It seems Christmas has come early for students in the Marine Technology Program at Northwestern Michigan College. 
Friday, Consumer’s Energy presented a $50,000 check to the college that will be used for a remotely operated scanning and profiling sonar system.
The new equipment will give students the opportunity to better inspect underwater infrastructure like dams and sea walls.
“The students were in a class they deployed the equipment, they collected the data, they processed the data to create a report and a presentation, they delivered it to Consumer’s Energy. And so from that we develop even more of an opportunity where they said we’d really like to support you with perhaps getting you some equipment that would allow you to do this on a more regular basis,” said Director of Great Lakes Water Studies Institute, Hans VanSumeren.
The college plans to have the new equipment by next month.
