I spent my third coop working at a solar developer based in Boston. The company was broken down into Site Acquisitions, Project Management, Finance, Accounting, Construction, and Public Relations. During my coop, I spent almost all of my time working with the Project Management team, we oversaw all aspects of our projects including landowner and abutter relations, permitting, contracting, utility management and a wide variety of other project-related issues that could pop up on any given day. There were a wide variety of degrees that the people on the Project Management team held. The fact that one team was made up of -and heavily relied on – engineering, law, real estate majors and a variety of other specialists, helped me to realize how multi-disciplinary this role would be. Since each project passed between every group in the office at one point, communication was of extreme importance. Knowing how certain planning board interactions could reflect on the company, for example, would be a great time for the Project Management and Public Relations groups to have a meeting and chose the best course of action. In a company of roughly 40 people, keeping everyone on the same page can be a full-time job. However, maintaining enough communication for everyone to work effectively and draw information from all sides of the company is vital to the company’s survival.
I can absolutely see myself working as a developer for a renewable energy based company in the future. The engineering background is incredibly useful for talking with contractors and members of the constructions department, but is not absolutely required to be a developer. The main source of interest is the fast-paced environment that always allows for improvements in efficiencies. Since renewable energy is such a new field, there are no set rules of conduct laid out and this allows for people to work within their tams to find the best way to complete their goals.
