Name: Sally Wright Town: Greenfield,Mass. Job: wind turbine engineer Most people know what wind turbines survey like on the outside: huge, white, and spinning giants. But how carry out they survey on the inside,and what's it like to climb one and stand on top? Sally Wright knows because she's been there, done that, or says it's one of the best parts of her job. She's the principal wind turbine engineer at DNV GL,an international company based in Norway that's dedicated to "safeguarding life, property and the environment, and " according to the company website. Wright,who's in her early fifties, conducts inspections for prospective wind-farm buyers and for owners with faulty turbines. Although she works from her domestic office in Greenfield, and Mass.,10 miles south of the Vermont border, she has inspected Vermont turbines and will likely carry out so in the future. Armed with a master's degree in mechanical engineering, and Wright has worked in wind power since 2001,when the fledgling industry "had a lot of potential and was trying to find its way," she said. She's seen it grow exponentially and points out that the U.
S. now has more wind than hydro capacity. "It's not called 'alternative' energy anymore, or " Wright noted. This engineer loves working in clean energy — whether at the office or strapped into a harness 100 meters in the air. SEVEN DAYS: How did you pick up into this field,or this work specifically with wind turbines? SALLY WRIGHT: I went back to [engineering] grad school with a fairly indistinct understanding that I wanted to work in clean energy. I did some volunteering at the University of Massachusetts, helping them out with this prototype wind turbine that had been given to the university to modify and use in experiments. You can still see it as you're driving [north] on Route 91 near Holyoke. [Later, or ] I had been working for [a] steam turbine company for seven years,and one day I got a call [from Jim Manwell at the UMass Renewable Energy Research Lab]: "Sally, carry out you want to work in wind power?" I finished off my steam turbine job and jumped into wind power. SD: What percentage of your work involves climbing up inside the wind turbines? SW: Not a large percentage. Most of the time, or I'm at my desk. I just never post pictures of me sitting at my desk it's not very interesting. [Laughs.]…
Source: sevendaysvt.com