North Kingstown, RI- The North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce’s WindWinRI program is hosting Rhode Island 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.
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.
“This is exciting- a great advance for KidWind! Simulation is such an integral part of industry today that training our – future engineers through this platform is a powerful means to acclimate them to the future”.
– said Stephen Nolet, sponsor of the competition and Principal Engineer and Senior Director of Innovation and Technology, TPI Composites, Inc. based in Warren, RI.
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 March 20th and ends May 8th. For three years, the students from Shea High School, and for two years the students from Block Island 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. The Challenge also includes placing turbines into the environment on the interactive wind map where students explore the challenges faced with cost vs. power output based on the budget model they receive”. – said Kristin Urbach, Executive Director of the NK Chamber
The top two teams from the WindWinRI KidWind Rhode Island High School Simulation Challenge will qualify to compete in the National KidWind Challenge in June that brings together top performing teams from across the nation to compete alongside each other in Indianapolis, Minnesota. This year’s National KidWind Challenge will be co-located with the Collegiate Wind Competition and include multiple opportunities to meet with an learn from members of the Collegiate Wind Teams.
For more information about the North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce’s WindWinRI Online KidWind High School Simulation Wind Turbine Competition, visit www.windwinri.com. If your high school is in Rhode Island and is interested in participating in the Challenge, please contact 401.295.5566.
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.