A HAD TO BE THERE EARTH DAY EXPERIENCE!

Earth Day Breezes into Detroit Metro Airport

PUBLICATION DATE: 22 APRIL 2010

AUTHOR: WAYNE COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY

TAGGED WITH: DETROIT METROPOLITAN AIRPORT (DTW), WAYNE COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY, WCAA

The first of six Windspire Energy wind turbines to be installed at Detroit Metro Airport

Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA) marked today’s celebration of Earth Day 2010 with the debut of its recent $75,000 investment in exploring the feasibility of putting Detroit Metro Airport’s (DTW) wind to work supplementing the Airport’s power supply.

Members of the media joined Airport Authority staff and partners today to view several of the six wind turbines being installed this week at DTW and to discuss the testing planned for the new technology at the Airport over the coming months. These state-of-the-art turbines, manufactured entirely in Michigan for Windspire Energy, represent the latest technology available to harness wind energy at lower wind speeds (4.5-5 mph). Windspire’s unique design is also ideal for the airport environment, where airspace is heavily regulated and traditional wind turbines are more difficult to install and operate.

Following installation of the turbines this week, WCAA and local Windspire distributor Southern Exposure Renewable Energy Co. will begin an intensive beta-testing process during which the performance of this new technology will be measured and evaluated to determine the practicality of further implementing it both at DTW and in other, similar environments worldwide.

The new turbines represent just the latest investment in the Airport Authority’s ongoing effort to explore and implement sustainable operational practices–including the use of alternative energy sources to reduce our environmental impact and offset the airport’s carbon footprint. For eight of the past nine snow seasons, DTW has been the leader in aircraft de-icing fluid recycling among airports worldwide. Recently, the Airport Authority and its logistics contractor launched a new program to transform used cooking oil from airport concessions into biofuels to power airport service vehicles. DTW has also spent nearly $1.15 million on more than 5,000 new, LED fixtures for its taxiway edge lights, which save the Authority thousands of dollars in energy costs per year compared to the incandescent fixtures they replaced.

The Authority’s Environmental and Infrastructure groups are currently evaluating a number of additional environmental initiatives including installation cutting-edge technologies involving solar/photovoltaic energy, green roofs and gray-water recycling.

Windspire News!

Gov. Jennifer Granholm addresses the Michigan Wind Energy Conference April 21 Posted: Wednesday, 21 April 2010 10:43AM Granholm Touts Offshore Wind Power, Turbine Manufacturing By Matt Roush

