Apply To Compete in the Collegiate Wind Competition

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the 35 preliminary teams who will participate in the 2025 Collegiate Wind Competition (CWC) during the first half of the 2024–2025 school year.

The CWC brings together students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as well as business, marketing, communications, policy, and social sciences, for the purpose of engaging the future workforce in wind energy. The competition is open to undergraduate students from institutions of higher education. 

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CWC participant smiles at the camera.

“The CWC gives you a chance to narrow down what you're passionate about, which will help you better define what roles you want to highlight when you start applying for jobs."

Jamie Mears
Participant, 2018, 2019, and 2020 CWC
Project Developer, Ørsted Onshore 

Read her success story and other alumni testimonials.

Who Can Participate?

Teams can comprise of undergraduate students from:  

  • A single four-year college or university in the United States  
  • A four-year college or university in the United States as the lead institution partnering with a two-year institution in the United States, such as a community college  
  • A four-year college or university in the United States as the lead institution partnering with an international institution, with both institutions being represented at the final CWC event. International teams will not be eligible to receive support funding from the U.S. Department of Energy or the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and must provide their own support.  

Who Can Apply?

  • Applications can be submitted by one student, multiple students, and/or a faculty advisor.  
  • Teams do not have to be fully formed to submit an application. Faculty can still submit the application if students and team leads have not yet been identified, and students can submit if they have not yet identified a faculty advisor.  
  • In either case, in their application, students should describe how they intend to recruit their faculty advisor, and faculty should describe how they intend to recruit students.  

Check out the competition timeline.   

Interested in Getting Involved?  

Here are a few things you can do to get started:  

  • Join the CWC mailing list to be notified when DOE begins accepting applications for future competitions.  
  • Visit the CWC HeroX page to find the competition timeline and other resources.  
  • Check out alumni testimonials from past CWC competitors. 
  • Review past competition Rules and Requirements and written reports. 
  • Follow the CWC LinkedIn page. 
  • Conduct mock competitions at your institution based on CWC contests.   
  • Start assembling a team of faculty advisors and interested students.   
  • Begin garnering support through potential sponsors and advisors/coaches.