When you add passionate collegiate competitors and their pioneering wind turbine designs to America’s largest wind industry event, you get a winning combination designed to spark excitement. Bringing together the next generation of wind energy professionals with today's industry leaders, the U.S. Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition 2016 takes place at the annual AWEA WINDPOWER Conference & Exhibition in New Orleans, Louisiana, from May 23–25.

Wind industry professionals attending the conference are invited to meet the Collegiate Wind Competition teams in the Education Pavilion. This is a great opportunity to:

  • Watch as teams put their turbines to the test in an on-site wind tunnel on Tuesday, May 24.
  • Talk to students about their cutting-edge turbine designs at their booths over the course of the 2-day competition. Students host a special open house on Wednesday, May 25, from 4–5 p.m.
  • Attend public pitch presentations where teams convince a panel of experts of the technical underpinnings, business case, and feasibility of deploying their power system, taking place on Wednesday, May 25, in the WINDPOWER Exhibition floor theater.

“The Collegiate Wind Competition is an inspiring demonstration of the creativity and problem-solving capabilities of these remarkable students, who represent the next generation of wind industry professionals,” said José Zayas, U.S. Department of Energy Director, Wind and Water Power Technologies Office. “Everyone who visits the competition at the WINDPOWER conference—from manufacturers to policymakers—will be impressed by the teams’ ideas, innovations, and enthusiasm.”

The 2016 competition challenges teams to design and construct a wind-driven power system to supply electricity for off-grid usage. This requires each team to create a wind turbine design that is efficient and safe to operate, develop a load system that represents a real-world need that can match the power being generated, and ensure that the overall mechanical and aerodynamic turbine design is safe and reliable.

The 12 colleges and universities that will participate in the 2016 competition are:

  • Boise State University
  • The California Maritime Academy
  • California State University, Chico
  • Kansas State University
  • Northern Arizona University
  • The Pennsylvania State University
  • Universidad del Turabo (Puerto Rico)
  • University of Alaska Fairbanks
  • University of Maryland
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • University of Wisconsin—Madison

The biannual Collegiate Wind Competition is designed to attract engineering, business, marketing and communications, policy, and social science students to wind-related fields, provide them with practical knowledge and wind experience, and showcase tomorrow’s promising workforce to industry leaders. Intertwining academic coursework with tangible, hands-on learning, the Collegiate Wind Competition provides valuable real-world experience as students prepare to enter the workforce. 

For additional information, including profiles of the teams and a schedule of competition activities, visit the competition website.