Jun. 11--At this time next year, Woonsocket resident Joe Vetter will be a first-year veteran of Mitchell Technical Institute's new wind turbine technology program, if all goes according to plan.

Program instructor Stacey Eddy, 33, also from Woonsocket, signed up the 18-year-old Vetter Wednesday as part of MTI's Registration Week, which runs through Friday at the tech school's main campus in Mitchell. Eddy previously mentored Vetter for a high school wind project.

MTI Dean of Enrollment Scott Fossum said Wednesday that approximately 300 students have enrolled in various programs at MTI this week and another 130 to 150 students are expected to sign up by week's end.

"We're also seeing more displaced workers come though our doors," Fossum said, noting the result of the recent economic downturn.

MTI's electrical construction and maintenance (ECM) and power line programs have the highest the highest enrollment numbers, but the new wind technology program has outstripped all expectations.

The wind turbine program, which offers one- and twoyear options, will have 50 students in its first year of operation. It was expected to start with half that number, but response to the offering was overwhelming, said Eddy.

"I knew right away I'd need help," he said.

Earlier this week, the Mitchell school board approved the hire of coinstructor Jeff Crain. The 2009-2010 school year will also be Eddy's rookie year as lead instructor of a program he is designing from scratch.

"The biggest challenge has been in finding textbooks that are geared to the technician level," he said. "It's a technology that's new and constantly evolving."

Industry support has been strong from utility providers Central Electric and Basin Electric and from Energy Maintenance Service in Howard, which erects and services wind turbines.

The world is warming to an energy resource that's clean and produces no toxic waste or carbon emissions. Workers will be needed to service these massive wind machines.

How massive?

Seen from a distance, the sheer size of the triple-vaned turbines can be deceiving. A typical 2.1-megawatt generator sits atop a tower 80 meters (about 262 feet) high, 12 to 15 feet wide at the base and 10 feet wide at the top. Each 156-foot-long blade weighs 17,000 pounds. The blades are affixed to hubs 12 to 15 feet in diameter and the tip of each blade travels at speeds up to 250 mph.

The "nacelles" atop the towers that house the gearbox and generator assembly are 12 feet wide, 20 feet long and about 9 feet high. Depending on size, turbines can generate from 1 kilowatt to 5,000 kilowatts (5 megawatts) of electricity. As a basis for comparison, consider that 1 kilowatt can light 10 100-watt light bulbs for one hour.

The biggest problem facing the industry in South Dakota is the lack of sufficient transmission lines to carry the wind-generated electricity.

A graduate of the school's ECM program, Eddy worked locally as an electrician for TK Electric and Muth Electric for years before signing on with Chicagobased Suzlon Wind Energy. With Suzlon, he worked on turbines throughout the upper Midwest and Northwest.

He was recruited by former instructor Tony Russell. Since Eddy and wife Kim have 6- and 2-year-old sons, the prospect of less travel and more family time sounded enticing, said Eddy.

The breadth of knowledge and courage -- service workers must be able to climb towers 250 to 300 feet high -- required to work on turbines is staggering.

Besides basic mechanical work they must be able to troubleshoot hydraulic, electrical and computer software systems.

Specific classroom models will be used to train students on each system, Eddy said. Turbine safety will be the first of nine courses (21 credit hours) taught next year. Students must serve a summer internship at the end of the first year.

The greatest danger is not from falling, since safety harnesses must be worn at all times while working on turbines, "but from tools dropped by someone working above," Eddy said.

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