EIC Design Challenge:
Create Sustainable Energy
Charged with the task of creating
sustainable energy by utilizing wind power,
high school juniors Shane Baroni-Meyers,
Tashe-Ann Earle, Kaylee Goolsby, Saman
Majed, Sean Steding and seniors Angela
Inwood, Wisdom Johnson, Matthew
Popichak and Rachel Roach dug in their
heels to design and create a viable solution.
In February, students traveled to the
Energy Innovation Center in Pittsburgh
and were presented a design challenge: to
devise a vertical wind turbine for use on
the EIC grounds. Discussion focused on the
company Windstax, a new EIC stakeholder.
Company CEO Ron Gdovic and EIC President
and CEO Robert Meeder, who spoke with
the teens, founded the challenge on green,
alternative energy.
Students from West Allegheny High
School and Parkway West Career and
Technology Center (enrolled in the Electrical
Systems program) were also invited to
participate in the design challenge. Four
teams were formed: education, power,
design and budget. Participating on a team
was not school-specific; groups were formed
with those expressing the most interest in a
specific area. After an initial meeting at EIC,
the four teams collaborated via the internet,
email and a shared Google drive. Students
also met at Parkway on two occasions
to brainstorm and hear from sustainable
energy experts.
While in the classroom, design team
member Sean Steding accessed Google
Earth to determine the location of the EIC
Energy Innovation Center President and CEO Robert Meeder led students on a tour through the
building.
building and surrounding topography.
Working with classmates and utilizing 3-D
software, Sketch Up, they began drafting
a 3-D model of a vertical, non-directional
wind turbine on a computer. By applying
the plans determined by the entire design
team, the drawing was recreated in sections
using the school’s 3-D printer. Sean, Shane
Baroni-Meyers, Saman Majed and Rachel
Roach assembled the sections and designed
Students met off-site on several occasions to brainstorm with
peers from West Allegheny and Parkway West Career and Technical
Center. Mr. Bill Harris, engineering design teacher, led a round table
discussion during one of the group sessions.
44 Carlynton-Montour
a base on which the turbine would be
positioned.
The 3-D wind stack model was
constructed of multiple cup-like sections
or moving rotors. As wind moved through
the rotors, they rotated to create energy or
turbine power. The students’ incorporated
a floodlight at the top of the stack that
changed colors based on the intensity of the
speed or power generated by the turbine.
Sean Steding, by consulting with other design team members, created a
3-dimensional drawing of the Energy Innovation Center to depict the location of
a wind stack. The design challenge charged students with the task of creating a
wind turbine to create sustainable energy for the building.