For more than 40 years, faculty and students at Texas Tech University have been recognized as national leaders in wind science research. In recent years, the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center (WiSE) at TTU has garnered additional attention as pioneers in wind energy research and education.

Formed by TTU in 2010, the National Wind Resource Center (NWRC) is a nonprofit organization that works through Collaborative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA’s) with national laboratories, academic institutions and trade organizations to develop industry-leading research projects. Created by Texas Tech University in 2010, the organization aims to be the research and development arm of the rapidly growing wind energy industry.

Our Vision

• Lead the industry, state and nation to achieve the Department of Energy’s goal of 20 percent wind energy integration by 2030
• Enhance research collaboration and technology development by meeting the research and development needs of industry
• Expedite phased construction of the nation’s largest wind research farm and related facilities to aid in prototype development on a variety of research initiatives
• Recruit world-class researchers with expertise in the wind sector
• Position the U.S. as the world’s leader in wind energy research and development
• Enhance the state’s capacity for job creation in the wind energy sector by developing the best-in-class training methods for the emerging workforce

Executive Director

Dr. Luciano Castillo was announced asthe executive director and president of the NWRC in June 2010. Dr. Castillo also serves as the Don-Kay-Clay Cash Foundation Distinguished Engineering Chair in Wind Energy and professor of mechanical engineering.

Castillo was most recently an associate professor at the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace & Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, and at the Universidad delTurabo in Puerto Rico.

His research in turbulence using experimental techniques, direct numerical simulations and multiscale asymptotic analysis has injected new ideas in turbulent boundary layers and our understanding of initial conditions on large scale turbulence, particularly on wind energy. Some of his awards include: the NASA Faculty Fellowship, the Martin Luther King Faculty Award, the Robert T. Knapp Award on complex flows, and many others. He has published more than100 articles, including a seminal paper on turbulent boundary layers and scaling laws. He is currently leading various initiatives on wind energy in the U.S. and Europe

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NWRC Board of Directors

• Taylor Eighmy, PhD
  Board Chairman
  Senior Vice President for Research
  Texas Tech University


• Bob Smith, PhD
  Provost
  Texas Tech University


• Al Sacco, PhD
  Dean, Whitacre College of Engineering
  Texas Tech University


• Lawrence Schovanec, PhD
  Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
  Texas Tech University


• Michael Galyean, PhD
  Dean, College of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources
  Texas Tech University


• Fort Felker, PhD
  Director, National Wind Technology Center
  National Renewable Energy Laboratory


• David Minster
  Manager, Wind Energy Technologies
  Sandia National Laboratories


• Phyllis Johnson, PhD
  Vice President for Research and Economic Development
  University of North Dakota


• C.P. “Case” van Dam, PhD
  Warren and LetaGeidt Professor and Department Chair of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  University of California, Davis