(SitNews) - A team of four students from Haines High School won first place for high schools in the 2011 KidWind Design Challenge, a new statewide competition that tests students’ ability to design a wind turbine. A team from Sterling was the top middle school team.

More than 50 teams from schools around the state participated in the competition, which was sponsored by University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Alaska Center for Energy and Power and Renewable Energy Alaska Project in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy Wind for Schools program.

Students worked in teams of four to create their turbines. Teams designed a base, then determined the size, shape and number of blades that maximized the efficiency of their turbine. Turbines were tested in a wind tunnel and judged based on their generation performance, construction quality, material selection, and level of creativity and innovation. Students were also required to demonstrate knowledge of wind energy principles.

Winners include:

High school

First place, Team Glacier Bear Power, Haines High School; s
Second place, Team Two, Napaaqtugmiut School, Noatak
Third place, Team G-Force, Kake High School.

Middle school

First place, Team Wind Masters, Tustumena Elementary, Sterling;  s
Second place, Team Jacob, Hoonah City School
Third place; The Other Guys, Craig Middle School.

Each first-place team received a $250 award. Second place received $125, and third place received $100.

Other schools that participated included Begich Middle School, Anchorage; Craig High School; Hoonah High School; Miller House School, Juneau; Mt. Edgecumbe High School, Sitka; Montana Creek, Juneau; and West High School, Anchorage

Source of News: 

University of Alaska Fairbanks
www.uaf.edu

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