USA: Maine Students Compete in Offshore Wind Technology

Windstorm Challenge 2012 and 4^th Annual Maine Wind Blade Challenge were held on Friday at the New Balance Student Recreation Center on the University of Maine campus, reported Bangor Daily News.

The competitions in which students design, build, implement and test wind power technology components gathered competitors from more than 40 schools throughout the state.

The DeepCwind Consortium’s Windstorm Challenge is a middle and high school invention competition focusing on deepwater offshore wind technology. The challenge asks teams to design and construct a floating platform for a scale model wind turbine, and then to create a thorough business plan and sales field.

The 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 US Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation and others.

The Wind Blade Challenge program is developed by the Maine Composites Alliance in partnership with the Advanced Structures and Composites Center and the Maine Wind Industry Initiative. It matches high school students with manufacturers in Maine to research, design and manufacture wind blade models.

The students tested their components in the recreation center swimming pool, and the challenge ended with teams competing for the most efficient wind blade invention.

The wind power technology components are similar to those used in a University of Maine research program in deepwater offshore wind power.

All winning team members who go on to attend University of Maine receive a USD 20,000 paid internship at the Advanced Structures and Composites Center.

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Offshore WIND staff, April 30, 2012; Image: Maine Wind Blade Challenge