With Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and Samsung announcing a $7-billion deal last week to jump-start the province’s wind and solar energy sector, Georgian students and graduates are uniquely placed to take full advantage of this growing industry.

Bob Emptage, Dean, Engineering Technology, says the College has been working hard to revamp existing programs and introduce new ones to train students to be leaders in Ontario’s new world of green energy.

“Our programs cover the entire industry, from manufacturing of windmills and solar panels to design and installation, transmission, networking of the new smart meters and even building and structure design,” said Emptage. “Our students are ready to contribute both through their co-op education terms and as graduates.”

Students in Mechanical Technician – Precision Skills and Electrical Engineering – Automated Systems programs learn to develop manufacturing systems to fabricate components such as wind turbines and solar panels.

Electrical Engineering Technician – Power is a newly introduced program tailored to the needs of electric utilities such as Hydro One and PowerStream, which are poised to handle the transmission of the new green power and associated networks.

Students in the Industrial Electrician apprenticeship program are learning not only basics of the trade but are seeing special emphasis on alternative energy systems.

Similarly, Architectural Technician and Architectural Technology students are gaining expertise in designing facilities for small and industrial-scale generation.

Environmental Technology graduates are expected to play a key role in helping to shape the new energy system in Ontario, such as handling environmental approvals for new generation facilities and transmission systems.

The introduction of new “smart meters” to measure electrical consumption will provide both utilities and consumers with a wealth of electrical consumption data. New systems will need to be developed to transmit and make sense of this information.

Developing those solutions may be the work of graduates from a variety of other Georgian programs, such as those in information technology and Business.