Potentials - March/April 2017 - 24

"It was interesting when I was doing my capstone, because they
will tell you, 'one day you'll have to go work on projects like this,'"
says faessler. "I'm already doing it at the center, so I'm all set.
It was hard to explain this job to other people because it wasn't
just an internship. I was a student employee, but there was an
emphasis on employee."
faessler graduated with a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering in the spring of 2016 and is currently a staff member
at the center. after being a student employee his entire undergraduate career, faessler was offered a chance to become the
lead member on the DeepCLiDar project. he was responsible
for troubleshooting any problems that would arise, as well as
coordinating project resources. for this effort, faessler received the Director's award and was offered a full-time job at
the center.
now, as an engineer I, faessler's responsibilities revolve
around the DeepCLidar buoy and the W2 facility. thanks to his
unending dedication to the center, he is currently helping to
oversee the bouy's final validation phase.

and the world. The UMaine-developed,
patent-pending, VolturnUS floating
concrete hull technology can support
wind turbines in water depths of 45
m or more, and it has the potential
to significantly reduce the cost of offshore wind.
In 2013, the center launched the
VolturnUS 1:8, the first grid-connected offshore wind turbine in the
Americas. VolturnUS 1:8 was a 65-fttall floating wind turbine prototype

opportunities for undergraduate research
in ocean Energy at UMaine
undergraduate work experience has always been emphasized
as a major component of the umaine Composites Center
programs. undergraduate research positions provide students
with an interdisciplinary, experiential learning environment as
well as an industrial laboratory that introduces students to issues
of safety, regulation, cost efficiencies, project management,
human relations, and leadership. these positions also offer direct
collaboration with faculty mentors, allow skills to develop teamwork
focusing on goals and deliverables, and supply role models and
an introduction to the wider scientific and technical community
through frequent contact with industrial partners including
small companies as well as large multinational corporations.
undergraduates also have opportunities to become full research
partners including being named authors on journal articles, named
inventors on patents, and attending national and international
conferences and meetings.
-Josh Plourde

that is 1:8th the geometric scale of a
6-MW, approximately 450-ft rotor diameter design.
As anticipated for a 1:8-scale unit,
during its 18-month deployment in
90 ft of water off the coast of Maine, the
VolturnUS 1:8 experienced numerous
storm events representative of design
environmental conditions prescribed
by the American Bureau of Shipping
Guide for Building and Classing Floating Offshore Wind Turbines, 2013.

Fig2 the umaine-developed, patent-pending volturnuS uses a concrete semisubmersible floating hull. the volturnuS 1:8 was the first grid-connected offshore wind
turbine in the americas.

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March/April 2017

IEEE PotEntIals

Building on the success of its 1:8
scale testing program, the UMaineled New Engla nd Aqua Ventus
I project won top-tier status in May
2016 from the U.S. Department of
Energy (DOE) Advanced Technology Demonstration Program for Offshore Wind. With this new funding,
the Aqua Ventus project will likely
become the first commercial-scale
floating wind project in the Americas
in 2019.
This major development represents the strongest possible endorsement of the transformational VolturnUS concrete hull technology by the
DOE. With 12 independent cost estimates from around the United States
and the world, the VolturnUS floating
hull technology has been found to
significantly reduce costs compared
to existing floating systems. The design has also received a complete
third-party engineering review.
The VolturnUS technology is the
culmination of more than ten years
of collaborative research and development conducted by the UMaineled DeepCwind Consortium. The
DeepCwind Consortium is a unique
public-private research partnership
funded by the DOE, the National
Science Foundation-Partners for
Innovation, the Maine Technology
Institute, the State of Maine, and

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Potentials - March/April 2017