Engineering Author and Course Developer
Donald W. Parnell, PE
North Carolina Professional Engineer No. 33878
A multidisciplinary engineering background translated into practical, technically grounded continuing education for working professionals.
Professional Foundation
Engineering courseware supported by practical experience across utilities, infrastructure, industrial facilities, government projects, and technical documentation.
Donald W. Parnell is a North Carolina-licensed Professional Engineer with more than four decades of multidisciplinary engineering, design, consulting, technical-writing, and project-support experience. His background includes electrical power systems, civil infrastructure, transportation, structural facilities, mechanical systems, industrial processes, geographic information systems, surveying-related documentation, and engineering project management.
His career has included assignments for electric utilities, engineering consultants, equipment manufacturers, transportation agencies, industrial facilities, educational institutions, and government organizations. This breadth of work supplies the practical foundation for his engineering writing and professional continuing-education development.
Rather than approaching engineering subjects solely as academic material, Mr. Parnell draws upon experience preparing and reviewing drawings, specifications, reports, procurement documents, proposals, maps, schedules, and construction records. His course materials are intended to connect established engineering principles with the conditions, decisions, and documentation encountered in professional practice.
Areas of Technical Experience
Each subject area is supported by direct design, documentation, consulting, project-management, or technical-development experience.
Electrical Power Systems
Substations, switchgear, protective relaying, controls, metering, grounding, transmission, and distribution documentation.
Civil and Transportation
Roadways, bridges, scour analysis, site development, drainage, stormwater, utilities, foundations, and permitting support.
Surveying, Mapping, and GIS
Roadway-inventory mapping, aerial imagery, georeferencing, database attribution, cartography, and survey-related reports.
Structural and Facilities
Bridge details, cellular towers, utility structures, military facilities, containment structures, and institutional facilities.
Mechanical and Industrial
HVAC systems, plant layouts, fire protection, process piping, equipment detailing, controls, and industrial machinery.
Nuclear and Energy Facilities
Controls and instrumentation, containment details, nuclear penetrations, reactor cooling documentation, and utility facilities.
Experience Foundation
Selected organizations and project environments that form the basis of Mr. Parnell’s technical authorship.
Cadistics, LLC and Online-PDH.com
Engineering consulting, technical reports, specifications, procurements, proposals, course research, technical writing, examination development, learning-management-system administration, and professional continuing-education program management.
ABB, Patrick Energy Group, Siemens, and Duke Energy
Substation physical design, protection and controls, switchgear, one-line and three-line diagrams, schematics, relay wiring, metering panels, equipment details, utility facilities, and nuclear instrumentation documentation.
North Carolina Department of Transportation, Hobbs and Upchurch, and KCI Technologies
Roadway and bridge projects, bridge-scour analysis, civil infrastructure, geospatial roadway-inventory mapping, government facilities, cellular structures, and multidisciplinary design documentation.
RDU CAD Design and Industrial Client Assignments
MicroStation and AutoCAD design services supporting electrical utilities, telecommunications, textile manufacturing, HVAC systems, pharmaceutical processes, industrial equipment, educational facilities, and as-built record development.
As owner and administrator of Online-PDH.com, Mr. Parnell develops, reviews, and administers internet-based continuing-education courses for licensed professional engineers. His work combines technical research, structured course writing, examination development, regulatory review, quality control, and online course administration.
Selected courses have been co-authored with Harlan Bengtson, PE, PhD, retired chemical-engineering professor and engineering dean, and Mark Rossow, PE, PhD, retired mechanical-engineering professor and engineering dean.
Professional Credentials
Licensure, engineering education, and technical certification supporting professional authorship.
Professional Engineer
North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors, PE No. 33878.
Engineering Education
Mechanical Engineering Technology, Texas State Technical College in Waco, Texas; ABET-accredited program.
Stormwater Certification
State of Florida Stormwater Systems and Site Inspector certification.