Collegiate Wind Competition

Who Can Participate?

Teams can be comprised of undergraduate students from:

• A single four-year college or university in the United States
• A four-year college or university in the United States as the lead institution partnering with a two-year institution in the United States, such as a community college
• A four-year college or university in the United States as the lead institution partnering with an international institution, with both institutions being represented at the final CWC event
  
  International teams will not be eligible to receive support funding from the U.S. Department of Energy or the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and must provide their own support.

Meet the teams participating in CWC 2023.

Who Can Apply?

• Applications can be submitted by one student, multiple students, and/or a faculty advisor.
• Teams do not have to be fully formed to apply. Faculty can still submit an application if students and team leads have not yet been identified, and students can submit if they have not yet identified a faculty advisor.
• In either case, in their application, students should describe how they intend to recruit their faculty advisor, and faculty should describe how they intend to recruit students.

How Do I Apply?

DOE is accepting applications for CWC 2024 through June 15, 2023! Apply to CWC 2024 on the CWC HeroX page.

To learn more about the CWC 2024 application requirements, explore the CWC 2024 Rules Document

DOE has announced the colleges and universities selected to participate in Phase 2 of CWC 2023. CWC 2023 is scheduled to take place in Boulder, Colorado, in May 2023.

Competition Structure

Throughout the school year leading up to the CWC final event, participating teams focus on four competition elements, outlined below:

Turbine Prototype Contest & Turbine Testing Contest

Design, build, and present a unique, wind-driven power system based on market research and test the wind turbine in an on-site wind tunnel.

Project Development Contest

Research wind resource data, transmission infrastructure, and environmental factors to create a site plan and financial analysis for a hypothetical wind farm.

Learn more about the Project Development Contest.

Connection Creation Contest

Partner with wind industry professionals, raise awareness of wind energy in your local community, and work with local media to promote your team's accomplishments.

General Competition Timeline

Each Spring: CWC organizers begin accepting applications for the next year's competition. Interested schools fill out an application to participate in CWC during the upcoming school year.

Each Summer: CWC organizers select the teams who will participate in the competition, during the first half of the upcoming school year. Project funds are available to the participating teams.

Each Fall: Teams prepare their first set of submissions.

Each Winter and Spring: Teams prepare their final submissions, conduct final turbine testing, and present their work to a panel of wind energy experts at the final CWC event.