November 3, 2011
Indiana

Ivy Tech faculty member dies on campus; classes canceled

Written by ERIC WEDDLE, www.jconline.com 2 November 2011

An Ivy Tech Community College faculty member died today after he fell from a tower used for teaching wind turbine technology on the Lafayette campus.

Craig Porter, 36, was the chairman of the energy technology program.

As a result of the death, classes are canceled Wednesday. Classes will resume Thursday.

Porter was on the tower around noon with students when he fell from the top to the ground, said Tom McCool, Ivy Tech spokesman.

“He was with students conducting a rating exercise,” he said.

The cause of the fall was not known, McCool said.

The height of the tower was not immediately available. The tower is located south of Ivy Hall on the campus off South Creasy Lane.

Porter began working at Ivy Tech this semester as the head of the campuses two-year program to teach wind and solar power technologies. The program began in 2009.
Counselors are on the Lafayette campus to talk with students and employees, McCool said.

“We are cooperating with investigators about this, about what happened,” he said.
The Lafayette police and fire departments respond to the scene.

Concentrations available from the wind and solar power technologies program include wind energy technology, renewable energy systems technology and home technology integration/energy auditing.

For more on this story, check back at jconline.com.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/11/03/ivy-tech-faculty-member-dies-on-campus-classes-canceled/