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Center for Wind Energy Science, Technology and Research (WindSTAR)

Center Overview

The Center for Wind Energy Science, Technology and Research (WindSTAR) conducts wind energy research, establishes long-term partnerships within the wind industry, trains undergraduate and graduate students to perform state-of-the-art, industry-relevant research, and engages in outreach to educate K-12 students, who represent the next generation of wind industry leaders, scientists, and engineers. Its research aims to increase the production of this vital low-carbon energy source to power the energy needs in the United States and worldwide.

WindSTAR's diverse group of scientists, engineers, and practitioners plan and execute a program of research and education focused on the design, operation, and maintenance of land-based and offshore wind energy systems for electricity production. WindSTAR aims to enhance national excellence in wind energy research and development that has direct relevance to industry, and develop a cadre of diverse undergraduate and graduate students with world-class training who will support and eventually lead in the analysis, design, manufacture, and successful operation of wind energy systems.

WindSTAR supports industrial members from a variety of sectors of the wind energy industry, including:

Wind turbine manufacturers.
Manufacturers of key components of wind turbines and wind energy systems (e.g., gearboxes, control systems, energy storage, towers, foundations, offshore platforms).
Suppliers of specialized ancillary equipment and consultants (e.g., meteorology, anemometry. radar systems, nondestructive inspection, structural health monitoring).
Services (e.g., software developers and modelers, resource assessment).
Wind project developers and associated industries (e.g., marine contractors, wind farms/power producers).

Universities

University of Massachusetts, Lowell
University of Texas, Dallas

View Center Website

Center Personnel

Christopher Niezrecki
Center Director
+1 978 934 2963
Christopher_Niezrecki@uml.edu

Mario Rotea
Site Director
+1 972 883 2720
rotea@utdallas.edu

Patrick Drane
Assistant Director of Operations
+1 978 934 2996
Patrick_Drane@uml.edu

Research Focus

WindSTAR's cooperative program of research and education focuses on the following areas in wind energy:

Composites and blade manufacturing

Next-generation materials, designs, and methods for turbine systems.

Control systems for turbines and farms

Optimization of energy capture and load mitigation in wind turbines and farms; wind farm controls for wake management.

Energy storage and grid integration

Storage systems toward more reliable, efficient, dispatchable and grid-friendly wind energy systems.

Foundations and towers

Higher towers, modeling and cost optimization, improved ground/soil assessments.

Structural health monitoring, nondestructive inspection, and testing

Testing, monitoring, damage detection and prognosis, and maintenance throughout the life cycle.

Wind farm modeling and measurement campaign

Simulation capability for power production, power fluctuations, and loads; LiDAR (light detection and ranging) experimental campaigns for wind farm performance diagnostic and model validation; wind resource characterization.

Awards

1916776

Phase II IUCRC at UT Dallas: Center for Wind Energy Science, Technology and Research (WindSTAR)

The objective of this project is to establish a multi-university, Phase II I-UCRC (Industry-University Collaborative Research Center) for wind energy research, education, and outreach. The effort is based on successful operation during Phase I that was led by two university sites (UMass Lowell and the University of Texas at Dallas). Together these two universities have conducted wind energy research, established long-term partnerships within the wind industry, trained undergraduate and graduate students to perform state-of-the-art industry relevant research, and engaged in outreach to K-12 students. The Center will contribute to the nation’s research infrastructure and enhance the intellectual capacity of the renewable energy workforce. A diverse group of scientists, engineers, and practitioners will execute a program of research and education focused on the design, operation, and maintenance of land-based and offshore wind energy systems for electricity production. The Center will be aimed at: (a) enhancing national excellence in wind energy research and development that has direct relevance to industry, and (b) developing a cadre of diverse undergraduate and graduate students with world-class training who will support and eventually lead in the analysis, design, manufacture, and successful operation of wind energy systems.

The proposed Phase II I-UCRC will integrate engineering with fundamental research to support the development of low-cost and high availability wind energy systems. The partners will engage in cooperative research and education in the following key thrust areas: (a) Composites, Blade and Rotor Design & Manufacturing, (b) Structural Health Monitoring and Non-Destructive Inspection, (c) Wind Plant Modeling and Measurements, (d) Control Systems for Wind Turbines and Wind Plants, (e) Energy Storage and Grid Integration, (f) Foundation and Towers, and (g) Environmental Impacts. Industrially relevant research led by the UT Dallas site is expected to result in: (1) improved systems for controlling wind turbines and wind farms for power production, while mitigating aeromechanical loads, (2) diagnostics and prediction of wind plant performance by fusion of SCADA data and LiDAR data with CFD models at various levels of resolution and run-time efficiency, (3) experimental protocols for evaluation of aerodynamic and structural performance of blades, wind turbine components, and scaled wind plants, (4) decision support tools for grid integration of renewables, (5) novel rotor technologies for offshore wind energy, (6) new systems to mitigate wildlife impacts, and (7) evaluation of materials and construction methods for blades and towers. Experimental facilities available for this research include a highly instrumented boundary layer and subsonic wind tunnel with a large test section designed for wind energy and wind engineering applications.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. Read More >

1916715

Phase II IUCRC at University of Massachusetts Lowell: Center for Wind Energy Science, Technology and Research (WindSTAR)

The objective of this project is to establish a multi-university, Phase II I-UCRC for wind energy research, education, and outreach. The effort is based on the successful operation during Phase I that was led by two university sites (UMass Lowell and the University of Texas at Dallas). Together these two universities have conducted wind energy research, established long-term partnerships within the wind industry, trained undergraduate and graduate students to perform state-of-the-art industry relevant research, and engaged in outreach to K-12 students. The Center will contribute to the nation’s research infrastructure and enhance the intellectual capacity of the renewable energy workforce. A diverse group of scientists, engineers, and practitioners will execute a program of research and education focused on the design, operation, and maintenance of land-based and offshore wind energy systems for electricity production. The Center will be aimed at: (a) enhancing national excellence in wind energy research and development that has direct relevance to industry, and (b) developing a cadre of diverse undergraduate and graduate students with world-class training who will support and eventually lead in the analysis, design, manufacture, and successful operation of wind energy systems.

The proposed Phase II I-UCRC will integrate engineering with fundamental research to support the development of low-cost energy and high availability wind energy systems. The partners will engage in cooperative research and education in the following key thrust areas: (a) Composites Blade and Rotor Design & Manufacturing, (b) Structural Health Monitoring and Non-Destructive Inspection, (c) Wind Plant Modeling and Measurements, (d) Control Systems Wind Turbines and Wind Plants, (e) Energy Storage and Grid Integration, (f) Foundation and Towers, and (g) Environmental Impacts. Examples of industrially relevant research led by the UML site are expected to result in: (1) a better understanding of how wind turbine blade acoustic transmission loss is affected by structural damage and environmental operating conditions; (2) identification of the correlation between composites resin degree of cure at the microscale and blade stiffness/strength at the macroscale; and (3) the improvement of soil-foundation models to better understand how wind turbine motion is directly correlated to degradation of foundations. Other topics will serve as the basis for conducting fundamental research including: offshore wind energy systems, electrical grid integration, energy storage, manufacturing of larger blades/towers, advancements in material technologies, understanding how wind turbines impact wildlife, and improving coupled turbine-turbine performance.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. Read More >

Member Organizations

IUCRC affiliated member organizations are displayed as submitted by the Center. Non-federal organizations are not selected, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the Center author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation.