The KidWind Challenge is a student-oriented wind turbine design contest. Over a period of a few months, students spend time designing and constructing their own wind turbines with the goal of creating a device that is efficient, elegant and highly functional. To accomplish this task, and arrive prepared at a Challenge, students must perform research to better understand the science of wind, be analytical about testing protocols, think creatively about solutions to problems and work collaboratively to get their project completed on time.

Student teams will convene at the USA Science and Engineering Festival and the teams enter a judging process. The judging team will feature professionals from the wind industry.

The student teams will be judged according to three main criteria:

• Turbine Power Performance
• Turbine Construction
• Knowledge of Wind Energy Topics

Each team is awarded an overall score. While turbines are judged and prizes are awarded at the KidWind Challenge, the event, at its core, is about learning. We want to immerse students in the science of how a wind turbine works through the process of design and redesign.

Ultimately, the KidWind Challenge engages students in an open-ended competition to build small-scale wind turbines that demonstrate knowledge about the promise and limits of a wind-powered future. Some call it the pine wood derby of wind energy.

Check out this cool video to learn more!