Successful Training Programs
To Learn More About ATTE Training
The calendar on this site provides a listing of planned technical training programs and key contacts. In addition each ATTE Center may be offering or developing new programs, so the key here would again be to contact a Center Director. Even if you do not see or readily find technical training opportunites, contact the ATTE HUB Directors or the Statewide Director as new programs can be developed to meet your needs.
Wind Turbine Technician Training
California adds 500,000 new residents each year, increasing the population of an economy that continues to be the tenth largest in the world. As a result of California's economic impact, several economic and environmental problems continue to plague California. One of the most significant of these problems involves the transportation and energy sectors.
The gap between the energy California uses and what it produces grows larger every year. California produces 16% of the natural gas it uses, 78% of the electricity, and 42% of the petroleum. Moreover, the use of hydro-carbon fossil fuels contributes to trade imbalances with other nations and threatens the security of California and the United States. Hydro-carbon fuels also contribute to the formation of photochemical smog, particulate emissions, and cancer-causing chemicals in the atmosphere. The Bureau of Land Management is attempting to address these issues by using renewable energy sources such as wind, geothermal, solar and biomass as well as traditional energy sources like oil and gas.
As California strives to maintain a healthier environment, solar and wind energy are becoming major players in the renewable energy arena. The United States added more than 15,000 megawatts of wind energy for a cumulative total of 74,000 megawatts of power, nationwide. Wind turbines are becoming more complex, and new "smart" wind turbines are very efficient in capturing the energy of the wind. Unfortunately, the rapidly increasing sophistication of these windmills coincides with a lack of advanced repair technicians, which creates another problem. Current wind turbines are extremely complex compared to older models, and they incorporate many components, including gear box, electronic controllers of various natures, brake, anemometer, wind vane, low speed shaft, high speed shaft, yaw drive, yaw motor, and other electrical devices that comprise the wind turbine.
As the wind turbine industry continues to grow exponentially, certified wind turbine technician training programs are needed. However, these training programs do not yet exist in the California Community Colleges. In response, in cooperation with AIRSTREAMS LLC, the Cypress College ATTEi Center has assisted in the development of 13 wind turbine technician training courses. The accelerated training program is 26 days long and is for entry-level technicians seeking a career in the wind turbine industry.
The Cypress College ATTEi Center, AIRSTREAMS LLC, and the Southern California Energy hub are working diligently to launch and distribute this much-needed training program. The training program will be delivered at key ATTEi and partnering campus locations statewide. These courses will also be delivered nationwide through revenue-generating contracts.
Alternative Fuels Project: Counting on Canola
Shasta Union High School District & Shasta College have partnered with the California Community College Advanced Transportation Technology and Energy Initiative (ATTEi) & Northern ATTEi Hub to grow canola seed for an experimental alternative fuel project.
Ross Hamilton was just looking for a cheaper way to fuel his farm equipment. What he ended up with is a cutting-edge biodiesel project that ultimately could become a state model for farmers to grow their own fuel.
"The ATTEi wants this to be a beta site," said Suzanne Clark, assistant project director with Shasta College's Small Business Development Center.
Hamilton is Shasta Union High School District's Agriculture Department Chair and runs the district's 25-acre farm off Eastside Road south of downtown Redding.
Ross Hamilton and agriculture teacher Noah Corp had their students plant 3 acres with canola, a special type of rapeseed related to mustard. Processed canola oil can be used to manufacture biodiesel. Hamilton, Corp and their students will harvest the crop and manufacture biodiesel to be used in the farm's trucks and tractors. The high school students are doing all the work on this project.
The farm is the first one in the north state to grow the crop and is doing it on nonirrigated fields. Being able to do it without irrigation water is key. The project is funded through a state grant from the California Community College Advanced Transportation Technology and Energy Initiative.
Since 1952 the Shasta Union High School District has had its farm, and it's always been self-sufficient. In order for the farm to remain with the district, it has to remain self-sustainable. It was that fact that got the instructors thinking about cheap fuel. They could keep costs down on the farm, which raises hay, hogs and cows, if they didn't have to pay so much for diesel.
Growing canola and producing biodiesel puts this High School farm on the cutting edge of the rapidly burgeoning field of alternative fuel technology.
