Jim Phillips, P.E.
Jim has been helping tens of thousands of people for over 25 years to understand electrical design, theory and applications. Having taught over 1600 seminars during his career, he has developed a reputation for being one of the best trainers and public speakers in the electric power industry. Although Jim was born just outside of Chicago, his family moved to Ohio when he was 8 years old, which is where he grew up. He began his pursuit of an Electrical Engineering Degree at The Ohio State University in 1976, where he worked his way through college and graduated with a BSEE. After college he continued his learning career at Square D Company's Power System Analysis Group in Lexington, Kentucky. While at Square D, he was responsible for various power system studies such as short circuit and coordination, as well as developing their power system analysis software and ... teaching at their training programs. This is where Jim's love of teaching others began.
Talking with one of the class participants. Always wanting to share the knowledge with others.
That was the beginning of a life long pursuit of helping others understand subjects, that on the surface, seem difficult. Jim learned shortly after Ohio State that subjects such as electric power systems, electrical design and even the deepest theory do not have to be complicated. (He says that's not what they told him in college!).
Jim moved on in his career to work for Ohio Edison Company in Akron, Ohio. He began in the Transmission Planning Group, and later moved to the System Protection Group where he was in charge of the staff responsible for various power system studies. Seeing the utility side of the business was a great benefit in understanding the bigger picture of electric power systems.
It wasn't long after joining Ohio Edison that he again had the urge to continue to educate others. Jim took an evening position at Stark State College where he taught the National Electrical Code and Transmission and Distribution Systems. He began to notice his evening classes were becoming quite full and found that day time students were waiting to take evening classes because Jim had a unique way of explaining difficult subjects in a very straight forward style.
Jim explains series rated panels and short circuit testing.
That revelation led to the formation of a training company called T2G Technical Training Group which would give Jim a way to educate as many people as he could. Technical Training Group started out small in 1987 with just a few people, but over the years grew to include several instructors. As the other instructors eventually moved on, the teaching staff dwindled down to just Jim. Although the T2G name still exists, the company is really just an extension of Jim's desire to help all who desire to learn as much as they can about electric power distribution.
Early in his engineering career, Jim decided to take the Professional Engineering Exam in order to some day begin an engineering company. He became a licensed P.E. and subsequently has became licensed in many states.
About the same time that Technical Training Group was being created, Jim also formed Phillips Engineers + Consultants, Inc. which is an engineering firm specializing in the design and analysis of electrical power systems. His career has been more than just educating others, his career includes practicing what he teaches. He has provided electrical design for everything from small commercial buildings to large scale cogeneration power plants. The countless power system analysis projects that he has undertaken on everything from waste water treatment plants to aircraft carriers have given him a unique perspective on power system analysis.
All work and no play? ...Doing his best rendition of Jimi Hendrix with the band!
Jim is one of the main writers for the NEC Digest - the Official magazine of the National Electrical Code. He wrote "How to Perform and Arc Flash Study in 12 Steps" which was published by the NFPA. He is also active with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - IEEE where he has served on several National committees such as the Energy Policy Committee of IEEE in Washington DC. He is currently a member of the Arc Flash Working Group IEEE 1584. He is also a member of The National Fire Protection Association - NFPA, The Power Engineering Society - PES, and the Industry Applications Society.
Jim and his wife (and best friend!) of 26 years have two children (actually two adults now) and enjoy being with family and friends.