Monthly Archives: May 2013

UMaine Hosts Windstorm and Annual Maine Composites Alliance Wind Blade Challenge

Posted on by

May 9, 2013
From offshorewind.biz

The daylong events was held in UMaine’s New Balance Student Recreation Center.

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 the technical feasibility and aesthetic design of their platform, as well as the quality of their sales pitch. The Windstorm Challenge encourages an interdisciplinary approach to solving large problems.

Maine Wind Blade Challenge was developed by the Maine Composites Alliance, Maine Wind Industry Initiative and UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center to inspire students’ exploration of alternative energy and composites materials by participating in a hands-on application of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The event incorporates STEM guidelines in the classroom, and applied composites and energy education in the field. Students are matched with Maine composite businesses to use hands-on infusion techniques to build their blades.

The cooperating events had an award ceremony at the end of the day, presenting winning team members from each competition a paid internship at the UMaine Composites Center, an award valued at more than $20,000, contingent upon their enrollment at the University of Maine.

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, the National Science Foundation-Partnerships for Innovation and others.

Marshwood High students compete in UMaine Windstorm Challenge

Posted on by

May 6, 2013
From Seacoastonline

SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — The 11 Marshwood High School students attending the 2013 University of Maine Windstorm Challenge at the Orono campus Friday reported having a great time in their quest to build and test a model floating wind turbine platform, said Marshwood science teacher Sara Cathie.

“It was extremely engaging, exciting — it’s a really professional experience for them,” Cathie said. “They did great — it was a great learning experience for them and they’re charged up again for next year.”

The goal of the project was to create stable platforms that don’t bounce, she added. There is an accelerometer that measured the movement on the three axes.

Forty-five middle and high schools from Maine participate in the yearly competition that challenges 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, Cathie said.

Teams are critiqued on the technical feasibility and aesthetic design of their platform and the quality of their presentation. It encourages an interdisciplinary approach to solving large problems.

Students spoke enthusiastically about the experience.

Freshman Charlie Honkonen said he liked being in the pool and seeing all the other people’s designs and getting ideas for next year.

“It really introduced me to the world of engineering for wind turbines and that whole environmental idea,” he said. “It was a big design process; we had to really go through a lot of tests, ideas, theories that didn’t work — some did. We went through a lot of building and rebuilding and testing and not working.”

“There were 45 teams competing and we actually did really well, much better than we expected, honestly,” said sophomore Griffin Simmons. “Our presentation was really solid and our preparation was a lot better than last year, and our windmill design did a lot better in the test in the pool than we expected it to do.

“Of all the platforms tested, ours was the third most stable as measured by the gyroscope or sensors,” he added. “I’m surprised and I’m really happy. For next year we’re going to recycle some key elements, probably the design concept and the principle it works on.”

Liam Williams, a spokesman for the other sophomore group, said it was a lot fun testing the platform in the pool. The design part was stressful because “we waited to the last minute to do it,” he said. “We designed quickly; we tossed out ideas, slowly worked up and finally came up with a final product and it worked well.”

Williams said he was pleased with their design because “our platform just looked more feasible than the other designs — our platform had a gyroscope in the middle.”

Cathie said there was no cost to attend the competition but she said she was thankful for a grant from the Marshwood Education Foundation that contributed funds for the supplies and transportation to the event.

This was the third annual Windstorm Challenge, which is part of a larger event that day that included the Annual Maine Composites Alliance Wind Blade Challenge.

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, the National Science Foundation-Partnerships for Innovation and others. For information, visit www.windstormchallenge.com or www.mainewindbladechallenge.com.

Students from across Maine enter two wind turbine competitions

Posted on by

May 3, 2013
From Energyteachers.org

Orono- After 6 months of research, design and manufacturing hundreds of Maine students and teachers brought their wind blade creations to University of Maine to compete in Wind Blade Challenge May 3.

Each team worked with teachers and a composite partner to design and manufacture their unique designs. Paul Williamson, Director of Maine Wind Industry Initiative, said “the goal of the event is to inspire students’ exploration of alternative energy and composites materials through STEM education. Every year we are impressed with what the students come up with.”

Each blade-design was placed on a turbine in a controlled wind as spectators watched to see how much electrical energy was generated in a circuit with variable load in two minutes; meanwhile teams of students gave presentations to panels of three judges representing industry, explaining their materials, their understanding of wind-power physics, and their process for designing their rotor or base. The combined scores determined the winners.

