Kansas Wind Turbine Technician Education & Training
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Highland Community College. Kansas
higland.cc.il.us
Wind Turbine Technician
 

Associate of Applied Science
The high demand for wind turbines is creating a shortage of trained and qualified wind energy technicians, or windsmiths, who provide maintenance on the turbines. Highland provides instruction in wind turbine technology, turbine maintenance, tower safety, and wind economics. Graduates of this program will be prepared for rewarding and profitable careers in this growing field.


Students in the HCC wind turbine technology associate of applied science (AAS) program learn how to assemble, maintain, and repair wind turbines used in energy generation. Those interested in the wind turbine technology program should have strong mechanical skills, similar to those of auto repair technicians, with good basic math and communication skills. Students must also have no fear of heights as they will be scaling wind towers as part of their job.

Certificate

The Highland Community College Wind Turbine Technician certificate program prepares individuals to work in the emerging wind power energy industry. Students will complete an industry-derived curriculum as they learn about the electrical power generation industry, safety at the worksite, mechanical devices, as well as hydraulic and electrical systems. Courses take place in traditional classrooms, and at various lab settings on campus. Graduates enter the workforce needing further on the job training to become a wind turbine technician. They will, however, posses the basic skills needed to complete more advanced training and coursework.
 

For entry into the wind turbine technology program, students need to complete a pre-assessment and have certain scores in math and writing for admittance, along with maintaining at least a 2.5 GPA. In wind-specific courses, students must earn a B or better to maintain their status in the program.

Our Wind Turbine Technology Faculty:

Steve Gellings

Wind Turbine Technology Scholarship Opportunities:
Buss Natural Science Scholarship

Harold Lee Offenheiser Ecology/Biology Scholarship

Kansas State University
Manhattan , Kansas
Contact: Ruth Douglas Miller, Associate Professor, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Wind Turbine Technician Careers & Salary

The growing demand for wind energy has created the need for highly skilled wind turbine technicians. The technician must use computers, have an understanding of hydraulics, electricity and meteorology. Although many wind turbine technicians have experience as a welder, many wind technicians complete two-year education programs in wind technology. The Wind Technician must work 250 feet above the ground. Travel is often a big part of the job. Based on current positions, wind turbine technicians earn $17.00 to $27.00 per hour.

Wind turbine

A wind turbine is a rotating machine which converts the kinetic energy in wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used directly by machinery, such as a pump or grinding stones, the machine is usually called a windmill. If the mechanical energy is then converted to electricity, the machine is called a wind generator, wind turbine, wind power unit (WPU), wind energy converter (WEC), or aerogenerator.

This article discusses electric power generation machinery. Windmill discusses machines used for grain-grinding, water pumping, etc. The article on wind power describes turbine placement, economics and public concerns. The wind energy section of that article describes the distribution of wind energy over time, and how that affects wind-turbine design. See environmental concerns with electricity generation for discussion of environmental problems with wind-energy production

Wind power

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form, such as electricity, using wind turbines. At the end of 2008, worldwide nameplate capacity of wind-powered generators was 120.8 gigawatts.[1]

Wind energy has historically been used directly to propel sailing ships or converted into mechanical energy for pumping water or grinding grain, but the principal application of wind power today is the generation of electricity. Large scale wind farms are typically connected to the local electric power transmission network, with smaller turbines being used to provide electricity to isolated locations. Utility companies increasingly buy back surplus electricity produced by small domestic turbines. Wind energy as a power source is favoured by many environmentalists as an alternative to fossil fuels, as it is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and produces lower greenhouse gas emissions, although the construction of wind farms is not universally welcomed due to their visual impact and other effects on the environment. The intermittency of wind seldom creates problems when using wind power to supply a low proportion of total demand. Where wind is to be used for a moderate fraction of demand, additional costs for compensation of intermittency are considered to be modest.[2]  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


 

 


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