Well over 300 people packed the Michgian Wind Energy Conference Tuesday and Wednesday at Detroit's Cobo Center to hear keynotes and panel discussion on the growth of clean, renewable wind power in the state. Gov. Jennifer Granholm was the Wednesday keynoter, saying Michigan wants to lead the wind industry in manufacturing of wind turbine hubs and blades -- not just in generating electricity from Great Lakes breezes though that's important too. "Michigan is going to be the place that solves the problems," Granholm said. "That's what we have done in the past for the auto industry and others, and it's what we're going to do for the clean energy industry as well ... We are positioned to make this happen. Announcements are coming on a daily basis now. We know that offshore wind requires the largest of turbines, and we intend to make those turbines here in Michigan and ship them elsewhere." Granholm mentioned an Eaton Rapids company, Dowding, now dooing business as Astraeus Energy, that has figured out a way to manufacture a complete wind turbine hub in four hours, vs. more than 20 hours for the current industry standard. She mentioned several other companies that have received federal stimulus grants to retool automotive production for renewable energy use. And she said Dow Chemical Co. is working with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to make low-cost carbon fiber for wind turbine blades. Granholm also mentioned Michigan's huge untapped offshore wind resources, with favored sites in southwest Michigan off Berrien County, in the Saginaw Bay area and in southern Lake Huron, and in northern Lake Michigan off the southern coast of the Upper Peninsula. She said care would be taken to avoid conflict with marine wildlife, tourism and shipping. Granholm also said more Michigan manufacturers would soon be eligible for federal stimulus grants to retool for renewables production. "Despite the challenges we have been through as a state, and you can't wave a magic wand and have it happen overnight, but we have laid the foundation for a strong economy" in renewables, Granholm said. The Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association, Michigan's largest nonprofit renewable energy association, sponsored the two-day event. They gave Granholm a renewable energy leadership award that they said would be named after Granholm in the years going forward. GLREA president Howard Edelson said Michigan is now home to more than 100 companies in the wind energy sector, and that number continues to grow. Edelson praised Granholm for helping to attract more than $2 billion in solar energy investment in the state since 2008 and 12,500 solar energy jobs. He also said a Granholm executive order has reduced state government energy use 23 percent, saving $60 million. More about the state's renewables efforts at www.Michigan.gov/energyoffice. Following Granholm's speech, Detroit Edison president Steven Kurmas spoke on the utility's renewable energy efforts, including more wind power to comply with a state mandate of 10 percent renewables by 2015. Kurman initially misspoke and said the standard required 15 percent renewables, and then corrected himself and joked thathe "wouldn't mind" seeing that mandate boosted to 15 percent, drawing laughs and a smattering of applause -- as well as a joke from GLREA officials that there would soon be a Google alert on the news. Later, Orjiakor Isiogu, chairman of the Michigan Public Service Commission, spoke of the state's manufacturing expertise as a key to growth in renewables. He spoke of the "Windspire experience," the decision of Nevada-based Mariah Power to begin building its Windspire vertical-axis wind turbines at the Manistee plant of Sterling Heights-based MasTech. "We know how to build things and build them well," Isiogu said. "We are seeing the beginnings of a wind revolution here in Michgian. It's not just large wind farms. Small wind is increasingly important in our Great Lakes state."

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Another Variation on Our Theme!

Home windmills spin debate

Cities are imposing restrictions, bans

By BILL LAITNER

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Most talk on windmills in Michigan is about the giant ones going up on farms and off shore.

But small wind turbines de signed for urban homes, small businesses and schools — which cost $15,000 to $30,000 — are generating debate in some Detroit suburbs.

Facing requests from homeowners, Royal Oak enact ed a zoning ordinance last year to regulate home-based wind turbines, with Birmingham and Novi soon to do so.

“We’ve had some people ve ry eager to see this come, and a small number want them on their houses” to feed electrici ty into their homes, Birming ham Planning Board chairman Robin Boyle said.

This week, the board voted 7-0 to ban wind turbines in res idential areas, restricting them to commercial districts  and to areas of mixed-use zon ing where condos coexist with shops. The ban could get final approval April 26 by the City Commission.

Among the concerns? The injury risk of turbines spinning near people, the threat of tow ers being residential eyesores and the quality-of-life fear of flicker — the distraction of sunlight flashing off moving blades, like a strobe light that belongs in a nightclub.

“If technology changes,  we’ll revisit this and see wheth er they can be more compati ble with residential zoning,” said Boyle, who is also chair man of urban studies and plan ning at Wayne State Universi ty.

Royal Oak’s ordinance, passed last year, is less restric tive, allowing wind turbines at twice the maximum permitted height for homes — about 60 feet — and up to 100 feet in oth er zoning districts, city plan ner Doug Hedges said. No resi dents have applied for a per mit, Hedges said.

Novi’s new ordinance might get final approval in May, Com munity Relations Director Sheryl Walsh said.

“If this goes through, it does allow for wind turbines in resi dential areas,” but the City Council likely will impose lim its, Walsh said.

A single, $20,000 wind tur bine could power a small home, “but you need an average wind all the time of at least 14 m.p.h.,” which in Michigan puts ideal sites at high eleva tions or along lake shores, said  Donna Napolitano, co-owner of Mechanical Energy Systems in Canton.

Turbines in southeast Michigan can work in tandem with solar power to provide much of a home’s electricity, Napolitano said.

Schools are exempt from most local zoning, and some have installed turbines for en ergy  classes.

