Eric Smith and Ben Polito—two professional, wind turbine engineers—will guide you through the process of designing and building a personal scale wind turbine. You'll translate a simple idea like, "I want to build a wind turbine to power my laptop" into a detailed design and then use that design to fabricate a physical machine by learning about the theory and practice behind the physics and engineering that goes into a wind turbine.

Session time will be move between an introduction to the physics of wind turbines and shop time putting those ideas into practice. You'll learn about the physics of wind turbines to help select components and design the size and shape of the turbine. By the end, you'll have built a turbine based on your design, predicted its performance, and measured how it actually works.

Participants should be familiar with Newtonian mechanics (the basic high school physics of how stuff moves) and somewhat comfortable with basic power tools. If you have concerns about your background (or if you have any other questions about the program), feel free to contact Eric directly. This program runs for nine weeks, meeting every Tuesday and Thursday evening from 7–10PM at sprout's studios in Davis Square.

The program (including materials) costs $400 per person and is on a sliding scale. Contact Alec if you'd like to explore work trade, installments, the sliding scale, or other financial support options.