The Institutional Investor Guide to Modern Energy - (Page 8) The Institutional Investor Guide to Modern Energy Pioneers of Wind Energy Line Gulstad Mesoscale Meteorologist; Vestas Lawrence D. Willey Mgr. of Wind Systems Conceptual Design; GE Linda Linteau Vice President Design Quality; Vestas Detailed knowledge of the wind is crucial in the process of planning a wind farm. That’s where the Wind and Site specialist Line Gulstad, a mesoscale meteorologist, steps in to provide expertise in global and mesoscale (intermediate range) weather models, which help determine the best local airflows. Her models digest information beamed in by satellite transmission, by radio frequency waves and from meteorological weather centers. Another important dataset is the information from Vestas turbines out in the field, says Gulstad, a native Norwegian who came to Vestas from the meteorological department at the University of Oslo. Previously, Gulstad modeled wave propagations on the sea floor for oil and gas exploration. And while at the University of Oslo, her global climate modeling contributed to the establishing of new airline transportation routes for minimizing the anthropogenic climate change. “With more pressure on the market, customers will look to more extreme, less suitable areas,” says Gulstad. “Using our models, we can find those areas to avoid.” Line Gulstad Vestas Lawrence D. Willey is charged with harnessing the brain power of an international team of engineers with a corporate mandate to break new ground in the wind energy industry. “At heart I’m a technical guy…I love visualizing and sketching and getting the ideas flowing. What we’re doing here is looking at what the future of the wind industry can be,” says Willey, who manages the Wind Systems Conceptual Design engineering component of the Advanced Technology Operations at GE Energy. For Willey and his experienced team, that can mean anything from developing new materials and components, to pondering whether the traditional three-bladed turbine is the most effective means to draw electrical energy from the wind. The division draws on talent at Willey’s base in Greenville, S.C. , from other GE offices in Schenectady, N.Y., and from the active wind energy markets in Germany, China and India. Willey’swork in the energy sector has spanned steam turbines, aircraft gas turbines and nuclear submarine propulsion, but the corporate opportunity to shift to wind came about six years ago, just as he was making his own internal shift around the study of energy sources. “There’s only so much oil on the earth. We will run out of it someday, which presents a grave problem. I thought this is the time to do something about it,” he says. Linda Linteau is helping engineers at Vestas Wind Systems turn out the top-notch wind turbine systems that satisfy rigorous customer expectations. As a new vice president of design quality at the Danish wind turbine manufacturer, the Michigan native is blending more than two decades of experience that envelopes education, technology, the automotive sector and being a Japanese teacher of corporate quality. She works with a staff of highly-skilled engineers to ensure their sophisticated designs are transformed into wind turbines that meet customer demands “the first time around.” “As a quality leader, I represent the voice of the customer in the design environment,” says Linteau, who sees her role as getting the people in the work process to recognize how their work impacts others. “It’s very rewarding helping bring everyone to the next level of quality design. I love it,” she says. Armed with a degree in sociocultural anthropology from Michigan State University, a masters degree in technology and a strong complement of Lean, Change Management and Six Sigma prowess, Linteau brings extensive involvement with innovative automotive programs to Vestas that fuse the social and technical dimensions of quality excellence. Linteau doesn’t view her shift from the world of driving machines to wind machines as a diversion. “In both areas, my role is to create and manage a dynamic work environment that is aligned with business strategy and maximizes the integration of design quality across the enterprise. It’s all about continuous, continuous improvement,” she explains. n 8 • Institutional Investor Guide to Modern Energy • March 2009 This Special Report was prepared by the Special Projects Department of Institutional Investor.
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