
Sixteen Engineering II students represented John Bapst recently in the Matthew R. Simmons Windstorm Challenge, held at the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at the University of Maine. In this challenge, students built prototype floating wind turbine platforms and test them in UMaine’s W2 Ocean Engineering Lab with simulated ocean conditions. The goal was to create the most steady free-floating platform for a spinning wind turbine, which generates electricity in offshore waters. In the challenge, all teams put their platforms to a 90-second test in the wave basin, and present their design processes to panels of professional engineers. Up to 75 points are awarded for a team’s test result, and up to 25 points for their presentation.
John Bapst students participating (with their team names) were Owen Butler ’22, Avery Starks ’23, Aaron Willard ’23, and Jameson Cole ’23 (Polycarb Pirates); Hunter Clukey ’23, Corbin Fogg ’22, and Tom Luong ’22 (FBI 2); Logan Parker ’22, Jack Perkins ’22, and Finn Oldenburg ’24 (FBI 1); Christian Mooers ’22, Steven McLean ’22, and Keller Whitney ’23 (Vengeance), and Shannon Murphy ’23, Claire Metzger ’25, and Tyler McGoldrick ’22 (Flat Earth Society). The students’ instructor in Engineering II is Mr. Mike Dudley of the John Bapst science faculty.
The Simmons Windstorm Challenge is the centerpiece of the Engineering II curriculum, which focuses on an advanced, multiple-iteration engineering project in order to teach principles of design, project management, engineering documentation, CAD, custom manufacturing, and use of a multi-iteration engineering design process. This challenge poses several difficulties all semester, and even producing a design through several iterations is a major achievement.
Taking home the win in the high school division was The Flat Earth Society. FES scored first in the wave testing portion, and turned in a nearly perfect presentation to score a total of 97 out of a possible 100 points in the challenge. For their win, Shannon, Claire, and Tyler were awarded a paid internship at Advanced Structures and Composites worth $20k yearly, contingent upon their attendance at UMaine.
Congratulations to all participants.