UW–Madison team to compete in 2022 Collegiate Wind Competition

Members of the WiscWind team assemble their wind turbine prototype during the 2019 collegiate wind competition

WiscWind team members Kelsey Hacker (left) and Jacob Colvis prepare the team's model wind turbine for testing at the 2019 Collegiate Wind Competition at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) near Boulder, Colo., on May 8, 2019.
Werner Slocum/NREL

A University of Wisconsin–Madison team will take part in the country’s most prominent undergraduate-level wind energy competition for the seventh consecutive year.

The UW–Madison team, dubbed WiscWind, is one of 11 teams invited to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2022 Collegiate Wind Competition, slated to take place May 16–19, 2022, at the CLEANPOWER Conference & Exhibition in San Antonio, Texas.

The competition challenges undergraduate teams to develop a wind energy project and design, build, and test a model wind turbine. Participating teams will apply classroom learning to a real-world problem, gain valuable wind energy experience, and connect with industry leaders while preparing to enter the wind energy workforce.

WiscWind team members watch the performance testing of the team's model wind turbine at the 2019 Collegiate Wind Competition at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) near Boulder, Colo., on May 8, 2019.
Werner Slocum/NREL

The WiscWind team, made up of UW–Madison students from a variety of majors and backgrounds, has been chosen to participate in every iteration of the competition since 2016.

“It’s a great honor to be selected again, and it demonstrates how well established this competition and the WiscWind team have become as an energy education activity at UW–Madison,” says Scott Williams, research and education coordinator at the Wisconsin Energy Institute and lead advisor to the team. “In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, our students have shown tremendous spirit, resilience, and adaptability that will carry through to next year’s competition.”

Alongside their work on preparing for the 2021 competition, WiscWind has been actively involved with the 2021 Wisconsin KidWind Challenge. The event, in which teams of middle- and high-school students from across the state take part in a hands-on student wind turbine design competition, will be held virtually this year on Saturday, March 6.

"In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, our students have shown tremendous spirit, resilience, and adaptability that will carry through to next year’s competition."
Scott Williams

Williams and the returning WiscWind students will begin recruiting new members to the team later this spring.

In addition to UW–Madison, the colleges and universities selected to participate in the 2022 Collegiate Wind Competition are: