Clean Energy Field Is Growing And Needs Engineers!
These days the slim, graceful structures of wind energy turbines are starting to become a common site. In fact, there has been a recent advancement in wind turbine technology that will soon mean we'll start seeing them on the top of skyscrapers throughout the country. The major growth of these elegant windmills is a sure indicator that a rapidly growing form of engineering is wind energy.
The basic principles behind wind energy are simple. They are very similar to the old Dutch windmills, only instead of grinding wheat into flour, the rotation powers what's basically an oversized crank generator. In turn, the generator sends power either directly to a power grid or a storage battery. Its simplicity is making it become a highly marveled form of green energy.
Its increasing popularity can be best demonstrated by one piece of data from one of the industry's professional organizations, the American Wind Energy Association. The Association states that there are currently over 2,300 companies now in the wind energy business, and the number of new operations entering the field is increasing rapidly. One form of personnel each and every one of these companies need is wind engineers.
The engineering specialty is currently defined as those responsible for designing underground or overhead wind farm systems, including giving consideration to site specifications. Wind engineers must also determine the reliability, performance, and compliance of the turbines they are working on, as well as optimize the layout of wind farm surroundings, including access roads, collection systems, substations and transmission lines. Finally, they must provide technical support whenever called upon.
Students interested in entering the profession universally had strong grades in STEM-related (science, technological, engineering, math) classes in high school. As this is an engineering career, it's necessary to continue with a four-year degree preferably in the electrical/electronic and/or mechanical specialties. One can even consider a BS in both disciplines.
After this, the general career path is to find employment in one of those 2,300 companies the Association talked about or with a company that has a similar specialization. One should check with one's benefit director to see if the company will cover or contribute towards the cost towards post-grad work. If not, there are a number of federal, state, professional and industry-sponsored grants and scholarships out there. Consult with a financial aid advisor to see about those.
From there, wind engineering is considered such a new field the Bureau had only started doing serious research in it in the last year. This means such typical data as salary is not publicly available; the Bureau is still doing research on it. Until then, one should rely on information from the Association and related professional societies.
One thing no one needs to do any research on though is the world absolutely has to find alternatives to carbon-based, non-replenishable sources of energy. Wind, like solar, is rapidly becoming a highly attractive possibility. Considering this, it's not hard to believe that those who go to online school and and graduate with a wind engineering degree will have a career with an incredible future ahead of it.
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