A 60-foot tower with a sin gle spinning blade was in stalled in 2001 at Seaholm High School in Birmingham. And a 30-foot Windspire — made in Manistee — is to have a ribbon cutting Tuesday at the Bir mingham Covington School in Bloomfield Hills, school offi cials said.

Oakland Schools Technical Campus in Clarkston is to have a $35,000 system of wind and solar installed in May, accord ing to Oak Electric contractors in Waterford.

Also getting turbines, as soon as this fall, are Cass Tech High School in Detroit, the Al len Park school district and Woodhaven-Brownstown pub lic schools, paid for by grants from a statewide surcharge on utility bills, said Emile Lauzza na, project director of Energy Works Michigan.

Lauzzana is to speak Wednesday at the Michigan Wind Energy Conference at Cobo Center in Detroit.  

Conference was informative on ALL THINGS GREEN!

A presentation at Wednesday's All Things Green event in Warren.

Macomb Chamber Hosts Energy Summit By Matt Roush

The Macomb County Chamber hosted well over 100 people and a dozen exhibitors Wednesday at an "All Things Green" conference. The event featured success stories on green technologies, case studies, educational opportunities, technological sessions, opportunities for entrepreneurship, funding opportunities and more. GLITR Editor Matt Roush hosted a legislative panel featuring State Sen. Dennis Olshove, State Reps. Harold Haugh and Lesia Liss and Macomb County Commissioner Toni Moceri. They said the state's partisan logjam remains a barrier to further renewable energy development, but freshman Reps. Haugh and Liss expressed optimism that the logjam may be breaking. Olshove also said the state must be careful to use only proven technologies in planning its energy future. Case studies came from electric-hybrid powertrain developer ALTe LLC, LaFontaine Automotive Group, Meadowlark Builders, the Whitmore Lake schools and more. Officials of the Engineering Society of Detroit also spoke on their work identifying opportunities in the green (renewables) and blue (water-based) economies in Michigan. Justin Sutton of the Interstate Traveler LLC also presented his far-reaching proposal to use interstate highway rights-of-way for a solar-powered, hydrogen-burning train system, and Justin Palm of Macomb Township-based LumaSmart presented his company's LED lighting.

Imitation is the Sincerest form of Flattery!

Posted: Monday, 15 February 2010 3:54PM New Web Site Aims To Help Detroit Get Greener

Two entrepreneurs with significant experience in the energy industry have launched a new Web site they aim to make the headquarters for all things green in the Detroit area. GreeningDetroit.com has been up only a month or so, said John Carlos Carvajal, one of the partners. And it's still looking for green businesses who want to become part of its dual mission of advertising and education. The Web site features three main sections -- commercial and industrial buildings, green homes and "metro communities -- green news and more." The commercial and industrial buildings section aims to attract power plant engineers, facilities engineers, property managers, building owners and investors. It features cutaway illustrations of both a commercial and an industrial building, with information on how energy efficiency can be improved through everything from roofs to heating systems to lighting. Contractors advertise in the particular sections of their expertise. Similarly, the green homes section aims to attract homeowners and consumers simply interested in living a greener lifestyle. It also features a cutaway illustration of a home -- with energy saving tips for every room in the house, along with a directory of product and service providers who can help. "We're looking for more vendors who want to get on board," Carvajal said Monday. Carvajal’s partner in the venture is :Paul Ozment, a veteran power plant engineer. The site also has an academic and educational mission. Part of the green news section is devoted to a listing of Michigan universities' green education and training programs. There's also a section for green student organizations. Carvajal said he also wants to offer similar space to K-12 school districts, cities, counties and municipal organizations to display their green programs on the site. Listings for these nonprofits are free. Carvajal is also boosting the Web site through efforts in the Birmingham school district, which his children attend. He's one of the leaders in an effort to build a small vertical-axis wind turbine -- made in Manistee by Mariah Power -- to Covington School. Construction on the wind turbine is scheduled to begin this week. More at www.greeningdetroit.com.

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ADOBE Systems (20 Windspire Solution)

A group of 20 newly installed wind turbines rest on the rooftop of Adobe System's downtown campus in San Jose. The turbines, set to be fully operational by the end of this month, will help reduce the company's power usage and help save money in the near future.

