Students compete in Wind Blade Challenge

TOWN OF LOWVILLE, New York (WWNY) - Teams of north country students took part in a battle of power and speed Friday by putting their homemade wind blades to the test in a friendly competition.

BOCES’ 2023 Wind Blade Challenge brought students from a few different schools to the JCC Education Center in Lewis County, a county where there are plenty of wind turbines.

“The whole idea is so they understand when they get here, what we do here at BOCES, and how we can actually apply things,” said Walter Berwick, BOCES engineering and design teacher.

Students created their own wind blades and were tested in two categories. The first was speed.

“The first one we had two different speeds of air going by the wind blade. A low and a high speed. That was a voltage test to see how much voltage they could create using the wind blades,” said Berwick. “The second one was a lift test, so it was more of a force. They had to lift a weight up at a set wind speed.”

Students had two tries to test their blades.

After getting a zero on their first lift test, it was back to the drawing board for Team Blade from Carthage Middle School.

After a remodel and some teamwork, simplicity proved the key to victory.

“Our first attempt, I really think we overlooked it and tried too hard to come up with some sort of intricate design. I think sometimes less is more,” said Catherine Wilay, Team Blade.

Team Blade took first place with its final design.

Winners went home with a mini drone and Bluetooth speakers.

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