This 1976 University Experiment Spun Up the U.S. Wind Industry

A half century ago, a scrappy crew at the University of Massachusetts Amherst erected a wind turbine on Orchard Hill, the highest point on campus. It was a frugal production, cobbled together from the rear axle of a Ford truck, a donated generator and microcontroller, a steam pipe, and various handcrafted steel and fiberglass parts, including its 4.5-meter blades. The team of UMass engineering grad students, faculty advisors, and one precocious undergrad built it to prove that wind energy could