William Larson was working 100 miles from his hometown when he found out a railroadtesting facility was staffing up almost in his backyard. Now he’s working his dream job as a senior mechanical engineer for the Transportation Technology Center Inc., Pueblo, Colo. “I like it because there’s an extensive variety of work,” Larson says. “There aren’t too many places I can think of where an engineer can be involved in projects that range from machine shop one-off designs, ultrasonic inspection techniques, and designing fuel-storage and transfer systems.”

Larson says his team supports testing of all things dealing with railroads. “I work on track components, rolling stock, and even the design of facilities including HVAC and fluid-transfer systems,” he says. “I rely heavily on my CAD and technical writing experience.”

Ulrich Neumann says he loves his job ensuring safety, reliability, and performance of wind turbines. The lead mechanical engineer of fleet support at GE thinks utility-scale wind energy is a young and developing industry with many technical challenges. “I like to think this industry can make a difference for future generations and help lessen the world’s dependency on fossil fuels,” he adds.

Neumann got his mechanical-engineering degree in Germany and spent most of his career working with heavy-duty power-transmission and hydraulic systems. He says he’s always been interested in alternative energy sources and actively researched job opportunities in the industry.

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Further Reading

Check out Electronic Design's "Six Figure Club". Average incomes surpass $100,000 as jobs grow to an all-time high. So how does your salary match up?