ORONO, Maine – Easton High School took the high honors in the Maine Wind Blade Challenge and Madison Area Memorial High School took first place in the Wind Storm Challenge. These teams were among 85 teams representing over 250 students that competed in the 4th annual competition to inspire students to design composite wind blades and floating wind structures. The event was hosted at the University Maine through day long events this Friday.

The Maine Wind Blade Challenge was developed by Maine Composites Alliance (MCA) in partnership with Advanced Structures and Composites Center and the Maine Wind Industry Initiative (MWII) to inspire student exploration of alternative energy and advanced materials by participating in a hands-on application of math, science and engineering.

The Wind Blade Challenge partners high school teams with Maine advanced composites manufacturers to research, design, and manufacture model wind blades. Each team must compete against other teams to generate the most energy over 2-minute period, and make presentations illustrating the research, design and engineering processes.

The 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. The Windstorm Challenge encourages an interdisciplinary approach to solve large problems.

The top three teams for Wind Blade Challenge were: 1st, Easton; 2nd, Presque Isle Team 3; and 3rd, Mt Blue High School (Farmington).

The top three teams for Wind Storm Challenge were: 1st, Madison Area Memorial High School Team 1; 2nd, Madison Area Memorial High School 2; and 3rd, Boothbay Region High School.

The Maine Composites Alliance (MCA) is an alliance of composite businesses in Maine who work together to recognize and promote Maine’s leadership in the international composite industry. MCA aims to enhance the competitiveness of Maine’s existing composite industry by providing opportunities for new commercial ventures, and by providing education and training for members and their employees.

The Maine Wind Industry Initiative is a cooperative effort between 6 Maine trades associations to develop the wind and ocean energy supply chain using local Maine content and promote wind energy workforce development.
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 Advanced Structures and Composites Center is a state-of-the-art one-stop-shop for integrated composite materials and structural component development. Located at the University of Maine, it offers in-house capabilities for developing a composite product or structure from the conceptual stage through research, manufacturing of prototypes, comprehensive testing and evaluation, code approval and commercialization.