Adobe Systems goes for wind power

David R. Baker, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, January 15, 2010

   

The new wind turbines spinning slowly at Adobe Systems' headquarters in San Jose could be mistaken for sculpture. In fact, they already have been.

Tall, slender cylinders that hold more air than metal, they look nothing like the giant rotors turning above the Altamont Pass. But they generate power all the same.

"The other day I was standing here, and one of the employees was saying, 'Don't you think we've overdone it with the art?' " said Randy Knox, Adobe's senior director of global workplace solutions. "I told him it's not just art."

At a time when companies throughout California are bolting solar panels to their roofs, softwaremaker Adobe has taken a different approach to renewable power, installing 20 small wind turbines at its headquarters.

Sales of small-scale wind systems have grown rapidly in recent years. So far, they remain niche products, garnering just a fraction of the attention lavished on rooftop solar.

And yet, small wind turbines may be better suited to some locations.

Adobe's headquarters, for example, consists of three office towers whose roofs are too small for a sizable solar system. But the towers funnel wind into a courtyard where Adobe employees play basketball and bocce. Even on days when the air seems still elsewhere in downtown San Jose, the courtyard has a breeze.

"We knew we'd created a wind tunnel here," Knox said on a recent gray morning, as he watched the wind turbines spin silently along the edge of the courtyard. "In an urban environment, there's a lot of wind tunnels, even at ground level."

Adobe's turbines come from Mariah Power, a startup based in Reno. Called Windspires by Mariah, each one stands 30 feet high, with thin aluminum vanes turning around a vertical axis. Each Windspire can generate a maximum of 1.2 kilowatts of electricity. For comparison, a typical home solar array can generate up to 3 kilowatts in full, direct sunlight.

Adobe won't reveal how much it spent on the Windspires, but Knox said the total price was a little lower than a solar system of comparable output. Together, the 20 Windspires will produce less than 2 percent of the power used at Adobe's headquarters.

That low percentage is unusual. Most of the people buying small wind turbines use them for houses or farms, where they can supply a bigger proportion of the overall power needed.

"The heart of the market is homeowners, farmers and small businesses - people looking to reduce their electricity bills and help the environment in a tangible way," said Ron Stimmel, small systems manager for the American Wind Energy Association. "It's really a neat feeling of being able to supply your own needs and not have to rely on a utility."

Sales of small turbines - those with a capacity of 100 kilowatts or less - rose 78 percent in 2008 to hit $77 million, Stimmel said. Unlike the Windspire, most of the small turbines sold in the United States are rotors with horizontal axes - essentially, miniature versions of the turbines found in big wind farms.

Small-wind sales may get a boost from a little-noticed element of President Obama's stimulus package. The federal government now gives people who buy small turbines a 30 percent tax credit on the project's cost. In addition, the California Energy Commission offers small-wind buyers a rebate based on the project's electrical output.

Small turbines do have limitations. They typically need at least a little open space around them to work at peak efficiency. That makes them better suited to rural and suburban areas than dense city neighborhoods, Stimmel said, although some San Francisco homeowners have experimented with them anyway. Mariah Power, for example, recommends that homeowners have at least a half-acre of land available.

Anyone interested in buying a wind turbine for their home or business must study the local wind speed and direction carefully. In places with light breezes, the turbines may not work at all.

"It's great if you want to put a Windspire up, but if you don't have wind, you're not going to generate energy," said Amy Berry, marketing director for Mariah Power. "You don't want to put the Windspire behind any kind of obstacle, like a neighbor's house."

E-mail David R. Baker at dbaker@sfchronicle.com.

Tulsa Oklahoma Goes Green! (Windspire Installation)

Wind turbine unveiled at TPS HelmZar Challenge Course

by: SHANNON MUCHMORE World Staff Writer
Thursday, November 05, 2009


With a nod to the people who will be charged with determining America’s future in energy, city and education officials unveiled a wind turbine on Tulsa Public Schools property Thursday afternoon.

