Vision and Mission
With a passion for the environment and mitigating the effects of climate change, our team believes wind energy is a key part in the transition to clean energy, especially in Wisconsin. This industry is growing, with room for innovation and advancement for engineers that are interested in energy and helping the environment. The Collegiate Wind Competition allows us to gain experience in our industry of interest while encouraging our community to embrace renewable energy and focus on environmental sustainability.
Strategy
WiscWind has several returning members, which allows for new members to receive guidance from their teammates while also gaining the tools to reliably lead in the future. WiscWind has also been able to connect with alumni and industry experts over the years, who have given us valuable insights. An overarching theme is that putting in effort and hard work, along with having a true passion for the industry, will lead to opportunities to thrive in the workforce. We are also fortunate to have the facilities to reliably build and test our designs, including a wind tunnel.WiscWind aims to succeed in all elements of the CWC through an iterative process of design-build-test-learn. This not only ensures a more refined version of our final products and presentations, but also strengthens the problem-solving skills that our members will utilize in their careers.
Background
WiscWind, a student organization at UW-Madison, has four sub-teams: Mechanical, Electrical, Project Development, and Outreach. To improve on previous years, we have developed a more structured meeting plan and opened communication between the sub-teams. Together with the reinstatement of an overall team lead, these actions have increased cohesiveness.
The mechanical and electrical teams work together on the turbine prototype contest. From previous years, the team has learned to start testing as early as possible, including individual parts. The team is looking to combine various prototypes that proved to work in the past into one cohesive design.
The project development team has thoroughly researched offshore wind and the Galveston site to narrow down a specific lease area. In the spring, the team will improve upon their initial site plan using Continuum 2.0 and conduct a thorough financial analysis.
The outreach team is responsible for Connection Creation Contest elements. The team partnered with the Wisconsin Energy Institute to hold an interactive turbine-building activity with community members, as well as increased the size of the team through recruiting efforts. Going forward, the team is expecting to reach a wider audience with a revival of its social media accounts, a new website, and increased connections with faculty and professional organizations.
Social Media Accounts
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wiscwind/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wisc.wind/