Boise State Alumni in
Wind Energy

J. Lars Dorr

BS Mechanical Engineering, Boise State University, 2003
MS Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering, University of California-Davis, 2004
Engineering and Development Manager, Eurus Energy America Corporation

Lars left his position as a nuclear engineer at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard to pursue his passion for renewable energy as a part owner of Lewandowski Farms, Idaho’s first commercial wind project. While learning first-hand the operations and maintenance of the three Micon 108 wind turbines at Lewandowski Farms, Lars was also involved with the installation, troubleshooting and commissioning of two 50 kW Entegrity wind turbines at Synthetic Energy’s commercial wind-to-hydrogen plant located near Boise, Idaho. Later, Lars worked in wind project development for a small development company in Boise, ID. There he was Lead Project Engineer for a portfolio of projects in development totaling 174 MW and also involved in other greenfield project development. 

Currently Lars is working with Eurus Energy America Corporation where he is taking on larger responsibilities with a 180 MW wind project that is in construction in Texas, targeted for completion at the end of 2008, as well as a large portfolio of other projects in development throughout the Americas. Lars is a project manager for a 63MW wind project in the Pacific Northwest that is targeted for completion in 2009 and is also managing a 300 MW wind project development in the southwest US. Lars is proficient in utilizing WindPro software for wind resource assessments and is also experienced with WindFarmer and WAsP. While working with Eurus, Lars has expanded his understanding of the wind development process through working on each element required to bring a project to fruition including site control, wind analysis, interconnection and transmission, environmental studies, permitting, power purchase negotiations, turbine procurement, engineering and design, construction, and financing.

Accomplishments:
US Department of Energy Wind Powering America - Carpe Ventum "Seize the Wind" Award 2007

J. Lars Dorr
Eurus Energy America Corporation
4660 La Jolla Village Drive, Suite 400
San Diego, CA 92122
Direct (858) 587-5853 Fax: (858) 638-7125
http://www.eurus-energy.com

Melissa (Ray) Elkinton

BS Mechanical Engineering, Boise State University, 2003
MS Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, 2007
Garrad Hassan America, Inc

After working on a wind-energy Senior Design Project at Boise State, Melissa continued her wind-research at the University of Massachusetts' Renewable Energy Research Laboratory.  In addition to research related to wind shear in various terrains and wind power for sustainable housing developments, Melissa also worked to provide technical advice to New England communities interested in local wind power.  In this capacity, Melissa provided preliminary feasibility studies and also support in interpreting technical documents.  Now at Garrad Hassan America, Melissa works as an independent engineering consultant analyzing wind energy projects for clients across the county.  She is also the engineer who provides technical support, training, and sales in the United States of GH WindFarmer, a versatile wind farm analysis and optimization software.

Jared Grover

Masters of Accountancy-Taxation, Boise State University, 2005
WindVestments, LLC – owner/founder

Prior to attending BSU, Jared owned and operated a farming operation in Idaho, and was a member of the Energy Committee of the Bell Rapids Mutual Irrigation Company.  The Energy Committee was designed to investigate and recommend solutions regarding electrical efficiency improvements, wind resource assessment, generation proposals, and negotiate long term electrical purchases.

Shortly after graduating from Boise State, Jared created WindVestments, LLC and developed the Cassia Wind Farm (10 MW) and the Cassia Gulch Wind Park (18.9 MW).   Duties included resource assessment, county/state/federal permits & applications, easement negotiations, bids, feasibility studies, interconnection application requests, power purchase negotiations/settlements, financing & investor relations, and involvement in several filings before the Idaho Public Utilities Commission.   A highlight was when, after considerable negotiations, the utility agreed to allow  use of the utilities backbone network on a "conditional firm" basis, saving his and other projects over $45 million in upgrades.   With plans to move to China, Jared negotiated and sold his ownership of the projects to a subsidiary of John Deere Inc.

Jared, fluent in Mandarin Chinese, and his family of 5 currently live in China, where he is involved in developing and providing financing/valuation services for wind projects in Jiangsu & Heilongjiang Provinces.   He is also involved in developing a hydro pump storage project.

