PSE engineer Ryan Severe nationally recognized for innovation

DAYTON - The National Safety Council recognizes outstanding advances in safety through the Green Cross for Safety Awards. The awards honor community partnerships, programs, individuals, researchers and corporations that make a significant impact on safety issues through advocacy, innovation, and excellence.

On September 15, Puget Sound Energy and Principal Engineer Ryan Severe were awarded the Green Cross for Safety Innovation Award at the NSC Safety Congress and Expo held in Denver, Colorado.

As PSE's principal engineer for wind facilities, Severe created a solution for safely identifying issues in wind turbine nacelles, which house medium-voltage components. Remotely monitoring the interior of these spaces in operation is the most efficient way to diagnose potentially dangerous and damaging issues before they lead to a catastrophic failure.

Severe worked for over eight years to investigate the root causes of maintenance challenges, including overheating, increased repair costs, extended downtime, and inefficiencies.

Working with Sytis, a vendor from California, Severe created a bi-spectral camera system that combines standard light with thermal imaging to enable operators to remotely identify situations that could lead to dangerous system failures, including fires and arc blasts.

The system protects PSE workforce by reducing the need for climbs and providing technicians with accurate information on the detected problems before they climb. Severe, who attended the event with his wife, Elise, was one of 9 semi-finalists in the innovation category at the Green Cross for Safety Awards in Denver. He said he was surprised when it was announced that he had won the award.

"For me, it was just important to be able to contribute to the safety of the industry and make it where others can come home at the end of the day," said Severe. "That's why I did it."

Since winning this award, Severe has been shortlisted for recognition by RenewableUK and will attend the Global Offshore Wind 2025 Awards in London in October.

Ryan lives in Dayton, Washington, with his wife, Elise, and their three daughters, Lauren, 9, Maddie, 7, and Stella, 5.