Third Wind Turbine Academy class ready to learn the business

Wind Turbine Technicians graduating from Kalamazoo Valley Community College are attracting positive attention from company and industry recruiters. They have already contacted and scheduled interviews with those who will receive their academy credentials on Dec. 10.

Meanwhile, all the slots for the third academy are filled. The 26-week training program gets under way Jan. 3. Michigan enrollees are from Muskegon, Vicksburg, and Kalamazoo. Students also come from Arizona, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Kentucky and Minnesota.

Fourteen of the graduates from KVCC's original Wind Academy class are are employed, 11 of them in the wind-turbine industry.

Of the other two, one has returned to his native England to seek employment in the British wind industry while the other is lining up interviews. Of those not currently involved with wind turbines, one has resumed his education in California and another has been deployed to Afghanistan as part of his military commitment.

Five of the grads are employed by the same company, says Cindy Buckley, director of training and development at the M-TEC.

"It' s like a fraternity," she says. "On one assignment, five of the graduates ended up at the same wind farm in Montana. Our graduates are highly regarded in the wind industry for the quality of their training and their commitment to safety."

Two from Michigan have kept their homes and their families here. They are flown to their jobs around the country, work for five weeks, and are flown back here for two to three weeks, Buckley says.

In the United States, KVCC has the only program certified by Bildungszentrum fur Erneuerebare Energien (BZEE), the leading trainer for wind-turbine technicians across Europe and Asia.

KVCC has educational partnerships with Fuhrlaender North America, based in North Kingston, R.I., and the Michigan-based Crystal Flash Renewable Energy. These arrangements give KVCC academy students the chance for learn maintenance requirements and hands-on monitoring of utility-scale wind turbines, and to cutting-edge technologies.

Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: Cindy Buckley, KVCC