industry as a community. Since the seminar's inception 12 years ago, Doble Engineering Company has trained over 5,500 professionals in the electric power industry.

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As electric power professionals experience the constant pressure to maintain uninterrupted power, there is also an increase in the demand put on assets such as transformers which must perform under extreme conditions. Adding to the pressure is the shrinking workforce, with over 50% of electric power professionals set to retire within the next five years. As these professionals leave, they take with them years of experience, creating a very real knowledge gap in the workforce. Given the state of the industry, teaching the new generation of electric power professionals how transformers work, how to manage critical health risks and how to effectively analyze data becomes critically important to delivering safe, reliable power.

"Transformers are complex pieces of equipment and electric power professionals have to understand how to work with these critical assets from specifications through failure analysis. Each step in the lifecycle of a transformer requires careful management," said David Zabetakis, president of Doble Engineering Company. "We think in-depth training, supported by practical information, is the best way to help professionals to do their jobs effectively. That's why we work to provide tangible knowledge at every event we put on, including the Life of a Transformer Seminar."

"We're pleased to partner with Doble Engineering as the host utility for the Life of a Transformer Seminar," said Steven Brennan, substation supervisor at Orlando Utilities Commission. "Doble provides the entire power engineering industry with incredible training and knowledge sharing opportunities. This kind of event is what moves the entire industry forward – and we participate in full force."

Integrating improved safety for electric power professionals throughout the program, the agenda focuses on:

• Improving network performance and system reliability
• Actionable, intelligent transformer management – how to understand the data
• Transformer condition assessment with laboratory diagnostics
• How to adopt and deploy new, innovative technologies

The training tracks are designed and taught in cooperation with many of the leading power transformer manufacturers such as GE Power, ABB and SPX Waukesha. Seminar attendees are able to go straight to these manufacturers when it comes to their questions about commissioning transformers and how to implement replacements.

In addition to the main agenda, Doble will host a day-long laboratory diagnostics seminar for power professionals who review oil analysis data to assess transformer conditions. Through this interactive seminar, participants learn how to better identify and assess rapidly emerging transformer conditions.

With nearly a century of providing industry-leading diagnostic and testing innovation and intelligence, Doble Engineering Company is the trusted and experienced third-party authority in the electric power industry. Doble Engineering Company's solutions are backed by the broadest and most comprehensive database of historical test data, and give energy providers unprecedented access to the tools, data and information needed to make educated decisions about the reliability and efficiency of the power grid.

About Doble Engineering Company
Now in 110 countries, Doble Engineering Company has been helping clients in the electric power industry improve operations and optimize system performance for nearly a century. Doble offers diagnostic instruments, services, and the world's premier library of statistically significant apparatus test results for the benefit of energy generation, transmission, delivery companies and industrial power users worldwide. Doble is part of the Utility Solutions Group of ESCO Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ESE), St. Louis. For more information, visit: www.doble.com.

SOURCE Doble Engineering Company