The “National KidWind Challenge” is coming to the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) WINDPOWER 2017 Conference & Exhibition next month.
The challenge is a wind turbine design and performance competition for students in grades four through 12. The teams will compete by designing and building handcrafted wind turbines, testing the energy output, presenting their design to a panel of judges, and performing several “instant challenges” – short, problem-solving engineering tasks that are unknown to each team prior to the challenge.
The National KidWind Challenge was made possible through contributions from AWEA, GE, Pattern Energy and Vernier Software & Technology. Other sponsors of the KidWind Challenge events include Alliant Energy, the Appalachian Energy Center, Avangrid Renewables, the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, Dominion, EDP Renewables, ENEL Green Power North America, Google, the National Society for Black Engineers and Southern Power.
The challenge was first developed in 2009 by the KidWind Project, a provider of wind energy education.
“Renewable energy is going to continue to gain momentum, so we want to encourage today’s youth to consider it as a future career field,” comments Michael Arquin, founder of KidWind. “The KidWind Challenge is way for students to develop foundational knowledge of wind energy through tinkering and teamwork.”
The competition will take place May 24-25 at AWEA WINDPOWER 2017 in Anaheim, Calif.
Photo courtesy of Dennis Schroeder, NREL 2016
