The University of Maine’s AEWC Advanced Structures and Composites Center welcomed students from schools all across Maine to the first DeepCwind Consortium’s Windstorm Challenge on Friday, May 13. The events took place throughout the day in the University of Maine’s Memorial Gym, Wallace Pool, and Field House, and in conjunction with the 3rd Annual Maine Wind Blade Challenge. Over 300 students from over 30 schools will competed at the events.
DeepCwind Consortium’s Windstorm Challenge asks teams of middle and high school students to design and construct a floating platform for a scale model wind turbine and deliver a business plan and sales pitch to a panel of expert judges. Teams are critiqued on technical feasibility and aesthetic design of their platform, as well as the quality of their sales pitch.
“Floating Ducks” team from Mt. Blue High School came in 2nd, “Team Syracuse” team from Lake Region High School came in 3rd, “Wyld Stallyns” team from Maine School of Science and Mathematics came in 4th, and the “Wind 2” team of Westbrook High School came in 5th.
An internship worth up to $20,000 was awarded to Darius Haskell and Nathan Faessler, students from the 1st place Maine School of Science and Mathematics team “Ace of Spades.” Acceptance of the internship award requires enrollment in the University of Maine and entails four years of work at the Advanced Structures and Composites Center.
All Windstorm Challenge participants will receive a 1-year subscription to Popular Science magazine. The participants from the two top teams also received iPod shuffles.
Maine School of Science and Mathematics
The DeepCwind Consortium’s mission is to establish the State of Maine as a national leader in deepwater offshore wind technology through a research initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
( deepcwind )
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Source: deepcwind, May 16, 2011;