The competition was tough with teams spinning fast enough to produce as much as 27 volts with their blades. In an glorious upset, first year participants Freeport High School had two teams in the top three. Jon Armory, Freeport teacher described the experience, “It is a wonderful event, and my students learned so much. One thing I really appreciated was letting students retry their blades after the trials, even though these did not count for points. This made the whole event a learning experience where students could play and experiment.”

Different teams followed different paths to get here—One Brunswick teacher told us that their students met after school once a week, working for a total of about 20 hours on their designs and building. The Searsport District High School team worked in an engineering design course that met every other day, devoting about two months of the course to the process of building better and better rotors.

The annual event, put on by the Maine Composites Alliance and Maine Wind Industry Initiative, is a collaborative effort connecting industry with high school students. Seventeen composites-companies including the Advanced Structures & Composites Center, Kenway, and Harbor Technologies worked with students to manufacture their blades in preparation for the challenge. Students used advanced manufacturing techniques and materials.

Results:
1st place—Freeport Team 2
2nd place—Easton High School
3rd place—Freeport High School
Peoples Choice—Foster Technology Center at Mount Blue High School
Teacher of the year—Dan Lemieux from Spruce Mt. High in Jay
Composite Partner of the year—Southern Maine Community College Andrew Schoenberg

Concurrently the University held the Windstorm Challenge. In that competition, 31 teams tested floating bases in a pool to see if they could withstand waves from a wave machine.

You can learn more about the Wind Blade Challenge on their web site:

Wind Blade Challenge


Likewise, you can learn more about the Windstorm Challenge on their web site:
http://windstormchallenge.com/

A “Whirlwind” Of A Day For Maine Students Competing In Orono

Posted on by

May 3, 2013
From WABI

Orono – It was a blustery day at UMaine as more than 500 students from York to Aroostook County competed in two windy challenges.

The Advanced Structures and Composite Center hosted its annual windstorm and wind blade challenges.

“Five years ago, we started this event as an opportunity for students to work through STEM education, to explore composite manufacturing, as well as alternative energy,” said Paul Williamson, Director of the Maine Ocean and Wind Industry Initiative.

“Were asked to design either a floating base or you can design a wind blade and then we just test it and see how much voltage we can put out,” said Emma Michalowski, a senior at Presque Isle High School.

And the more voltage the better.

Teams of students were judged on their turbine as well as a presentation of their design.

“It didn’t tip. It didn’t sink. It didn’t fall over. That’s good and the presentation went well too,” said Ben Ezzy, a freshman at Caribou High School.

“I thought it was a really neat idea to have the wind turbines out in the ocean and I thought it would be really cool getting one that actually goes out to sea one day,” said Kate Finnemore, one of Ezzy’s partners.

In a science world dominated by men, some Presque Isle ladies led the way.

“Being an all girls group, it was kind of difficult and the guys group definitely underestimated us because we’re all girls and we made the blade all pretty and they’re like, you’re not going to do that well, but we beat them,” said senior advance physics student Amanda Bennett.

They even beat a third Presque Isle Team made up of future engineering students.

“We thought the design was sound, but there was some sort of issue that we didn’t predict. Rather ironically our blade was named ‘The Winner,'” said senior Gabe Player.

While the winners of the competition win a paid internship if they attend UMaine, the hands on experience was good for all students.

“They’re learning the modern 21st century learning expectations.They’re getting excited about science they’re learning that its fun and it has a career path,” said Kierston Foley Donovan, advanced physics teacher at Presque Isle High School.

Results for the Wind Blade Challenge:

1st place- Freeport Team 2

2nd place- Easton High School

3rd place- Freeport High School 1

Peoples Choice- Foster Technology Center located at Mount Blue High School

Teacher of the year- Dan Lemieux from Spruce Mt. High in Jay

Composite Partner of the year- Southern Maine Community College Andrew Schoenberg

Results for the Windstorm challenge:

Stability
3rd Place – Marshwood HS
2nd Place – Caribou Middle School
1st Place – Bath Regional Career and Technical Center

Presentation
3rd Place – King Middle School
2nd Place – Marshwood High School
1st Place – Noble High School

Overall winners:
3rd Place – Freeport High School
2nd Place – Traip Academy
1st Place – Old Town High School

First place Windstorm Challenge teams from each category have been awarded an internship at the UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center valued at over $20,000, contingent upon their enrollment at the University of Maine.