Advanced Structures and Composites Center to host two STEM competitions May 20
The University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center will host two middle- and high-school level STEM competitions May 20.
More than 250 Maine students are expected to participate in either the Windstorm Challenge or Maine Wind Blade Challenge.
The Windstorm Challenge engages students in floating offshore wind technology, innovation and business. The competition, which will be held in the center’s Harold Alfond W2 Ocean Engineering Laboratory, encourages teams of high school students to design and construct a scale-model floating wind turbine platform, subject the design to testing, and deliver a business plan and sales pitch to a panel of expert judges. The program previously was offered as a statewide competition from 2011 to 2013.
The eighth annual Maine Wind Blade Challenge, a program of the Maine Composites Alliance and the Maine Ocean and Wind Industry Initiative, connects teams of middle and high school students with composites companies to construct and infuse a functional set of wind blades. Each team’s goal is to manufacture an assembly that will generate the most energy in three minutes or less.
For more information or to register for a competition, contact Josh Plourde at 581.2117, josh.plourde@maine.edu.
A full news release is online.