Wind Turbine Installed On Kettering Academic Building

Humor columnist Even Brest calls it "Kettering's Biggest Fan"

Dr. David Benson comments that the university is "breaking wind"

To student Bill Wojcik, though, his thesis project is an opportunity for Kettering students of all disciplines to have access to hands-on experience with wind energy.

This past Wednesday saw the installation of an urban wind turbine on the roof of Kettering University's Academic Building. The turbine is part of senior Bill Wojcik's academic thesis project.

Wojcik was employed by Iverson Industries during much of his time at Kettering, but the company was hit by the downturn in the automotive industry and had to make cuts. Given the tough job market, Bill began to pursue an academic thesis. Wind energy caught his eye. "Originally I wanted to build [a wind turbine], but that's not so easy," he laughs. The extensive time, design work, and testing required to make a wind turbine from scratch led Bill to focus on finding and implementing an existing wind turbine solution in an arbitrary location- the roof of Kettering's Academic Building. "For a while I was pursuing a vertical shaft wind turbine, but this turned out to be the best solution."

The chosen solution is a Swift Wind Turbine from Cascade Engineering. This small turbine is only a distant cousin to the giant machines one might see churning away in wind farms, however. The inverter box for the unit ties directly into Kettering's energy grid, allowing the turbine to contribute power whenever the wind is blowing. The maximum output is 1.5 kW, enough to power a few dozen light bulbs, perhaps, but a drop in the bucket of Kettering's energy use. With a price tag of about $10,000, the time it would take this project to pay for itself is best measured in decades, but Wojcik emphasizes that this isn't the point. "All kinds of students can learn from this project," he says. "ME, EE, CE, everyone can use it for their own projects."

Public Service Post - Bored Over Long Weekend?

It's Long Weekend! While The Technician salutes this break as a great time to catch up on sleep and schoolwork, we also know that it can be just a little bit boring if you're still at Kettering. Here are some suggestions for what to do:

Go out with a group. It's safer and a lot more fun. Even if no one likes an activity, the whole group can laugh about it instead of just one person being bummed out.

Try some food-related activities!
The Flint Farmer's Market is open 8 to 5 on Saturday
The downtown restaurant scene includes the recently opened 501 Bar and Grill, an upscale dining experience (especially compared to Taco Bell).

Take in some culture!
The Flint Institute of Arts has a good variety of exhibits, is free to students, and is open Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 1-5.

Found something more interesting to do? Call it out in the comments!

C.C. Chan Speaks at Kettering on Engineering Education

Kettering University was honored today by a visit and talk by C.C. Chan. Dr. Chan is a distinguished innovator and leader in the field of electrical engineering and electric vehicle design. He holds nine patens and has authored or coauthored 11 books and more than 300 papers. Dr. Chan spoke on the topic “Philosophy of Engineering and Challenges of Engineering Education”

One point made by Dr. Chan addressed a common question asked by Kettering students. What is success? Dr. Chan commented that in English, “success” could, by the inclusion of a handful of lines, be transformed into three dollar signs, two cent signs, and the euro symbol - “$U¢¢€$$”

Instead of this standard, Dr. Chan suggested five I’s for defining success. Inspiration, imagination, innovation, integration, implementation, and finally investment, he said, are essential components of successful engineering education.