STUDENT NEWS
Congrats to the 2009
Grainger POWER ENGINEERING award recipients
 n April 14, 2009, nearly 50 UW-Madison engineering faculty, staff, students, friends and family members gathered for a banquet at the University of Wisconsin Foundation. A celebration of Grainger Power Engineering Award and Fellowship recipients, the event honored nine electrical and computer engineering students who already are making meaningful contributions in their field. Sponsored by The Grainger Foundation, the awards recognize students for their academic success in the field of power engineering.
Pictured (back row, from left): College of Engineering Dean Paul Peercy, Marcus Hammonds, Robert Sandy, Andrew Redon, Adam Anders and Jonathan Lee; (front row) Adam Hughes, Zeb Breuckman, Brenton Smith and Jeffrey Gobeli.
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Independent study and travel power a passion for renewable energy
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Adam Hughes (right) with University of Monterrey, Mexico, student Cesar Suarez (left) and ECE senior Nate Kautzer (center) pictured with a vertical axis turbine.
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 dam Hughes is guided by the wind, and his interest in renewable energy has taken him to New Zealand, the Bahamas and a basement laboratory in Engineering Hall. The ECE senior is currently at work on an independent study project on vertical axis wind turbines under Associate Professor Giri Venkataramanan and the Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium. Hughes is researching and testing optimal designs for inexpensive, low-power wind turbines that can be installed in rural areas of developing countries.
His project is a culmination of four years of experience with renewable energy technologies and rural communities. “If you find something you love, you have to take the initiative to find opportunities and learn about what you enjoy,” he says. “I have maximized my opportunities in order to learn as much as I can within my field.”
Hughes, a Madison, Wisconsin, native, began his engineering education focused on computers. He credits the University of Wisconsin Hoofers Club with his transition to renewable energy—he joined the outdoor group as a freshman and was influenced by other members with strong environmentalist beliefs. To learn more about how engineering could benefit the environment, Hughes joined the Future Energy Challenge competition. He also became an active member of Engineers Without Borders and Business Action for Sustainable Enterprise, where he worked on biodiesel engineering and advocacy projects.
“It was great experience,” he says of his involvement with the student organizations, especially Future Energy Challenge. “I had a lot of exposure to renewable energy system design as a whole.”
In fall 2006, Hughes studied abroad in New Zealand, where he joined the organization World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, which pairs volunteers with farmers who need help with sustainable agriculture and design projects. Hughes branched out from his biodiesel background and worked on a small hydroelectric power project.
His experience working with local community members to implement power systems was useful when Hughes returned from New Zealand and took a co-op with Madison Gas and Electric upgrading rural power systems. “The part I enjoyed most was being able to travel to the countryside, meet Wisconsin’s local farmers and work together with them to ensure safe and reliable access to electricity on their land,” he says.
After his co-op, Hughes traveled again to work on renewable energy technologies. He joined Cape Systems Limited, an environmental advocacy and consulting firm affiliated with the Island School in the Bahamas. Hughes was part of solar and wind energy systems for residential and small commercial clients and helped maintain and upgrade turbines for the school.
When Hughes returned to UW-Madison in fall 2008, he looked for opportunities to conduct an independent study project in renewable energies. He met Venkataramanan, who put him to work on the vertical axis project in spring 2009.
The project began when an entrepreneur in Kenya connected with Madison-based product development company Design Concepts to create low-cost, low-power turbines for terrain with unsteady air flow less than ideal for traditional wind turbines. Design Concepts contacted Venkataramanan, who then involved Hughes in the project.
Traditional turbines, like the giant ones in western and southern United States, have a horizontal axis of rotation that is parallel with the ground. When the direction of the wind changes, the whole turbine turns, or “yaws,” to face into the wind. Alternatively, vertical axis turbines, which have vertical rotor shafts and therefore a perpendicular axis of rotation, can collect wind from any direction without turning. This means the vertical turbines can be implemented in a wider variety of terrains and don’t waste energy on yawing.
“Our project is aimed at people who don’t have electricity at all and would like a few lights in their home or want to charge a cell phone,” Hughes says. “It really needs to be affordable and simple to construct.”
After his independent study project, Hughes will focus on wrapping up his undergraduate education and graduate in December 2009. He is currently exploring both graduate school and employment options in renewable energy.
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