Performance

Teams will research, design, build, test and compete with a windmill device designed to capture and use the available wind energy to complete the tasks. The performance of the devices will be judged in the taks below. Please note the Middle school teams will compete in tasks mechanical power and wind to vehicle transfer. High school teams will compete in all three tasks.

Mechanical Power:

greatest mass raised 75 cm in the least amount of time.

Wind to Vehicle Transfer:

greatest average speed achieved by the defined vehicle through the track distance.

Electrical Power & Wind Direction Response:

greatest average power output from the defined generator/electrical load during a 60 degree change in wind direction.

Acdemic Display

The purpose of the display is to provide a visual representation of the engineering design process used to develop the team’s device. Teams will present their device and relevant aspects of the design project from the technical paper. The focus of the display should only be the actual device presented for performance.

Required components:

• Abstract
• Data and Technical Explanation
• Scaled Drawing
• Cost and Labor Summary

Oral Presentation

The purpose of the presentation is to provide information about the engineering design project to a panel of judges. Students will organize and deliver a focused, coherent presentation that provides a overview of the development of their design including research, experimentation and conclusions. The judges should understand the speech and become engaged in the presentation. Speeches must be the original work of the team.

Required components:

• The processes and procedures used in design development.
• Discussion of related physical phenomena.
• Observations and data related to any experiments, testing or research conducted.
• Conclusions derived from the engineering design process.

Technical Paper

Objective

To clearly document their engineering design process, MESA students participating in the MESA USA National Engineering Design Competition will write a technical paper regarding the principles, design, and performance of their device.

Length

The paper should not be less than five pages or more than fifteen pages in length (excluding the title page and appendix). Thorough but concise papers are encouraged.

Electronic Format

Teams are required to save the document in Portable Document Format (PDF) or Microsoft Word format prior to submission. Teams shall also ensure the submitted final product can be read using Adobe Reader (8.0 or newer) or Microsoft Word (2003 or newer) and matches their original document.

Authorship

The authors must be members of the student team participating in the competition. The paper must be the original work of the authors. If professional assistance was needed for information or writing assistance, their names should be included in the references.

Deadline

The technical paper must be submitted via e-mail to Washington MESA on or before 5:00 pm local time on Tuesday, June 15, 2012. The papers will be judged and scored prior to the National Competition. Papers shall be e-mailed to: Washington MESA, Head Judge at WAMESA@uw.edu.

Written Presentation

The paper should be typed, double-spaced, and have a cover sheet. Graphics should be computer generated. The font used should be Times New Roman and the font size should be 12. A one-inch margin is required on all sides. Readability will help your paper achieve a higher score in the judging.

The paper should include the following:

• Title Page - not included in the page count
• Abstract
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Discussion
• Conclusions
• Recommendations
• Referencesorbibliography

• Acknowledgments
• Appendices (Optional) - not included in the page count

FAQ

Question:

Wind-to-Vehicle Transfer. Is there a time limit?

Answer:

No. The test itself is based on the speed that the vehicle travels through the speed gate. Students will have a set-up time of about 2-3 minutes. However, once you’ve set up and told the judges to start the fan, there is no time limit on how long you can take, within reason.

Question:

Wind-to-Vehicle Transfer. Is the car provided by Colorado MESA?

Answer:

No, each team must design and build their own car. One car per team. The only design constraint is the car must weigh 200 grams and travel across a 50cm speed zone.

Question:

Team Composition. Is it required for each team to have 2 males and 2 females?

Answer:

The 2 male and 2 female rule is an attempt to diversify the teams as much as possible. We realize that not all the schools well be able to have a true split between females and males, but the goal is to avoid having all male teams.

Question:

Wind Energy Design Components. What performace items are included?

Answer:

Only the device performance will be judged during the pilot year, which includes the wind-to-vehicle transfer, mechanical power and rotational speed. Teams will not need to create a academic display, write a technical paper or prepare an oral presentation.

Question:

Wind-to-Vehicle Transfer. What and How?

Answer:

All components/parts required to make your vehicle attach to the wind turbine must be designed and constructed by each team. Colorado MESA will provide the table and track. The pulley system and associated parts must be designed, built and brought be each team.

Question:

Do you design the wieghts yourself?

Answer:

Yes. Part a of question 13 states "teams will provide all materials necessary to complete the task." We allow this as an option understanding that some teams will not be able to raise as much mass as others. Your team will have to experiement between weights lifted and the time it takes to lift the weight. The ratio between (trial mass/trial time) will determine what is the best mass for your team.