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KidWind Challenge

PA KidWind Challenge

This year we are offering two ways to participate in the Pennsylvania KidWind Challenge!

Teams may choose to participate in the virtual challenge, the build and test challenge, or both challenges.

If you would like more information about how to get started in the classroom, please visit our google site.

Build and Test Challenge:

Regional Competitions (NEW!)

The build and test challenge will occur in person this year! In order to attend the State competition at Penn State University Park on March 29, 2023, you must attend a regional competition and place in the top three in your division (We reserve the right to adjust the number of qualifiers from each division due to the number of registered participating teams in attendance at each regional competition). You may choose which regional competition you want to attend. We are offering three regional competitions this year at the following locations:

  • Penn State Greater Allegheny - February 17, 2023, with a snow date on February 24, 2023.
  • Penn State Hazelton- February 16, 2023, with a snow date on February 23, 2023.
  • Penn State Altoona- February 28, 2023.

State Competition

  • Penn State University Park (HUB-Robeson Center) - March 29, 2023.

More Information

  • Build and Test- Teams will design and build their own blades from recycled materials and incorporate into a turbine system, including a generator, hub, and possibly a gearbox (see traditional KidWind rules). 
  • If a team competes in both the virtual and build and test challenges, they may consider 3D printing the blades designed in the simulation.
  • Live presentation- Teams will present a <10 min presentation to the panel of judges on the day of competition. The presentation should document the progression of their turbine design. Teams should also include a description of their design philosophy and how the team iterated on this design or made improvements to the design to increase the performance. 

Team scores will be calculated using 50% performance from testing and 50% judging.


Virtual Challenge:

The virtual challenge includes 2 components: 1) a virtual simulation, and 2) a pre-recorded presentation.

  • Virtual Simulation- An online simulation based challenge that is in sync with KidWind's National Simulation Challenge (details can be found here). There will be three divisions broken down by grade (4-5, 6-8, 9-12). Students may participate as individuals or as a part of a team. If you are part of a team (up to 5 people), the overall performance of the team will be based on an algorithm that includes all team members' scores. We will cover the first fifty teams of five students. After the first fifty teams, it is the registering schools' responsibility to cover the $25 registration fee per team of five students. Submissions for the PA virtual challenge will be due by the evening of March 29th (you may also submit for the national virtual challenge which is due April 1).
  • Pre-recorded presentation- Teams will be asked to record a <10 min presentation showing pictures of their turbine design and their wind farm layout in at least 3 levels of the simulation. Teams should also include a description of their design philosophy and how this may have adjusted as they moved through the levels. 

Team scores will be calculated using 50% performance from the sim and 50% from video quality and judging.