Whoa - Talk About Gestation Periods

April 6, 2008

2 min read

The elephant has a gestation period of about 22 months – a long time. Fine you say, what does that have to do with anything. Well, I was talking with my friend Tommy Mayne; he is North American T&D Chairman and heads up the team responsible for the T&D Expo. Tommy told me the PES T&D Expo takes 6 to 8 years from the first planning meeting until the doors swing open and the attendees enter the exhibit floor. That made me think about elephant gestation periods – hey I told you earlier I have a different thought process than most people (friends say it comes from getting hit in the head too many times). Seriously think of it, 6 to 8 years of work by hundreds of volunteers and staff. I knew the process was a lengthy one, but I had no idea it was that long. Tommy went on to explain planning is everything in this business. The day after Hurricane Katrina; the team started wheels turning for the 2010 T&D Expo's return to New Orleans, while at the same time moving to Dallas in 2006. Dallas was a fantastic T&D Expo. Tommy said the team motto is "New Orleans is ready for you, but are YOU ready for New Orleans?"

Stay tuned, I'll be talking more with my friend about the efforts of the team for our benefit. I'd welcome any and all comments.

About the Author

Gene Wolf Blog

Technical Writer

Gene Wolf has been designing and building substations and other high technology facilities for over 32 years. He received his BSEE from Wichita State University. He received his MSEE from New Mexico State University. He is a registered professional engineer in the states of California and New Mexico. He started his career as a substation engineer for Kansas Gas and Electric, retired as the Principal Engineer of Stations for Public Service Company of New Mexico recently, and founded Lone Wolf Engineering, LLC an engineering consulting company.

Gene is widely recognized as a technical leader in the electric power industry. Gene is a fellow of the IEEE. He is the former Chairman of the IEEE PES T&D Committee. He has held the position of the Chairman of the HVDC & FACTS Subcommittee and membership in many T&D working groups. Gene is also active in renewable energy. He sponsored the formation of the “Integration of Renewable Energy into the Transmission & Distribution Grids” subcommittee and the “Intelligent Grid Transmission and Distribution” subcommittee within the Transmission and Distribution committee.