Cal Maritime’s student-athletes fuel first-place finish in Department of Energy’s annual Collegiate Wind Competition
Posted: May 14, 2024

Cal Maritime’s student-athletes fuel first-place finish in Department of Energy’s annual Collegiate Wind Competition

 

VALLEJO, Calif. – Campus-wide celebrations that started with Cal Maritime's annual graduation ceremony continued throughout the following week when its College Wind Team won the U.S. Department of Energy's 2024 Collegiate Wind Competition at the Cleanpower Conference and Exhibition in Minneapolis.

Cal Maritime won its second overall championship against a group of finalists that received a coveted invitation to Minnesota for this year's event Cal Poly, Johns Hopkins, Kansas State University, Penn State, Rice, Texas Tech University with South Plains College, The City College of New York, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Virginia Tech University with James Madison University. 

Playing key roles for the Keelhaulers at this 11th-annual competition were numerous student-athletes:

  • Jasen Nicholas (Men's Soccer) — Turbine Design: Team Lead for Electronics and Controls
  • Matt Rizzi (Men's Rugby) — Project Development: Team Lead
  • Vonne Ng-Bader (Women's Soccer) — Connection Creation: Team Lead and Turbine Design: Foundation
  • Cyrus Khaleeli (Dinghy/Offshore Sailing) — Turbine Design: Electronics and Controls
  • Nathan Witte (Men's Soccer) — Turbine Design: Team Lead for Generator, Electronics and Controls

Nicolas, a mechanical engineering student, participated on various subgroups for the CWC Team the previous two years before leading this year's group as its project manager; Rizzi is an international business and logistics major; Ng-Bader is senior mechanical engineering major (also holds a United States Coast Guard Third Assistant Engineer License) who joined the team as a sophomore; Khaleeli and Witte are senior mechanical engineering majors pursuing their Third Assistant Engineer License.

By excelling in building and testing turbine prototypes, proposing hypothetical offshore wind farm site designs, and crafting impactful community outreach strategies, Cal Maritime won its first CWC overall championship since 2018.

In a competition designed to prepare college students for careers in the wind energy and renewable energy sectors, participating teams were asked to propose solutions for integrating offshore wind energy into hybrid systems, identify options for offshore wind energy's utilization and engage with industry and stakeholders to share insights on the benefits of wind energy in the broader power grid.

Since its debut appearance 10 years ago, CSUM finished second overall in 2015, third in 2019 and fourth in 2017 and 2022. When the CWC took place virtually in 2020, Cal Maritime placed first in Turbine Design and third in Project Development.


2024 Collegiate Wind Competition Results

Overall First Place: Cal Maritime
Overall Second Place: University of Colorado Boulder
Overall Third Place: Kansas State University

Turbine Testing Contest winner: Cal Maritime
Project Development Contest winner: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Turbine Prototype Contest winner: Cal Poly
Connection Creation Contest winner: Cal Poly