FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- May 5, 2021
Media Contact: Alex Hand, NK Chamber of Commerce- 401.295.5566
North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce’s WindWinRI hosting Rhode Island’s First High School Wind Turbine Competition- KidWind Regional Virtual Challenge on May 7th
North Kingstown, RI- The North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce’s WindWinRI program is hosting Rhode Island’s first regional High School Simulation Wind Turbine Competition with KidWind- an educational organization focused on teaching the world about renewable energy and helping thousands of educators bring wind and solar power to life in the classroom. The 1st , 2nd , and 3rd place winners will be announced at a virtual ceremony on May 10th at 3 pm.
“It is a rigorous and fun opportunity for students to learn about designing and building Wind Turbines, especially given the expected growth in Wind Energy jobs in our region here in New England”- said Verda Jones, Pre-Engineering Teacher, Charles E. Shea High School in Pawtucket.
As a result of the pandemic, KidWind developed an online Wind Turbine Simulation Challenge where students build and compete in the virtual space; understand blade element theory; virtually construct and test wind turbines and wind farms; explore and wind turbine aerodynamics and concepts in detail.
"The WindWinRI wind turbine competition program has given students the chance to have hands-on, real world experience in the wind energy field. Although they cannot compete in-person this year, the simulation software and virtual competition are bringing a new dynamic to what students are learning. With the simulation, students can take a design that performs well in theory and then actually build it to see how other external factors play a role - it is true engineering! The students are really excited about the competition and underclassman are looking forward to next year”. – said Amy Biagioni, Science Teacher, Exeter West Greenwich High School.
Student teams from Shea High School in Pawtucket, Block Island High School, and Exeter West Greenwich High School are participating in the Rhode Island regional challenge that opens May 3rd and ends May 7th. For three years, the students from Pawtucket Shea High School and Block Island High School, and for two years the students from Exeter West Greenwich High School have been enrolled in the WindWinRI high school offshore wind certification program. Last year, the Rhode Island Challenge was cancelled due to the pandemic.
“WindWinRI is proud to host the KidWind Simulation Challenge for the State of Rhode Island as it’s a natural extension of our work in building a career pathway in the offshore wind industry”. - said Kristin Urbach, Executive Director of the North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce
The top two teams from the WindWinRI KidWind Rhode Island High School Simulation Challenge will qualify to compete in the National KidWind Challenge- virtual in June. That competition brings together top performing teams from across the nation to compete alongside each other.
The North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce is one of Rhode Island’s leading business membership and trade organizations located in North Kingstown, RI that includes the Quonset Business Park that employs more than 10,000 people within over 200 businesses.
Quonset, the home to Port Davisville, has served as the staging, storage, and assembly area for wind turbine equipment.
For a link of the press release visit: https://drive.google.com/file/...