Tipmont a ready volunteer for Ivy Tech sustainable energy program

By Kathy Mayer

When Ivy Tech Community College in Lafayette needed borings this spring at the site where students assemble a windmill for one of their classes, Tipmont REMC volunteered for the job.

Students at Lafayette’s Ivy Tech Community College are getting hands-on experience assembling and installing a windmill—just one of the cutting-edge lessons in its sustainable energy program—and they have Tipmont REMC to thank, in part, for that opportunity. 

Boring holes for windmill site
When the college needed five holes bored 5-feet deep at a 45-degree angle, Tipmont crews showed up for the early-morning task. “Tipmont volunteered to help,” said Craig Porter, who teaches the renewable energy systems technology class and works for Fairmount-based ECI Wind and Solar LLC.

Each semester, students in his class meet for 16 sessions once a week for four hours. One of their hands-on lessons is building a residential-size windmill step-by-step, then disassembling it so the next class can learn by putting it together.

“The windmill provides energy and charges batteries, so the students have something to power up, but it’s not connected to the grid,” Porter said. “We also study solar thermal, geothermal and photovoltaic systems.”

“We’re eager to partner on projects like this, and often do,” said Tipmont chief executive officer Tim McCarthy. “We see it as a community service, and we’re especially interested in education and energy education, in particular.”

Student interest high
One student who stands to benefit from Tipmont’s help is Tyler Summers, who begins his second year at Ivy Tech this fall and is interested in enrolling in sustainable energy studies.

“I was taking general education, and I learned I could take this sustainable energy program and get a degree in two years,” he said. “It’s the way of the future and a field that will need more people, and I think you can make good money.”

Summers has always been interested in hands-on work. “My Dad is a plumber and does construction, and I’ve helped him out since I was little. I would be very interested in working on windmills.”

Sustainable energy associate’s degree offered
The Lafayette Ivy Tech campus is the only site in the state where the sustainable energy program is offered. Students can earn an associate of applied science degree. Concentrations include wind turbine technology, renewable energy systems technology and home technology integration. Students also learn to conduct energy audits.

The program includes classroom studies, lab work, field exercises, field trips and an internship. Ivy Tech Community College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a is a member of the North Central Association.

Tipmont has also helped the program by establishing the two-year, $5,000 Ken Ritchey Tipmont EnviroWatts Scholarship at Ivy Tech for a student entering the sustainable energy program.

Kathy Mayer is a Lafayette, Ind.-based freelance writer.