![Andrew Siebengartner
'03 excelled in the John Dewey Honors program and hopes to share his love of classical languages with the next generation of students and scholars.
[click for more]](http://www.uvm.edu/~campaign/media/d1m7B5gsw72U2ke.jpg) |
1.16.07 SCHOLARSHIPS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
"Technology in service to the planet" is how NRG Systems of Hinesburg, Vermont, describes its wind energy measurement systems for the global wind energy industry. It's one of a number of earth-friendly themes prominent in the company's promotional literature and website, which show a company and a management committed to environmental sustainability and the well-being of employees while thriving in a competitive global business arena.
Jan '84 and David Blittersdorf '81 are the owners of NRG Systems, a husband-and-wife team who met and married while UVM students and turned their commitment to the environment into one of Vermont's most often-told Vermont small business success stories.
Started in 1982 as a continuation of work on wind turbines that formed the basis of David's senior design project in mechanical engineering, NRG products today are sold to a client base in more than 115 countries, on every continent, serving electric utilities, wind farm developers, research institutes, government agencies, universities, and wind turbine manufacturers. The company's 46,000-square-foot manufacturing facility recently received gold LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for its environmental and energy-saving design. It is the first gold and the highest LEED-certified building in Vermont and one of only four manufacturing facilities in the world to receive this designation. UVM recently adopted a green building policy that commits the University to design all major new construction and renovation projects in conformity with LEED standards.
True to their commitment to environmental awareness and "walking the walk" to encourage the next generation of environmental stewards, the Blittersdorfs have announced that they will establish a scholarship fund through the Lintilhac Scholarship Challenge at UVM. The Blittersdorf Scholarship Fund will provide annual scholarship assistance based on need and merit to students who are studying environmental sustainability at UVM.
"Jan and I had been wanting to do something for UVM for some time," David says. "We're very supportive of what the University is doing to become one of the country's foremost environmental universities, and the scholarship is our way of helping out."