A crowd of students, including the winners of an essay contest about alternative energy, gathered at the TPS HelmZar Challenge Course and Facility to watch the new turbine in action.

“You understand the importance of alternative energy in this community,” Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor told the students.

The 30-foot-tall wind turbine will have a 10 amp output, enough to power the lights in the classroom at the facility. It is a donation from Global NES-Oklahoma, a renewable energy consulting firm.

The company also provided kits for students to build alternative energy experiments. Lisa Randolph, CEO of NES affiliate Kaizen Renewable Energy, said it will be up to today’s middle schoolers to teach the world about energy.

“We need to find an alternative, and you guys are going to be the pioneers of that,” she said. Hamilton Middle School student Adriana Rodriguez, who won the essay contest, said children do pay attention to tough problems in the world, including economic trouble and the need for alternative energy.

People are “wasting the Earth,” she said.

“That’s why we have to stand up and do something about it before it’s too late,” she said. Jana Rowlands, science director for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, attended the ceremony on behalf of State Superintendent Sandy Garrett.

Wind energy will be a big part of Oklahoma’s future, and the state needs to educate more scientists who can continue its work, she said.

“I want you to remember: Science is fun,” Rowlands said. “Science is exciting.”

Meeting: MMSTC (New Inverter Install) Wednesday, February 3, 2010 10:00AM

Approaching Students as Thinkers; Cultivating the Intellect… Enoch Hale

There is no more important goal in schooling than cultivating the intellect. But we can’t achieve this goal unless we place intellectual development at the heart of instruction. To do this, we must approach our students as thinkers, as persons capable of figuring things out for themselves, as persons with their own thoughts, emotions, and desires, as persons with minds of their own. But thinking is often ignored in schooling (and indeed in society). Historically critical thinking has been treated in schooling as another add-on, as something interesting we combine with other things we do. But when we understand what it takes to cultivate the intellect we bring the concepts and principles of critical thinking into everything we do in the classroom. Critical thinking becomes the centerpiece of instruction. This is true because it is through critical thinking that we make explicit the intellectual tools students need to live successfully and reasonably, to grapple with the complex problems they will inevitably face, to think their way through content of any kind. But we can’t foster critical thinking if we don’t understand it ourselves. Realizing that we cannot deal with all of the theory of critical thinking in one weekend, this workshop will emphasize some of the foundations of critical thinking. We focus on initial internalization of these foundations, coupled with application to classroom structures, lessons and strategies. Participants will develop some modest initial plans for redesigning instruction with critical thinking at its foundation, and most importantly they will aquire a plan for continuing their own development as thinkers and teachers.


More: http://www.criticalthinking.org/conference/Spring2010_index.cfm

Mike Flanagan on RTTT Application (The Bottom Line)

Variation on a Theme!

News

Turbine offers educational opportunity

Sunday, January 24, 2010

By MIKE SCOTT
Special to The Oakland Press

Milford High School soon will be able to use a 50-foot tall wind turbine to help offset some of its electrical costs. More importantly, district officials said the turbine also will offer some educational rewards.

The vertical turbine was donated by ENERGYCHEK President Dave Hollens, who has two children attending school in the Huron Valley School District and had a daughter graduate from Milford High School last summer. The turbine is onsite at Milford High School, but the district must receive approval from the state before it is connected, Hollens said.

The turbine will have Wi-Fi capabilities, which would allow individuals to go online and see how it is working once it goes live, Hollens said.

ENERGYCHEK is a Milford-based full-service energy reduction consultant for commercial clients and renewable energy and design consultant for both residential and commercial clients.

Hollens’ connection not just to the Huron Valley School District, but education in general, is extensive. His mother was a longtime teacher in the Lake Orion School District.

“I guess you can say I have a little bit of teaching in my blood,” Hollens said. “We think that Milford High School can see if the energy production generated from the wind turbine can make a classroom sustainable, so there are some great learning opportunities here.”

The real value of this onsite turbine will be for educational purposes, said Milford High School Principal Mike Krystiniak.

