SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH IN WIND INNOVATION AND DEVELOPMENT: SUR-WInD

The program was completed in 2014 and is no longer available.

This NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) project is a nine week summer program where students work collaboratively on a wide variety of wind-power related projects. SUR-WInD students will be exposed to a broad range of research projects motivated by what has now become a national interest in offshore wind power.  Participating students, purposefully drawn from diverse backgrounds and experience, will be immersed in ongoing research projects and seminars that involve:

• Factors affecting the design and deployment of offshore foundations
• Materials factors, energy storage, and grid integration for intermittent generation
• How local wind conditions influence the configuration of large offshore wind arrays
• Choices of turbine operating states and selection of turbine characteristics
• The impact of energy economics through seminar-based interactions with industry speakers

Research Project Examples:

• Assessment and redesign of a 50kw induction generator turbine
• Cup anemometer calibration, wind velocity and turbulence analysis
• Turbulence sensors in turbine blades
• Measurement and analysis off-shore wind and ice flow
• Optimal placement in large wind farms/wake modeling
• Energy storage for intermittent renewables
• Effect of ice loading on offshore wind foundations
• Structural behavior of Wind Turbines turbines
• Integration of renewable resources into the grid

The SUR-WInD program involves ten students every summer. Each student receives a stipend of $4,500, and free housing in university dormitories. Up to $300 is available for travel assistance.

The above program was completed in 2014 and is no longer available.