Wider Horizons

Wind Turbine Technician instructor Chris DeLisle, who has taught at Lethbridge College for more than five years, isn’t afraid of heights. He – like the students he teaches in the Wind Turbine Technician program – has to be comfortable working as high as 300 feet in the air. People like Chris who love working with their hands and want to propel their careers by working in the clean energy industry can be rewarded with great jobs in this in-demand field (so in demand that many grads have job offers as soon as they have their diplomas.)

The two-semester program was the first of its kind in Canada and is unique in the province. Students gain practical experience on actual wind turbine components in the college’s new, state-of-the-art Trades, Technologies and Innovation Facility and as they scale the on-campus training tower. Students can be at the forefront of this growing industry in less than a year with Lethbridge College’s Wind Turbine Technician program. To learn more, call 403-320-3411, email tradeslc@lethbridgecollege.ca or go to lethbridgecollege.ca/wtt.

Office Intrigue

  1. Wind provides the power to move the blades, turning the generator, which creates electricity.
  2. Harnesses used to keep students safe at heights.
  3. A full-size blade from a 30-year-old wind turbine. New blades are nearly four times as long, reaching 170 feet in length and providing 16 times as much power.
  4. Instructor Gordon Bourgoin holds a pair of virtual reality glasses that give students the sense of being on top of or inside an actual wind turbine.
  1. Instructor Colin Wynder scales the scaffolding students use to sense what it’s like working in high and cramped places.
  2. Instructor Ron Papp shows off the small-scale version of a wind turbine training system (since the full-scale version is the size of a city bus).
  3. Rescue controlled descent device, used for evacuation and rescue scenarios. 
  4. “Rescue Randy,” a mannequin used to simulate rescues from 300 feet atop a wind turbine.
Wider Horizons
Story by Lisa Kozleski | Photo by Rob Olson
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