“One turbine isn’t really enough to make a big impact on our utility bills, but it will feed back into our grid,” Krystiniak said. “We really see some significant educational benefits from this though.”

One Milford High School class that may see a significant benefit is the advanced placement environmental science course, one that covers topics relating to alternative energy sources, Krystiniak said. Other advanced placement courses, such as mechanical and electrical physics and the general physics classes, also will benefit from the existence of the turbine.

“We will have more than 300 students be able to study the effects of this turbine on our school and their classroom, and having it onsite and available (to view online) will only make it easier for them to envision the benefits,” Krystiniak said.

“They can understand how it works and crunch numbers to measure the impact of electricity and energy. There will be level of hands-on experience because they can monitor the turbine.”

The Milford High principal credited Hollens with “extraordinary patience” as the district has gone through getting county, township and school board approval to use the turbine onsite. He said Hollens also donated a significant number of resource books covering such topics as environmentally sustainable and green energy to the high school’s library.

“There are a lot of hoops we have had to go through to get approval for this turbine to be installed and we hope we are close,” Krystiniak said.

Hollens will be involved with the future assembly of the wind turbine once the state approves the installation, a step he largely considers to be a formality.

“The students won’t be involved in the installation, but once we get it in there it’s going to be their baby,” Hollens said.

Race to the Top (Closer)

Michigan shirks 

Efforts to derail application for federal school stimulus cash reflect the state’s dysfunction

Michigan’s dysfunction is perfectly embodied in the ridiculous struggle to put together an application for $400 million in fed eral education funds — its stubborn refusal to embrace reform as a path out of its misery, its fealty to labor at the expense of sound policy, and its irrational fear of change.

The Race to the Top application, due Tues day, should have been signed, sealed and on its way to delivery to the White House by now. The program is President Barack Obama’s effort to improve academic performance, largely by improving the quality of classroom instruction.

To be eligible, Michigan had to agree to a series of measures to better assess the job performance of teachers, hold them account able for how well students learn and provide innovative alternatives to traditional public schooling.

As you can imagine, the Michigan Education Associ ation, the state’s largest teacher and school employee union, wanted no part of these reforms.

Even with the support of Gov. Jennifer Granholm and key legislative leaders, the Race to the Top bill faced an uphill fight in the Legislature before a watered-down version was finally adopted the weekend before Christmas.

Having lost in Lansing, MEA President Iris Salters and her staff took the fight to local districts, urging school boards and local unions not to sign on to the application. Eight Oakland County districts dropped out of the program, saying the benefits weren’t worth subjecting teachers to the more rigorous accountability.

What those districts ignore is that half the federal money will go to statewide programs, freeing up cash in the general School Aid Fund and mitigating the per-pupil cuts need ed to balance the state budget. All districts will benefit.

Now there are even defections on the State Board of Education, led by board President Kathleen Straus, the MEA’s de facto repre sentative on that body. If state Superintendent of Public Instruc tion Mike Flanagan is able to get a competitive package in the mail on Tuesday, it will be a miracle.

Michigan is again shooting itself in the foot. The reforms passed by the Legislature are in place and will be put into effect even if the Race to the Top funds don’t come.

Additional changes tied to Race to the Top will likely be included in the rewrite of the federal No Child Left Behind law, particularly now that the American Federation of Teachers has signed off on the reforms.

The change is coming. Michigan might as well get the money.

Everyone should be mindful of the steep budget cliff the state faces in 2011, when the federal stimulus dollars run out. School dis tricts face cutting an additional $400 to $500 per pupil because of declining state aid pay ments.

It’s insane not to aggressively pursue the aptly named Race to the Top dollars. This is a race — a race tomake education in this coun try the best in the world. Michigan, a state with such a high level of need, should be sprinting at the head of the pack instead of shirking along at the rear.

Hopefully, all parties with a stake in this application will wake up Monday morning and do whatever it takes to give Flanagan the makings of a great application.


Michigan 

Race for more stimulus cash on to next step

Kathleen Straus, presi dent of the State Board of Education, signed on Saturday Michigan’s application to receive up to $400 million in additional federal stimulus funds.

