The 2025 Collegiate Wind Competition
NOTE: The 2025 competition cycle runs from March 2024 to May 2025. The 2024 competition cycle began in Spring 2023 and will conclude in May 2024. Please visit the 2024 Collegiate Wind Competition HeroX site for information about the 2024 competition cycle.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office launched the Collegiate Wind Competition (CWC) in 2014. The CWC helps multidisciplinary teams of undergraduate students prepare for jobs in wind and renewable energy through the following activities:
- The Turbine Prototype Contest & Turbine Testing Contest, in which teams 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.
- The Project Development Contest, in which teams research wind resource data, transmission infrastructure, and environmental factors to create a site plan and financial analysis for a hypothetical wind farm.
- The Connection Creation Contest, in which teams conduct outreach with the wind energy industry, their local communities, and local media outlets to raise wind energy awareness and promote their accomplishments.
Join the CWC mailing list to receive updates on this competition. Visit the CWC news page for updates, alumni success stories, and other CWC news.
A team must comprise undergraduate students subject to the following guidelines:
- Students may come from a mixture of 4-year colleges or universities in the United States and 2-year institutions, such as community colleges.
- Students from international institutions are welcome to participate on a team but must partner and apply with a team of students from a domestic U.S. institution as the lead. International participants will not be eligible to receive cash prizes directly from DOE.
- Phase 1 teams are not required to have a faculty advisor by the Phase 1 submission deadline; however, teams will need to engage a faculty advisor from a college or university in the United States to be eligible to compete in Phase 2.
Teams should strive to include a diverse range of academic disciplines, including but not limited to:
- Engineering
- Business
- Marketing
- Communications
- Environmental and Public Policy
- Social Sciences
Teams should also strive to include students from groups historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Explore the CWC 2025 Phase 1 Rules and Requirements to learn more.
Contact us directly at Collegiate.Wind@nrel.gov with any additional questions.
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