MARTIN ARMSON heads up the U.S. operations for Hansford Sensors, based in one of the fastest growing states: South Carolina. Armson, a mechanical engineer, first became involved in the vibration monitoring industry in the 1980’s. Since then, Armson has worked with several leading companies before joining Hansford Sensors in 2017. BRIAN BURKS, CLS, OMA 1, a Senior Application Sales Engineer at AMSOIL, bridges the gap between customers and AMSOIL engineers. With a focus on education, Burks brings a wide body of knowledge and expertise to his customers, working with them to shape maintenance plans and best practices. Prior to joining the AMSOIL team, Burks worked as a wind farm operator for many years. SCOTT EATHERTON, President of Wind Driven LLC, joined the wind industry in 1984 and has been a part of its advancement ever since. His work includes almost a decade representing wind-turbine owners and operators, and as a member of the AGMA 6006 committee that published the world’s first wind-turbine gearbox design standard in 2003. Eatherton has worn many hats in the wind business including managing sites, gearbox rebuild shops, turbine installations, warranty sweeps, technical training, quality control, due diligence. and failure analysis. ANDREW FILAK is a Principal with AMFConcepts in Redondo Beach, California. Filak was the formwork contractor for a number of conventional concrete structure, such as airport garages and of late has been developing ideas for advanced floating and fixed windturbine foundations made of polymer concrete. He and his team have also developed ideas for barges, construction methods for their structures, and ways to deploy them that takes significant cost out of conventional methods. Filak is a graduate of The Ohio State University.
JAKE GENTLE is a senior power systems engineer for Idaho National Laboratory, and the INL’s relationship manager to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Wind Energy Technologies Office. As a program and project manager, he develops technology and provides technical oversight by coordinating solutions for the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense and various electric power industry partners. Gentle also leads the GMLC project, Operational and Strategic Implementation of Dynamic Line Rating for Optimized Wind Energy Generation Integration. He holds a Master degree in Measurement & Controls Engineering and a Bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering from Idaho State University. JESSE SHEARER, a Slip Ring Engineering Supervisor at United Equipment Accessories, is a 10-year veteran of the wind power and slip ring industries. His main focus is on hub slip-ring technology in large wind turbines. NICHOLAS WATERS earned a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of California, Davis and a Master’s degree in Ocean Engineering from Florida Atlantic University. His diverse background ranges from R&D at the small business level, to Structural Health Monitoring within the defense contractor space. Water is the Key Account Manager for Bachmann electronic’s North American office, and serves the wind industry by promoting products centered around open data access for owners. He works closely with sites to understand and solve unique challenges. He also advocates for predictive maintenance strategies within North, South, and Central American markets. KEVIN WOLFE assisted forming Wind Harvest International in 2006 and has been a board officer since. Now as Chief Operating Officer he is responsible for planning and supervision in engineering, manufacturing, certification, sales, marketing and R&D of the G168 VAWT Systems.
WOLFE
WATERS
SHEARER
GENTLE
FILAK
EATHERTON
BURKS
ARMSON
CO NT R I BUTORS
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WINDPOWER ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT
Contributors 4-18_ Vs2 pd.indd 4
www.windpowerengineering.com
APRIL 2018
4/19/18 12:32 PM