Her sig nature put the final stamp on the state’s quest to be selected by the U.S. Department of Education to receive the money through Race to the Top, a program that will award, on a compet itive basis, $4.35 billion to states to support school reform. Straus’ signature, along with those of Gov.

Jennifer Granholm and state schools Superin tendent Mike Flanagan, was required on the ap plication.

The deadline to submit the application is Tues day. Straus had declined to sign the application, saying she wanted time to read the full application, which details Michigan’s plans for spending the money. Only a summary of the plan was available at the time. Straus re ceived the application Friday.

PHASE II: ECOTEK (DEPSA) 2010

Photos by WILLIAM ARCHIE/Detroit Free Press

Mosheh Williams, 13, of Detroit inspects freshwater slime algae at the Eco Tek lab near Wayne State Univer sity in Detroit. Keith Young, who founded the Eco Tek program for 100 metro Detroit students, watches.


LESSONS IN POSSIBILITY 

BMW to expand labs to turn metro Detroit kids into scientists

By TAMMY STABLES BATTAGLIA

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER 

As the North American In ternational Auto Show opens for the international automo tive news media today, a single gathering could change the lives of hundreds of metro Detroit schoolchildren.

That’s where BMW is to an nounce a grant to expand a successful science program from 100 to 1,000 students.

The $165,000 grant by the German automaker, including donations by metro Detroit’s Eitel Dahm Motor Group and Erhard BMW, is designed to ex pand the Eco Tek program to give students — especially in Detroit — a leap in science, en gineering and research.

Dahm Motor Group owner Eitel Dahm said he went through a similar youth pro gram as a teen in Germany before he immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s and built the multi million- dollar dealership.

“It (the program) opens the door for kids — inner-city kids or any kids — to live the American dream, as long as they’re dedicated, follow through and are ambitious,” he said.

The program now allows about 100 students hand-picked for their drive and academic skills to spend time exploring in the Eco Tek lab, near Wayne State University.

Mosheh Williams, 13, an eighth-grader at Detroit Edison Public School Academy, a charter school in Detroit, spends Sunday afternoons testing the viscosity and combustion of different biofuels he creates from things like soybeans and grape seed oil.

Through the program, he visited the United Nations in New York, tested water in South Africa and is to study sharks in Florida in April.

“It’s worth it because of the experience and how it’s helped me progress in my schoolwork, and how it’s helped me become a bigger person thinking-wise,” he said.

The program’s founder, Keith Young, said BMW’s dona tion will help him recreate the Eco Tek lab at Spain Middle School on Detroit’s west side, at University Prep Science and Math School and at Edison Academy.

“I look at it from a perspective, either you’re going to lead Detroit or leave Detroit,” Young said. “Either one you choose, you need to have these skills.” 

| CONTACT TAMMY STABLES BATTAGLIA: 313-223-4456 OR TBATTAGLIA@FREEPRESS .COM 

“IT’ S WORTH IT BECAUSE OF THE EXPERIENCE AND HOW IT’ S HELPED ME PROGRESS IN MY SCHOOLWORK.” 

MOSHEH WILLIAMS, 13, an eighth grader at Detroit Edison Public School Academy. Through the Eco Tek program, he has tested water in South Africa.

PHASE II: MISSING in the EcoExperience Action 2010!

