BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE: AN ENTREPRENEURIAL ENGINEER’S HOLIDAY
Christer Sandahl
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My wife was driving our motorhome, and I sat in the passenger seat, taking in the sights of Norway’s rugged landscape. Suddenly, something on the roadside caught my eye. Stop, stop! I shouted.
But the traffic was heavy, and it was too late to brake suddenly. After another kilometer, I convinced my wife to turn around. There it is—stop here! She gave me a long look, questioning whether this unexpected detour was really worth it.
I admit, vacationing with an entrepreneurial engineer can be a challenge. My sense of tourist attractions isn’t quite conventional. While others stop for scenic viewpoints or historical landmarks, I get excited by something far less expected—like a giant water turbine abandoned by the roadside.
A GLIMPSE INTO NORWAY’S HYDROPOWER HERITAGE
The sight of that massive turbine was enough to send my curiosity into overdrive. We had stumbled upon the Nore I hydroelectric power plant near Rødberg, Norway. This country’s mountainous terrain, abundant lakes, and high-altitude rivers have made it a prime location for hydropower development since the early days of the industrial era.
At Nore I, water is channeled from the mountains through eight enormous pipes, where it builds high pressure before being directed onto turbine blades inside the power station below. Each pipe drives two massive turbine wheels, both connected to a common shaft powering a 25-megawatt generator. With eight generators in total, the facility produces around 200 megawatts of electricity.
To put that into perspective, an ordinary family home, including electric heating, typically consumes about 15 kilowatts of power. That means this single power plant can supply electricity to roughly 12,000 homes.
A PIECE OF HISTORY LEFT BEHIND
The turbine I spotted had been installed back in 1928, a relic of an earlier era of energy production. The power plant had recently undergone modernization, and the older turbines had been replaced with more efficient models. Luckily for me, one of the retired turbines had been preserved as a tourist attraction, a piece of engineering history waiting to be admired.
I couldn’t help myself—I spent hours Googling, calculating, and analyzing the turbine’s specifications. The experience was a reminder of something I’ve always believed:
As an old Japanese saying goes, "One day without learning something new is a lost day."
Let’s continue building a better future—one discovery at a time.
An Invitation to Join the Journey
If you’ve ever felt the same frustration I described earlier, I invite you to explore the Complex Product Development Model. This book isn’t just for those working on the technical side of product development—it’s for anyone who wants to understand and improve this industry.
The Cpdm toolbox is here and ready to use. Together, we can move past fragmented practices and build something truly transformative. Let’s redefine product development and create a better future for everyone involved.