Clemson University Restoration Institute wind-industry interns get hands-on experience

Clemson University Restoration Institute Drivetrain Testing Facility 

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC – June 12, 2011 – A group of students from acrossSouth Carolina are gaining valuable hands-on experience on a scale theycould not receive anywhere else in the world.

For 10 weeks this summer, seven interns will work alongside the Clemson University Restoration Institute project team and partners statewide during the detailed design andinitial construction of what will be the world’s largest wind-turbinedrivetrain testing facility.

This year’s interns at the Restoration Institute are:

• Lucas Bryson, a Clemson University civil engineering seniorfrom Anderson, will work on key aspects of the deconstruction andpreconstruction of the existing testing facility building.
• Nick Willis, a Clemson University a senior in electricalengineering from Prosperity, will work on electrical design simulationwith electrical engineering Ph.D. candidate J. Curtiss Fox.
• Philip Meyer, a physics graduate of the College of Charleston who studied under physics and astronomy assistant professor NarayananKuthirummal, will work on a direct torque-measurement system forthe drivetrain test rigs.
• Leigh Allison, a junior Clemson biosystems engineering major fromMount Pleasant, will work with the building’s contractor toward the U.S.Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification of the building.

This is the third time Allison has benefited from a Clemsoninternship in North Charleston. During the summer of 2007, immediatelybefore her junior year at Academic Magnet High School, Allison shadowedengineers as they erected a 160-foot wind-monitoring tower at theRestoration Institute.

Last summer, Allison worked on the environmental assessment for thefacility as a liaison between Clemson and the project’s environmentalengineers.

All interns will work under the supervision of Nick Rigas, ClemsonUniversity senior scientist and director of the drivetrain testingfacility, and project manager Jim Tuten.

Also related to the drivetrain project, two Clemson University interns are based at the Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken.

Andrew Brownlow, a junior, is a civil engineering student from Aiken.He will work on vibration analysis models and software for thedrivetrain test rigs. Tyler Shake, a senior, is an electricalengineering student from Aiken who will support the testing facilitydata-collection systems, among other initiatives.

At the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research in Greenville, mechanical engineering master’s degree student KalyanChakravarthy Addepalli will work on multibody simulation of thefacility’s test rigs.

John Kelly, Clemson University vice president for economicdevelopment and executive director of the Restoration Institute, saidthe internships and hands-on opportunities do more than complement thestudents’ studies.

“We have wonderful educators at Clemson, but we want our students tostay in South Carolina after they graduate,” Kelly said. “Internships atthe Restoration Institute and at our partners will show these studentsthey have a bright future in their home state, and show potentialemployers what they have to offer.”

The $98 million testing facility, which was funded by a $45 million U.S. Department of Energy grant and matched by $53 million of public and private funds, is scheduled for completion by the end of 2012.

The facility will be capable of full-scale highly accelerated testingof advanced drivetrain systems for wind turbines in the five-megawattto 15-megawatt range, with a 30 percent overload capacity.

A drivetrain takes energy generated by a turbine’s blades andincreases the rotational speed to drive the electrical generator,similar to the transmission in a car.

The award was the largest single grant ever received by theuniversity and places one of the most important sites for wind energyresearch and development in South Carolina.

The project’s founding partners are: The Charleston Naval Complex Redevelopment Authority; the S.C. Department of Commerce; the state of South Carolina; S.C. Public Railways; S.C. State Ports Authority; and private partners Renk Labeco Test Systems, Tony Bakker and James Meadors.