Eric LaRochelle

Background

I began my career in the U.S. Navy as a Machinist Mate operating main propulsion steam turbines and steam turbine-generator sets. I then became a millwright working on steam and gas turbine outages at various mills and power plants.

In 1999 I became a Field Engineer with GE®, installing 7FA gas turbines and D-11 steam turbines. I left GE® and started with Florida Power & Light as a Contractor Coordinator on their outages. I joined MD&A in 2016 as a Field Engineer.

What do you do here at MD&A?

I am a Project Manager on various planned and forced outages where we perform maintenance and repairs to gas turbines and associated equipment.

What has been your favorite project at MD&A?

My favorite project began as a Combustion Inspection on two of a customer’s five units. Due to inspections made by the customer on their other units, MD&A soon took on two more units, with one being a turbine rotor out inspection.

What is the most interesting challenge you have come across at a job site?

While MD&A performed a Generator Major Inspection at a site, the plant began to experience trouble with their steam turbine. The plant asked MD&A to assist with a bearing repair. They also had issues with generator protection switches that our Generator Specialist helped with. The original generator inspection showed stator core wedges were loose, and MD&A performed a rewedge.

What gives you the greatest job satisfaction?

The most satisfying part of my job is when we finish an outage and the unit starts right up. It’s great to see that the customer is pleased with the work we did.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

Mind reading!