Answer extracted from the Empowering Industry Podcast - A Production of Empowering Pumps & Equipment podcast — listen to the full episode below.
What is Hydro University and how does it address the skills gap in the pump and hydraulics industry?
Hydro University is a training program designed to transfer critical knowledge to younger engineers as experienced workers retire. The initiative combines live in-person training on-site, virtual meetings with customers, and pre-recorded courses—ensuring hydraulics, mechanical systems, and reliability expertise don't vanish from the industry.
Three delivery formats to reach every learner
The program operates through a blend of training methods tailored to different learning styles and schedules. Live in-person sessions can accommodate either a single company or multiple organizations, bringing hands-on expertise directly to where engineers work.
Virtual meetings with customers add flexibility for geographically dispersed teams, while pre-recorded modules like basic vibrations courses allow employees to learn at their own pace—a critical feature for busy technical departments where scheduling training time is challenging.
Why the timing matters: preventing knowledge drain
The program addresses a genuine industry problem: as the generation of veteran hydraulics engineers and reliability specialists retires, there is real risk of losing specialized knowledge that took decades to build. Hydro University intercepts that knowledge transfer before it's gone.
As Glenn Powell explains in the episode, the training ensures that mechanical systems expertise, vibration analysis, and pump reliability remain accessible to the next wave of engineers entering the industry—transforming what could be a knowledge void into a structured learning pathway.
Glenn Powell — Senior Engineer at Hydro, with 13 years' experience in the pump and hydraulics industry. Powell started his career during the 2008-2009 economic crisis with a master's degree, beginning as a CAD drafter before building deep expertise in reliability services, pump testing, and global engineering projects.
The beauty of Hydro University is its pragmatism: it doesn't rely on a single training format or assume all learners have the same availability. A reliability engineer at a customer site can attend a live session; a junior pump technician in another city can access pre-recorded vibrations fundamentals on Friday evening; a team designing a new system can meet virtually with specialists who've solved similar problems before. This flexibility is what makes the knowledge transfer actually stick.
For anyone watching the pump industry's workforce evolve, the full conversation in this podcast covers how Hydro is also tackling the broader innovation challenge—from CAD-based design workflows to smart pump technology that Powell has helped develop in the company's test lab.
See also
What testing capabilities does Hydro's pump test lab provide to the industry?
Hydro's test lab facility can accommodate up to 5,000 horsepower, up to 40,000 gallons per minute of discharge flow, and three to 4,000 PSI pressure capacity—enabling comprehensive validation of pump systems at scale.
What is the Centaur system and how does wireless condition monitoring improve pump maintenance?
The Centaur is a wireless condition monitoring system that uses vibration data to diagnose machine health. Instead of traditional route-based monitoring with only two data points per year, Centaur collects 24 data points daily, enabling proactive maintenance instead of reactive failure response.
How is research and development being applied to smart pump technology for building systems?
Hydro has a current research and development project using the test lab to test smart capabilities of pumps for building circulations and heating systems—exploring how connected sensors and real-time diagnostics transform how HVAC systems perform.