Wildcat Wind Power

Wildcat Wind Power (WWP) is an organization at Kansas State University designed to involve students in the application and development of wind energy and expose them to all aspects of the wind industry. Our team works through every step in the design process to create an original, durable, and efficient wind turbine. We hope to use the Collegiate Wind Competition to help our members develop practical skills that can be used in any professional setting.

The siting team has been tasked with using the siting plan of last year’s competition to further develop a complete financial analysis and be able to present to potential owners and investors. Doing this requires us to contact nearby wind plants seeking advice on site costs and maintenance. We hope to submit a unique and competent design that will impress our peers and colleagues.

The team is divided into smaller groups with more focused goals. These groups include electrical, mechanical, and siting. On the electrical side we teach our younger members how to solder, interpret, and design digital circuits and how to use design software. Meanwhile, older members focus more on optimizing the circuit and testing our generator to create the most efficient turbine possible. On the mechanical side we focus on implementing new, advanced design, and use three-dimensional printing to manufacture our parts. We are constantly working to improve our testing apparatus.

We have recruited a multidisciplinary group of students from a variety of backgrounds. Students from electrical and computer engineering to computer science and mechanical engineering are all working together and learning from each other. Our shared interest in renewable energy technologies has united us while our diversity has helped our team use unique, out-of-the-box thinking that can only help when trying to produce a truly innovative wind turbine.

We have seen significant growth this year, building from setbacks we have experienced in the past. Since losing our previous design lab, we’ve grown into our new work space within a design suite and have truly made it our own. We have learned to share resources and experience with neighboring clubs in our design space. Our underclassmen have excelled in their ability to quickly learn and keep up with our design schedule. To further improve our testing capabilities, we have implemented data acquisition systems and improved accompanying instruments.

We expect to walk away from the 2019 Collegiate Wind Competition with the useful experience of carrying a design process to completion and ending with a successful final product. We believe that all our members have gained useful skills working within a large, multidisciplinary group that can be taken with them into their professional lives to form mutually beneficial connections. Our members have already gained new knowledge pertaining to the technical design of wind turbines that they will carry into their careers.

• Design Report
• Siting Report

This webpage was submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy by the team.