Gaining Vital Industry Experience Through Boston Edison Co-ops
Co-ops at Boston Edison Electric gave Walter Rowell, E’58, electrical engineering, unique opportunities to combine course concepts with practical applications and immerse himself in the workforce. His experiences propelled him into a successful career in the power industry.
By the time he reached retirement, Walter Rowell, E’58, electrical engineering, had collected decades of industry knowledge working at consulting engineering firm Jackson and Moreland/United Engineers and Constructors, a former Raytheon company. Rowell also taught over ten years of night and continuing studies classes at Northeastern. He credits co-op for allowing him to experience the industry through hands-on experience, putting him on a path to success after graduating.
Rowell originally planned on applying to teaching schools within a commutable distance from his home in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. It was his advisor at Boston Latin School who encouraged Rowell to pursue an engineering degree based on his interests in math and science. Northeastern’s locality and positive reputation for its engineering program partially drew him to the university, but the financial benefits of the co-op program sealed the deal.
“I liked the idea of the co-op, where I could earn my way after the first year,” says Rowell. “I wouldn’t have gone to college otherwise.”
While at Northeastern, Rowell participated in Northeastern’s chapel choir. There, he met organist Professor Laurence Cleveland, who also oversaw the power section of the electrical engineering department. This allowed Rowell to connect with someone who would later become an important mentor figure to him. “I became a favored son of the head of the department before I even knew I was going to major in electrical,” he says.
After exploring the various disciplines in his first year, Rowell declared a major in electrical engineering. He had previously been exposed to this industry through his father, a mechanic for Boston Edison Company, an electric utility organization.
Following his father’s footsteps, Rowell began his co-op journey at Boston Edison. He cycled through multiple departments there, each offering different experiences and skill-building opportunities. The variety of work Rowell was exposed to during his co-op allowed him to apply the content from his courses to his work in the field, an opportunity not available to him previously.
“You have to put them together,” says Rowell. You have to be able to do it on paper and also in the real world.”
Rowell’s time at Boston Edison also introduced him to multiple mentors who let him take on special assignments and work on them independently. In one project for Boston Edison’s distribution division, Rowell’s mentor tasked him with drafting a plan for converting primary power lines in a grid sector to a higher voltage. “He wanted me to give him a plan on how to convert it, step by step,” says Rowell.
After a positive first experience, Rowell continued to return to Boston Edison for subsequent co-ops. Each co-op allowed Rowell to explore more responsibilities, expand his skillset, and learn more about the electric power business.
Upon graduating, Rowell was offered to return to Boston Edison as a full-time employee. He ultimately declined this offer to search for a job without union contracts that would prevent him from moving around the organization. This led Rowell to Boston-based engineering firm Jackson and Moreland, later United Engineers & Constructors, which hired him partly because of their strong partner-client relationship with Boston Edison. “They jumped at me and gave me a higher salary because of that,” he says.
Rowell worked at United Engineers for 40 years, engaging with clients to design and implement electrical infrastructure. His exposure to multiple departments during his co-ops aided Rowell during his time at the firm, allowing him to create diagrams for parts he had worked with at Boston Edison without having the parts at his disposal.
“If we were designing a control for some type of motor that was driving a pump, we never saw the motor or the pump,” says Rowell, “but I knew what it looked like.”
One year after graduating, Rowell also began teaching night classes for Northeastern associate students in the power program, an opportunity presented to him by Cleveland while he was taking master’s courses. He taught for Northeastern for over ten years, expanding his role to teach a summer course for continuing education students at Henderson House. Rowell says that teaching also provided him with a networking opportunity. “I’d go into a power company, and I’d meet one of my students from the Henderson House program,” says Rowell.
Throughout his employment, Rowell witnessed multiple changes, including when the firm was sold to United Engineers and Constructors in 1964. Rowell’s role also changed as the company continued to grow. He was made head of the Boston Power Division before he was relocated to Denver to open an office on behalf of the company, a transition he says he was given little time to prepare for.
“I walked into the executive conference room and they were writing a press release on the opening of a Denver office with me as general manager,” says Rowell. “I had no prior notice.”
The Denver relocation was a highly successful career milestone for Rowell. He grew his office from the ground up, even expanding it to a team of over 1,000 members after United Engineers acquired a large Denver-based engineering firm. He remained there for most of his career until he relocated to London for three years, leading a project in India in his last year. Rowell retired and returned to Denver, ending a prolific career in the power industry.
Today, Rowell still has strong ties to co-op after watching his granddaughter Clara Stewart, E’22, mechanical engineering, MS’23, mechanical engineering, cycle through the program while at Northeastern. “She had a variety of experiences at Northeastern through co-op,” Rowell says.
Reflecting on his experience, Rowell says co-op was vital in allowing him to experience the industry before entering it full-time. Co-op also allowed Rowell to apply course concepts to independent projects and connected him with mentors that put him on the path to success.
“I had a great career and a great education,” says Rowell. “The co-op program is just super.”