U.S. Wind Energy Industry Honors Forrest (Woody) Stoddard with Lifetime Achievement Award
Visionary Engineer, Teacher Pioneered Wind Turbine Design, Continues to Mentor Many in Industry
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) today awarded its annual Wind Energy Lifetime Achievement Award to Forrest (Woody) Stoddard, a visionary wind energy leader, teacher, and pioneer. This award is presented in recognition of years of outstanding industry leadership and support.
“The U.S. wind energy industry is proud to present this award to a passionate, inspiring expert to whom we owe so much: Woody Stoddard,” said AWEA Executive Randall Swisher. “In addition to his many engineering achievements, Woody nurtured talent and instilled enthusiasm for wind energy technology in students and colleagues alike.”
Dr. Stoddard was the lead developer of the 25kW Windfurnace at the University of Massachusetts in the mid 1970s. It was the largest operating wind turbine at the time. During the project Stoddard became the mentor of many engineers who graduated from the UMass renewable energy program and who eventually filled the growing ranks of the industry. The WindFurnace itself laid the engineering groundwork for the commercial wind turbines later deployed by US Windpower (which later became Kenetech Windpower) in California.
“Stoddard helped lay a foundation of design tools at a time when the nascent wind energy industry barely had any at all, and his PhD thesis from the mid-70s remains the state of the art of wind turbine dynamic analysis,” said AWEA Board Member and fellow engineer Brian McNiff. “Since that time, he has been a strong, principled voice promoting wind energy development and research, and a major contributor to wind energy’s success.”
The award comes at a time when wind turbines are popping up in record numbers across the country. U.S. wind energy generating capacity increased by 27% in 2006 and is expected to increase an additional 26% in 2007, proving wind is now a mainstream option for new power generation, according to AWEA’s annual market status report. Wind’s growth reflects the nation’s increasing demand for clean, safe and domestic energy.
“What Woody did for us, we American engineers of all disciplines who made our careers in wind, is believe in us, making us feel we were part of something good, something useful, and a hopeful future,” said Walter Sass, founder of Second Wind, Inc., with whom Stoddard worked on a project testing turbines. “He made us feel we were -- and are -- part of wind power.”
Dr. Stoddard will be presented with the award at a ceremony in Cambridge, Mass. on January 26.
AWEA, formed in 1974, is the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy industry. The association's membership includes turbine manufacturers, wind project developers, utilities, academicians, and interested individuals. More information on wind energy is available at the AWEA web site: www.awea.org.
