What’s What in Wind? 

Advancements in technology these days are moving at a break-neck pace.  We hear about the next new thing every day, like smart phones, tablets, 3D televisions, electric cars, or outposts on Mars.  Okay, maybe we are a few years off from living on Mars, but it won’t surprise me when we get there. 

The Wind Industry is no exception to this technological boom.  Scientists and Engineers worldwide are working on projects that will advance, and even change, the face of wind power altogether.  Some of these current advancements are simple, small changes in the system to ring out better efficiency.  Others, however, are huge leaps forward that are changing industry standards and growing their edge over other energy technologies.  Keep in mind that the Wind Industry is in its teenage adolescent years and it’s going through a lot of changes and growing fast.  It’s important to be in the know but it would certainly be a fulltime job trying to keep up with all of these industry advancements.  It may seem daunting but there are some good tricks to keeping current. 

There are a great number of websites dedicated to the Wind Industry that can be a great source for learning trends.  Navigating through that web however can really be a big time commitment that most of us just don’t have.  I’ve recently learned a great way to streamline this process, saving loads of time and I only have to navigate to one place.  Do you know what an RSS feed is?  This is the key to my savvy surfing.  I log into my RSS feed every day and all of the articles from the websites I have subscribed to are waiting for me to read.  Making the internet work for me!  It’s a “one stop current events shop” that is customized completely to my interest of Wind.  If you are ready to take advantage of these time saving methods you should do a little research first.  If you do an internet search for RSS feeds you’ll get a good deal of detail on how to get started.  I personally use the “Google Reader” for my RSS feeds.   

Once you get going be careful because it can be addictive.  My reader populates at least 100 articles a day with Wind Energy current topics and other various interests like living on Mars.  Some I skip, some I save and some I will email to colleagues that I know would be interested.  Bonus Point… This makes me appear smart and informed.  Which really in the end, isn’t that the goal?  The Wind industry is still young and being in the know is a must if you want to be one of the many who will bring this industry into the mainstream.  The opportunity is there. 

Click: Pinnacle Career Institute Alternative Energy to learn more!

Author: Ryan Harp, Systems Wind Program Assistant