Michigan Tech To Show Off New Hybrid, EV Degree At NAIAS

Michigan Technological University is one of only two universities invited to exhibit at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week and next. As part of the EcoXperience Showcase on the lower level of Cobo Center, Michigan Tech will be unveiling a pioneering new graduate program for professional automotive engineers, one that will prepare them to work on the hybrid and electric vehicles of the future. This curriculum development is supported by a three-year, $3 million grant from the Department of Energy under the Transportation Electrification Program.  The Michigan Tech exhibit is part of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.'s EcoXperience exhibit. EcoXperience will feature a quarter-mile indoor ride-and-drive test track surrounded by landscaped and forested terrain.  MEDC is expecting at least 50,000 of the Auto Show’s 650,000 visitors to see EcoXperience. “We were invited because we are leading the way in professional education in hybrid electric vehicles and battery technologies,” said Carl L. Anderson, associate dean for research and graduate programs in Michigan Tech’s College of Engineering. Anderson and Michigan Tech engineering faculty Jeff Naber and Wayne Weaver are heading the development of the new graduate curriculum. Representatives from Michigan Tech’s College of Engineering and Michigan Tech alumni who work at General Motors will staff the exhibit to answer questions about the University’s new professional Master of Engineering curriculum. The pioneering professional master’s curriculum is being developed in partnership with AVL and GM. For the past two semesters, Naber and colleagues have collaborated with the Engineering Society of Detroit, the Michigan Academy for Green Mobility and Michigan Tech’s industry partners to offer a pilot course for automotive engineers in the Detroit area. This course, including distance instruction and hands-on labs, attracted 100 graduate students each time it was taught. A fully outfitted mobile lab for the new curriculum is being built at Michigan Tech’s Keweenaw Research Center, and the University’s Husky Game Development Enterprise is developing computer software for student simulations in the lab.   The mobile lab will also be used in outreach programs, including the United States Department of Education’s GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) at Michigan Tech and the University’s Youth Programs, which bring hands-on engineering and science experiences to more than 1,000 middle and high-school students each year. Youth Programs and Admissions representatives will be at the Michigan Tech booth on Automotive Education day, which is Jan. 20. A press preview is scheduled for Jan. 11-12, followed by an industry preview Jan. 13-14. The Auto Show will open to the public at 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 16 and close at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24. Michigan Technological University (mtu.edu) is a leading public research university developing new technologies and preparing students to create the future for a prosperous and sustainable world. Michigan Tech offers more than 130 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in engineering; forest resources; computing; technology; business; economics; natural, physical and environmental sciences; arts; humanities; and social sciences.

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TROUBLED WATERS: NOT SO FAST THERE, Partner! (And do these folks NOT read the newspapers, watch the news, etc?)

Districts shun federal money 

Leaders say Race to the Top goal unclear

By LORI HIGGINS

FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER 

Some metro-area school leaders are refusing to sign agreements that would assure they could share in up to $400 million in federal stimulus funds — money that will be awarded to states with innovative plans to reform schools.

It is unclear whether the lack of signatures will affect the state’s application for the grant from the Race to the Top program. Federal officials have said it is imperative tohave support from local dis tricts — school boards, admin istrators and union officials. But a consistent concern school leaders raise is the lack of clarity in what Michigan’s plan will include. Districts had to submit the agreements by the close of business Friday, before the Michigan Depart ment of Education posted a fi nal summary of its plan..

And for many school officials opting not to sign, the uncertainty isn’t worth the little money they would receive. Birmingham Public Schools, for instance, stood to receive only $60,000. The amount depends on how many low-income students a district educates.

“They didn’t feel it would be responsible to sign something that lacked clarity. It committed us to adopt a plan that isn’t yet finalized,” said district spokeswoman Marcia Wilkinson.

School boards in Bloomfield Hills, Eastpointe, Lake Orion, Novi, Richmond, South Lyon and Walled Lake also opted not to sign. The board in Berkley took no action.

Jan Ellis, spokeswoman for the education department, said the refusal to sign “is troubling” at a time when “education is paramount and every penny counts.”

In Bloomfield Hills Schools, where the Board of Education decided Thursday night not to sign the agreement, there were broader issues than the lack of clarity. In a letter sent to parents and staff, Superintendent Steven Gaynor said he’s concerned that the Race to the Top grant ties teacher evaluations to student achievement.

Gaynor said there is no evidence that linking the two is effective, and he said he’s concerned that teachers fearful for their jobs will be forced to teach to the state exams “to the exclusion of all other worth while instruction now going on in Bloomfield Hills Schools.”

But Ellis responded that “it no longer matters” now that the governor has signed legislation that requires districts to use student achievement growth to evaluate teachers.

“It’s now state law,” she said.