Tehachapi News

All > News
Tehachapi native merits attention from National Geographic
Topics:
Posted by editor Wed Nov 30, -0001 00:00:00 PST
Viewed 1385 times
0 responses 1 comment Dave Schulgen, the Tehachapi born President and founder of a rapidly growing wind energy business, Airstreams, recently gained the interest of National Geographic for his contribution and experience in the rapidly growing wind business.

Schulgen was featured in the October 2007 issue of National Geographic Adventure magazine, in an article highlighting the ever growing need for wind technicians and experts as the wind industry thrives.

Schulgen initially became interested in wind energy while working at California Portland Cement co. which he left in 1985 to join Zond Systems.

He received his training as an electrician while serving in the Marine Corps. Reserves. At that time his interest was concentrated on the electrical aspect of the wind turbines.

His career lead him to work with Zond which later became Enron Wind as Director of Field Operations for Commercial Americas, where he was responsible for several thousand wind turbines. He also held the position of Director of Manufacturing responsible for all of Enron’s EW 1.5s built in 2001.

After the purchase of Enron by GE Wind Energy and working for 18 years for these major companies, Schulgen decided to part with GE to found Airstreams. 

He began his company with two employees in 2002, and has now grown to include 24 employees including many local people he has worked with over the last 20 years.

Although an expert in his field, Schulgen is not one to boast of his accomplishments, so initially he was a little embarrassed by the attention the NG article brought him. His embarrassment quickly turned to gratitude when the calls began pouring in from around the nation.

“The marketing was priceless. It overshadowed the embarrassment,” said Schulgen.

Writing the curriculum for the Junior College system in California, as a Wind Turbine Technician Training course, was just one of the great opportunities Schulgen’s company acquired through the unexpected publicity.

“With the wind industry estimated to grow at a rate of 25 percent per year worldwide, it is essential that we begin to focus on educating the next generation of windsmiths,” said Schulgen.

The growing demand for specialized independent training lead Airstreams to launch their newest company, Airstreams Training Services (ATS).  ATS will offer local training in its new training facility in addition to providing OSHA safety courses and wind turbine technical training throughout the industry.

For more information on services and training provided through Airstreams, visit www.air-streams.com.

Send to a Friend

Report a Violation

Comment From: aloha

I have been in Tehachapi for a long time now I raised my children,I now am taking care of my parents blah blah blah. I would like to ask some of you if you have taken in account what is about to happen in Tehachapi over the next two years. I know we have had a lot of changes lately and some of these were hard and some were no brainers.Did you know we are going to be the largest wind turbine farm producing town in the United States? Wow!!!!!this is a change that won't even come close to what we have gone through! Let's see I really love all the land that was leveled along Highline Rd. for homes that will not be built. That's beauty that's hard to find.The next wave of money making opportunities is just around the corner literally. How do you feel about that? It overwhelms me.I understand all the money that is going to be made for our little town please don't get me wrong.I get it ok,but we were all ready for the homes to be built.Where are they? It is really true when things seem to good to be true are they? I get green I have been living as close to this as I can in my life.My question for Dave Schulgen goes like this: Dave have you taken in to account you are very close to homes? Have you done any study on a condition called "Wind Turbine Syndrome?"I understand you purchased ag land and want to change the zone to light commercial? How do you put up signs for leasing space when you do not have an approval from the county planning department? Are you so sure you are going to get the approval how can you be that presumptuous. I really wish we would return to doing things right and maybe we would not be in the trouble we are in. Sometimes listening to the people can save a small town from becoming uninhabitable.This is a very sad day for Tehachapi. Don't get me wrong creating thousands of jobs is not sad,but building commercial on farming land is.What's next? Do you realize you are less that 700 ft from a home that has a 3 year old? Think about it this beautiful 80 ft wind turbine in your front yard. That scares me.