Wind Technician Certificate

Certificate
HEGIS #5310
Interim Chairperson: Phillip P. White
Williams Hall, (518) 629-7275

This program has been deactivated effective Spring 2017 and as such, applications are no longer being accepted.

The Wind Technician Certificate program at Hudson Valley Community College is a 25-credit hour curriculum of required courses. The program is aimed at students who have completed the Electrical Construction and Maintenance Associate of Occupational Science degree and need additional specialized skills to enter the high-tech wind turbine industry.

Wind is a steadily growing source of clean domestic electrical power with the potential to provide nearly a quarter of this nation’s electricity in the next twenty years, greatly reducing dependence on conventional environmental-polluting sources. Wind power is clean and sustainable, emitting no greenhouse gases and using no natural resources. Manufacture of components is a growing US industry and the technology is constantly evolving and improving. Thousands of jobs are expected to open within the Capital Region and throughout the country in conjunction with the development of this technology.

Learning focuses on component systems, electrical elements, assembly, operation and maintenance of wind turbines. Due to the physical nature of the work and the necessity to scale high towers, students also take weight training and personal fitness courses, and learn to master harness systems, high ropes, rigging and rescue techniques.

Graduates are trained to be part of a wind turbine installation crew, to perform warranty maintenance or to work as operation and maintenance technicians doing routine scheduled maintenance and troubleshooting.

Classes, presented in partnership with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), take place at both the main campus in Troy and at TEC-SMART, the college’s extension center in Malta. In addition to classroom learning, students work in labs and on actual on-site wind turbines.

Program Entrance Requirements