USA: Grand Valley Students Visit Lake Michigan Research Buoy

A group of Grand Valley student researchers traveled seven miles off the coast of Lake Michigan July 18 to visit the Offshore Wind Assessment research buoy.

The students are helping to analyze data collected from the buoy to determine the amount of power that could be created if wind turbines were installed in Lake Michigan. The study is led by Grand Valley’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center.

“It was a great opportunity for the students to inspect the operating systems they are getting data from, and to experience real field work that scientists and their support teams engage in,” said Arn Boezaart, director of MAREC.

Boezaart said students collected the computer cards that have been capturing data points since the buoy deployed off the coast of the Muskegon Channel in April.

This season is the third and final research season of the Offshore Wind Assessment.

The students are Tyson Spoelma, an undergraduate student majoring in statistics; Aaron Clark, a graduate student majoring in biostatistics; and Divya Vemula, a graduate student majoring in computer information systems.

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Press release, July 23, 2013; Image: gvsu