tamatoledonews.com – The Iowa Alliance for Wind Innovation and Novel Development (IAWIND) and the Iowa Wind Energy Association (IWEA) join forces this year to bring two days of exceptional speakers who will address the latest in wind issues. IAWIND takes off on Tuesday, April 6, with national and international speakers from industry, academia and the public sector to highlight the latest trends in technical, research and development, manufacturing and workforce issues facing today’s wind industry. Speakers for the IAWIND conference on Tuesday include Denise Bode, CEO of the American Win d Energy Association; Elizabeth Hoffman, Executive Vice President and Provost at Iowa State University; Stephen Nolet, Principal Engineer at TPI Composites; Mark J. O’Malley, Professor of Electrical Engineering at University College Dublin (UCD); Henrik Madsen, Professor of Mathematical Statistics at the Technical University of Denmark; and, Mike Smith, Manager of wind generating capacity in the Midwest for enXco. IWEA starts in the late afternoon of April 6 with its annual business meeting of members, followed by a joint banquet with IAWIND. The banquet will include some ‘lighter moments’ when Peter Orazem, a Professor of Economics at Iowa State University, will address both groups. Then on Wednesday, April 7, IWEA will showcase its outstanding lineup. “Harnessing the Power of the Plains” is the theme for the IWEA Conference. Topics covered will be national and state legislation related to wind; small, independent and large wind development; transmission issues; wind and the law; loan guarantees, grants, tax credits and tax equity; new market realities; and safety. Featured speakers at IWEA include Clair Moeller, Vice President of Transmission and Asset Management, MISO; Dan Barr, Senior Engineer, ITC Midwest; John Wilhelm, National Marketing Manager with John Deere Renewable Energy; Dr. James McCalley, E CPE, Iowa State University; Anne Kimber, Senior Engineer with IAMU; and Al Zeitz, Director of North American markets for DeWind. In addition, representatives of the Iowa Energy Center, Horizon Wind Energy, MidAmerican Energy, the Iowa Finance Authority, Alliant Energy, AWEA and Upwind Solutions will also speak as well as Congressman Tom Latham and Congressman Bruce Braley. Sponsors for the two days of co nferences include: Alliant Energy; Anemometry Specialists, Inc.; enXco; Farm Bureau; Horizon Wind Energy; ITC Midwest; Iowa State University; Mid-West Tech, Inc.; Snyder & Associates; TradeWind Energy; Upwind Solutions; and WindLogics.