Todd Haynes

BS Mechanical Engineering, Boise State University, 2003
ME Mechanical Engineering, Boise State University, 2007
Energy Systems Research Engineer, Boise State University

In the fall of 2007 Todd began his current assignment working as an Energy Systems Research Engineer in Boise State’s newly formed Office of Energy Research, Policy and Campus Sustainability. In this role, Todd manages two wind-energy research grants funded by the U.S. Dept. of Energy.  Simultaneously he is working to reduce Boise State’s carbon footprint by completing feasibility studies for campus-owned renewable energy projects and helping to reduce campus energy consumption. 

Todd’s wind-energy experience includes: developed criteria to prioritize State Anemometer Loan Program applications at the Idaho Energy Division; worked as a renewable energy consulting engineer at Renaissance Engineering & Design, which included development of the world’s first commercial wind-to-hydrogen; along with 4 partners purchased Lewandowski Farms, Idaho’s first commercial wind project and repaired the Micon 108 wind turbines to operational condition.

Accomplishments:
US Department of Energy Wind Powering America - Carpe Ventum "Seize the Wind" Award 2007

Todd A. Haynes
Mechanical Engineer
Energy Research, Policy and Campus Sustainability
Boise State University
208-426-4053
toddhaynes@boisestate.edu
http://www.boisestate.edu/sustain
http://coen.boisestate.edu/windenergy

Matt Heath

BS Construction Management Boise State University, 2004
Project Manager, H & H Utility Contractors Inc.

Matt has worked in Salt Lake City with Granite Construction as a project engineer overseeing runway and taxiway projects at the SLC International airport.  He has also worked as a project engineer overseeing a sea wall reconstruction project for the city of Corpus Christi, Texas.  He has since returned to Boise to work for his father’s power line construction company, H & H Utility Contractors Inc., as a project manager. 

In 2008, H & H installed the high voltage electrical collection systems on the 42 MW Bennett Creek and Hot Springs wind projects north of Mountain Home, Idaho, and the 29 MW Cassia Gulch wind projects near Bliss, Idaho.  Matt is actively identifying and researching new wind farm projects in the northwest area for possible future projects.

Chad Kidd

BS Electrical Engineering, Boise State University, 2005
POWER Engineers

Chad has been the Lead Electrical Engineer on various large-scale wind projects in the US and has provided support for multiple projects in Ireland.  POWER Engineers offers full engineering services for wind developments with Chad heading up the detailed design of the collection systems.  In addition, POWER has been retained as the Owner's Engineer for multiple wind developers which has provided Chad with many opportunities to provide services from initial studies to final completed turbine inspections. 

Chad Kidd
Electrical Engineer 
1295 S. Eagle Flight Way
Boise, Idaho 83709
Phone: 208-685-6289
Fax: 208-378-0025
Email: chad.kidd@powereng.com

POWER Engineers, Inc.
Energy ¡ Facilities ¡ Communications
www.powereng.com

Brenda K. Morris

BS Civil Engineering, Boise State University, 2007
Field Engineer, D.H. Blattner & Sons, Inc

Brenda K. Morris graduated from Boise State University with a BS in Civil Engineering in May 2007 and started with D.H. Blattner & Sons in June 2007 as a Field Engineer.  She worked in Roscoe, TX for one year on four Wind Turbine projects. The first was the Roscoe Phase I project which included 209, Mitsubishi 1.0MW turbines and the Champion (Roscoe Phase II) project, which included road and foundation work for 55 Siemens 2.3MW turbines.

Morris worked on the next two phases of the Roscoe Wind project (Pyron-Phase III and Inadale-Phase IV) which began in January 2008. The Pyron project is 166 GE 1.5MW turbines and Inadale, 197 Mitsubishi 1.0MW turbines. The completion of Pyron/Inadale will take place in mid-2009.

While on the Roscoe Wind Projects Morris was responsible for Road Reclaim on completed projects and foundation construction throughout, as well as assembly planning and route set-up for component trucks delivering to our site. Her contribution in Texas on the four phases of the Roscoe Wind Project was spent developing a total of 781.5MW of wind energy.

In July 2008 Morris was transferred to the Hay Canyon Wind Project in Moro, OR.  She worked with the foundation crew which completed foundations September 12, 2008. There will be 48 Suzlon 2.1MW turbines on the Hay Canyon site (101MW), assembly of components is scheduled to begin September 22, 2008.  She will be working with assembly crews in erecting these turbines; this project is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2008.

Brenda Morris
Field Engineer
D.H. Blattner & Sons, Inc.
Cell (320) 293-2753

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