Day in the life of a Data Centre Mechanical Engineer

It will come as no surprise that the world’s internet usage has doubled since 2010.  Meaning that the demand for data centres has surged. In 2019 the global data centre construction market size was valued at an incredible $207.2B and it’s expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.4% from 2020 to 2027.

Here at Quanta, we work on some of the biggest data centre developments, sourcing mechanical engineers to play a vital role in construction and operation. But what does a day in the life of mechanical engineer look like?

What is a Mechanical Engineer?

The main responsibilities of a mechanical engineer are the design and development of machinery. This could include a whole host of projects and include working on electric generators, turbines, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and refrigeration among many others.

In fact, HVAC systems are vital in data centre construction, they are required to cool the servers and control airflow and humidity. These HVAC systems are worked hard in this environment due to the scale and their responsibility to keep the centre operational. This means that energy usage can be high. It’s the mechanical engineer’s job to design an energy efficient and reliable system.  

Location

Mechanical engineers can work anywhere in the world and since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the percentage of engineers working fully remotely has increased from 19% to 86% according to a 2021 report from Terminal. However, site visits may be occasionally required depending on the project.

Schedule 

Flexible working hours seem to be another positive consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic and are certainly becoming more popular in the engineering world but the standard working hours tend to be 40 hours a week, Monday – Friday.

Design

One of the main responsibilities of a mechanical engineer is the creation of the mechanical design. The mechanical design process begins with research, it involves identifying the needs and requirements of the project and choosing a working solution. Once chosen, the solution will be tested, developed and implemented.

Operations

It’s not just in the design phase that mechanical engineers are involved with. Once the construction is complete, they will support and participate in the transition to commissioning and beyond. This includes reviewing documentation, analysing operations and ensuring that the system is running as efficiently as possible.

Collaboration

As with all large-scale operations, collaboration across multiple disciplines is key for timely completion. In the world of data centre construction the mechanical engineers will regularly check-in with the electrical engineers and BMS (Building Management Systems) contractors as well as the construction team to ensure operations are reliable and the product is delivered to operations on schedule.

Additional Duties and skills:

Other data centre mechanical engineer tasks may include:

• Attend project design meetings
• Manage a team of engineers
• Budget management
• Field investigations
• Participate in documentation creation

Interested in a Mechanical Engineer job?

Mechanical engineers are in demand across the Data Centre industry. If you would like to know more about our mechanical engineer or data centre jobs or get in touch with our data centre team to discuss your application or sign up for job alerts to be the first to hear about our opportunities.