The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the winners of the 2021 Collegiate Wind Competition, where 13 undergraduate teams designed, built and tested model wind turbines, developed project plans, collaborated with industry experts, and engaged with their local communities.
Each year, the Collegiate Wind Competition integrates a new challenge into the contest that reflects real-world wind industry needs. Taking the COVID-19 pandemic and the threat of supply chain disruptions into account, the 2021 challenge tasked teams with developing projects for deployment in highly uncertain times, with a significant degree of unknown risks and delays.
This year’s competition also featured a new “Connection Creation Contest,” which challenged students to engage with industry professionals, their local communities and local media outlets, in order to broaden their understanding of the workforce and educate new audiences about the benefits of wind and renewable energy.
“Wind energy is an essential part of our fight against the climate crisis, and that means one thing for talented and driven young people like these students: jobs, jobs, jobs,” says Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “With their help, I have no doubt that we’ll propel the wind industry to sky-high heights and send a gust of growth from coast to coast.”
The full list of winners:
- Overall First Place: Pennsylvania State University
- Overall Second Place: Johns Hopkins University
- Overall Third Place: California Polytechnic State University
- Turbine Prototype Contest: Kansas State University
- Project Development Contest: Pennsylvania State University
- Connection Creation Contest: Virginia Tech University
The 2022 Collegiate Wind Competition is scheduled for May 16–19, 2022, at the American Clean Power Association’s CLEANPOWER 2022 Conference & Exhibition in San Antonio, Texas.
