WiscWind
University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
Faculty Advisor
Scott Williams
Student Leads
Michael Schmich
What is your team name, institution name, city, and state?
We are WiscWind, and we are from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin.
Who are your faculty advisor and student lead(s)?
Our faculty advisor is Scott Williams, and our student lead is Michael Schmich.
Why is your team participating in the Collegiate Wind Competition (CWC)?
The CWC provides the members of our team an opportunity to gain hands-on, practical experience in the wind energy industry while encouraging our community to embrace renewable energy and focus on environmental sustainability.
WiscWind includes (from left to right) in the back row: Scott Williams, Cole Zesiger, Bailey Fischer, Mitchell Hendrickson, Jack Hendrickson, Michael Schmich, Zack Hennen, Teddy Hines, and Morris Yen; and in the front row: Nina Bosnjak, Austin Thyes, Grace Roper, Evelyn Hietpas, Megan Volkening, Josh Delgado, Alex Icalina, Nazrie Hasan, and Hao Liu.
What is your vision for a clean energy future?
Our vision for a clean energy future includes an infrastructure that accommodates a mixture of renewable energy sources, meets energy demands, and contributes to a carbon-neutral future.
Describe your project, objectives, and game plan.
We are working in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s mechanical engineering senior capstone course and the Wisconsin Energy Institute to successfully complete our deliverables for the CWC. Our team consists of five subteams that collaborate to achieve our goals.
What is your team’s strategy for success in the competition?
We aim to successfully meet the CWC objectives by continually working to improve upon our various contest elements through an iterative process of designing, building, testing, and learning. We emphasize high levels of communication and teamwork and a focus on testing early and often. This not only ensures a more refined version of our final deliverables and presentations but also strengthens the problem-solving skills that we will use in our careers onward.
What do you do for team building/to boost team morale?
Our weekly all-team meetings bring the various subteams together to get to know each other and check in on progress. We also have social events, such as game nights and field trips to wind farms, which encourage connection between team members outside of working on deliverables. These events are new implementations for the 2023 competition, and the team morale is considerably stronger than it was in past years.
This content was submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy by the team. Find more information on CWC 2023.