Morgan Larson
You see them spinning or sitting idle across miles of land in our surrounding area. What are they? Wind turbines. The Wind Energy & Turbine Technician Program is one of many programs offered at Iowa Lakes. Iowa Lakes students go through the program to gain access to steady new careers in wind energy and turbine technology.
Nathaniel Crissinger, a former Wind Energy & Turbine Technician student enrolled in the program back in 2016 to roughly 2018. Nathaniel is thriving with the knowledge he’s obtained from Iowa Lakes Community College (ILCC), although he has not yet completed the program.
As an incoming freshman in 2016/2017, he was put on the spot deciding his program and his potential career path. Just like every other freshman at ILCC, the question was to why Nathaniel chose this program.
“I enjoy knowing that I’m part of something big.”
Although Crissinger has not yet finished his degree in the program, he is currently employed with a company called Fieldcore. He shared how he went about finding this company and how they found him in May of 2018. The link between them being ILCC.
“I applied for a few places but wasn’t getting very far, so I got with Melissa Lutat… She got in contact with someone within the company and got the job the next day.”
Fieldcore was recommended by Melissa Lutat, who works for ILCC.
Crissingers’ abilities from the program pose vital assets to Fieldcore and what he does for the company. It takes a lot of courage and no fear of heights to do what he does for Fieldcore.
“I’m an installation technician for new wind turbine projects.”
Crissinger has been to various state locations for Fieldcore. From Texas to West Virginia, North Dakota and now in Pierre, South Dakota. He is residing in Pierre to finish up a current project the company has been working on for several month now. He hopes to be done with this site and project/s very soon.
The day Crissinger walked into the Wind Energy & Turbine Technician Program,he knew this is what he intends to do with his work life. Nathaniel foresees himself still with this industry in the next 10 years. He hopes to climb the turbine ladder as high as he can in the wind industry.
“Some kind of management position doing the same process I’m doing now.”
COVID-19 has affected many things in our everyday lives. The Wind Energy & Turbine Technician program is no exception from the continual COVID-19 affects. Crissinger’s employment status has not seen any big impacts from COVID-19. As of 2017, the program has been doing well up until the impacts of COVID-19. There has been a decrease in student enrollments, but only by a fraction. Michael Gengler, the program’s coordinator, believes program enrollments will eventually change for the better.
“We expect that will rectify itself once the COVID-19 crisis is over.” said Gengler.
Located east of the main Estherville campus.
From the time Crissinger was enrolled to now, Gengler indicated the small changes that have happened to the program. Although, these changes have not been significant enough to impact the overall program criteria.
Gengler commented, “We have made some minor course changes since 2017 and for the most part the program remains much the same.”
Although the outcome of COVID-19 is unknown, we start to question how the program will attract incoming high schoolers to choose this program for their career choices. There could be an increase or decrease of students taking this program than in previous years. Gengler says that most of the students who choose the program are students who are right out of high school.
“Unfortunately, over the years, we’ve seen a downward trend in enrollment. Part of the reason for this is our addition of the Electrical, HVAC, and Engineering programs. The other part is a lack of interest in the technical fields amongst high school aged students.”
Some students who graduate from the program do not always pursue a career in their chosen field. Those in the Wind Energy and Turbine Technician program seem to stick with it.
“It’s been my experience that if a student completes their degree, they tend to work in either wind or a related technical field-like industrial maintenance.” said Gengler.
As 2020 continues, so does Crissinger and the Wind Energy & Turbine Technical Program at ILCC with Gengler. Crissinger hopes he can make the time to come finish the program and obtain his degree. For the Wind Energy &Turbine Technical Program, Gengler hopes that the program will be able to bounce back from the affects COVID-19 has done.
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