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Jenny Heinzen, Lakeshore Technical College
Posted: 12/10/2009 12:28:07 PM
Jenny Heinzen’s job isn’t a breeze – though it does rely on it. As a Wind Energy Technology instructor at Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland, Wis., Heinzen not only teaches about harnessing an alternative form of energy, she’s been part of the push for new wind farms in Wisconsin.
In September, Governor Jim Doyle signed into law a bill calling for uniform standards for wind farms. The bill will create a set of rules overruling any local ordinances on wind farms, potentially setting up a boon for wind projects in the state. Heinzen is part of a group called Wind for Wisconsin, which spurred the legislation. Heinzen said she wants to create wind farms to move Wisconsin forward and keep wind energy technology students in the state.
“The bill, and consequently the new law, was absolutely necessary in order to move forward,” Heinzen said. “The last thing I want is to ship all of my graduates to other states. I want them to have jobs available here at home. And I want Wisconsin to start using more renewable energy, as we have no coal, gas, oil or uranium. But we’ve got wind, sun, water and agricultural wastes that can be used to produce electricity.”
Heinzen has been a teacher since 2001, and works for the Wind Energy Technology program at Lakeshore – a two-year associate degree curriculum. Lakeshore has been running wind classes since 2006, but the associate degree program was officially approved by the Wisconsin Technical College System in 2008.
“Most of the students who took those wind classes were electromechanical students. Some of them graduated from that program and took a job on a wind farm; others got an individualized technical studies degree double-majoring in both electromechanical and wind,” Heinzen said.
Heinzen came to teach the course through her background in electricity.
“I came to LTC as an industrial electrician and taught electrical courses until the wind load became so heavy last year we had to hire someone else to teach electrical apprenticeship and code,” she said. “I was essentially working two full-time jobs for the college trying to do both programs. Now my main focus is wind.”
Lakeshore’s Wind Energy Technology program serves as a way to get students into a kind of apprenticeship into the wind industry. “The program very closely parallels our electromechanical program,” Heinzen said.
Students can take 12 credits specific to the wind program, including Intro to Wind (a classroom-based, lecture-style course that covers how the wind works, turbine-siting issues, how to calculate output, construction, maintenance, environmental effects, and electrical interconnection), Wind Tech I (covering an OSHA-10 course, first aid, CPR, competent climbing, and fall rescue training), Wind Tech II (going over generator types, torquing techniques, high voltages, and electrical safety) and an internship.
“The internship is typically completed off-campus in the summer months. We want our students to get first-hand experience with a wind company working alongside trained technicians, much like an apprenticeship,” Heinzen said.
Heinzen is also the president of nonprofit clean energy organization RENEW Wisconsin, and said a state set of standards for wind farms is crucial for their development.
“This has been one of our main topics for the past two years,” she said. “The bill was created in response to a plethora of local ordinances that ultimately restricted, and sometimes killed, wind power projects in this state.”
Heinzen said the best part of her job is watching her students learn and climb, as well as setting them up for success later in life.
“Even better is when they get their job as a technician after, and sometimes before, graduation,” she added.
