Engineered wood in wind turbine blades: Focus of Clouston’s NSF-funded summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)

Engineered wood in wind turbine blades: Focus of Clouston’s NSF-funded summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)

by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed
The UMass Offshore Wind Energy Program hosted an NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) this summer. BCT Professor, Peggi Clouston, along with her PhD student, Rachel Koh from Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, mentored and supervised two of these students in research projects that explored the use of engineered wood laminates in offshore wind turbine blades. The students, Malia Charter from Smith College and Yashira Valentin Feliciano from University of Puerto Rico/Mayaguez, participated in hands-on research in Clouston’s lab, a three day field trip to Cape Cod and Boston, weekly seminars on professional development and on the state of the art in wind energy research. Malia’s research involved computer modeling turbine blades using the Numerical Manufacturing and Design tool produced by Sandia National Laboratory (SNL). Three major blade components: spar cap, skin, and shear web were volumetrically replaced with laminated veneer lumber composites. These four blades along with an entirely wooden blade were subjected to static and inertial loads through finite element...
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Weil and Clouston Participate in NSF Grant to Fund Sustainable Agriculture, Clean Energy Partnership with HCC, Hampshire

by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed
The National Science Foundation has awarded an $810,000 grant to Holyoke Community College, in partnership with UMass Amherst and Hampshire College, to create collaborative programs combining clean energy studies with sustainable agriculture and share new resources that will benefit students at all three schools. The grant supports a series of joint courses, the first of which will begin in the summer of 2015. Professors Peggi Clouston and Ben Weil of the Environental Conservation Department are working with John Gerber, professor of sustainable food and farming in the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, to create course content relating to agricultural structures, energy efficiency, and on-farm renewable energy. The grant will also fund new clean energy and agriculture equipment that will be used by students and researchers from all three schools, including a micro-farm greenhouse demonstration and training facility at the Agricultural Learning Center on North Pleasant Street. The micro-farm greenhouse demonstration and training facility will be managed by Amanda Brown and the UMass student...
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BCT’s Damery Instrumental in Bringing $6M in Funding to UMass Amherst to Form New Energy Extension Initiative

by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed
As announced at yesterday's day-long workshop “Helping Communities with Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency”, BCT's faculty member David Damery was instrumental in bringing this important energy extension initiative to UMass. From the press release: AMHERST – Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Rick Sullivan today announced a four-year, $6 million grant to form a new UMass Amherst Energy Extension Initiative. It will serve as a resource on renewable and clean energy options for cities and towns, industry, hospitals, colleges and universities, nonprofits and other organizations across the Commonwealth. “This investment shows the Patrick administration is committed to keeping Massachusetts a national clean energy leader,” said Secretary Sullivan. “The initiative will help municipalities as well as organizations across the Commonwealth cut their energy use, create jobs and protect the environment.” He made the announcement during a day-long workshop, “Helping Communities with Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency,” today on the UMass Amherst campus for city and town energy managers, mayors, other officials, businesses and planners. The...
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