Kansas State University team breezes to high finish in wind turbine competition
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Members of the Wildcat Wind Power team at the 2017 Engineering Challenge of the Collegiate Wind Competition. From left, front: Warren White, associate professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering; Glen Riley; Samuel Wilson; Jake Meyer; Krystof Novak; Lee Evans; and Ruth Douglas Miller, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering; back row: Alex Dzewaltowski; Justin Mann; Dylan Babcock; and Filip Belsky. Not pictured but participating at the event is Lawryn Edmonds. | Download this photo.
MANHATTAN — Kansas State University's Wildcat Wind Power team stormed the competition and came away with second place in the 2017 Engineering Challenge of the Collegiate Wind Competition.
The event, April 20-22 at the National Wind Technology Center near Boulder, Colorado, featured teams from 10 of the universities that participated in the U.S. Department of Energy's 2016 Collegiate Wind Competition.
For the technical challenge, teams were focused on testing a small-scale wind turbine in a wind tunnel with the additional challenge of testing a turbine in yawed inflow. To participate, teams had to design and build a turbine that is able to yaw, which allows the turbine to adjust to changing wind directions; that is safe, reliable and effective; and that uses sound electrical, mechanical and aerodynamic practices. The turbine also had to feature a load system that could match the power being generated.
The team prepared for the challenge during the school year by building and improving a wind tunnel for testing its turbine and developing a computer-controlled data acquisition system. The mechanical engineering students tried new techniques for blade-building, and the electrical engineering students enhanced electronics and controls, said Ruth Douglas Miller, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. Douglas Miller and Warren White, associate professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering, are faculty advisors to the team.
The second-place finish provides great momentum, White and Douglas Miller said, as Kansas State University has been selected to participate in the 2018 Collegiate Wind Competition, May 7-10, 2018. The competition will feature 12 teams.
Members of Wildcat Wind Power include the following students:
Aerian Winzer, junior in civil engineering, Augusta;Sam Wilson, sophomore in mechanical engineering, Derby, and technical challenge participant.
From Greater Kansas City: Tyler Kodanaz, freshman in electrical engineering, Leawood; Lee Evans, senior in mechanical engineering and technical challenge participant, and Caitlin Ingham, senior in social sciences, both from Lenexa; and Aswini Patro, sophomore in computer engineering, andDylan Stidham, senior in electrical engineering, both from Olathe.
Cameron Rohleder, senior in mechanical engineering, Hays; Andrew Rieschick, sophomore in electrical engineering, Holton; Josh Camarena, senior in mechanical engineering, Leavenworth; Alex Dzewaltowski, senior in mechanical engineering, Manhattan, and technical challenge participant;Dylan Babcock, senior in mechanical engineering, McPherson,and technical challenge participant;Justin Mann, junior in mechanical engineering, Rose Hill,and technical challenge participant; Brodie Bowell, senior in electrical engineering, Salina; Glen Riley, senior in mechanical engineering, Silver Lake,and technical challenge participant;Nathan Gladfelter, senior in mechanical engineering, Topeka; Lawryn Edmonds, senior in electrical engineering, Valley Falls, team president and technical challenge participant;Clark Busenitz, senior in mechanical engineering, Whitewater;and Andrew Johnson, senior in electrical engineering, Wichita.
From out of state: Jake Meyer, junior in electrical engineering, Mound City, Missouri,and technical challenge participant;and Jevin Peitzmeier, freshman in electrical engineering, Omaha, Nebraska.
From out of the country: Filip Belsky, undergraduate student in business administration and technical challenge participant, and Krystof Novak, undergraduate student in electrical engineering and technical challenge participant, both from Czech Republic.
