‘The Floating Beast’ Is UMaine’s Wind Technology Contest Winner

May 13th, 2012 by Zachary Shahan

Four Madison high-school students have won the University of Maine’s top award in the Windstorm Challenge 2012 contest. They call their product “The Floating Beast” — it’s “a scale-model, floating offshore wind-turbine platform.”

The team of winners was composed of Travis Emerson, Stephen Cusson, Jess Theberge and Matt Soucy.

The win makes Soucy eligible for a $20,000 work-study scholarship over four years at the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center, a program within the school’s engineering department.

Theberge and Emerson will attend Maine Maritime Academy and Cusson said he plans to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps.

“I’m so proud of my physics students,” their teacher Erin Demshar said. “Through Windstorm Challenge 2012, students applied their classroom knowledge to real world problems.”

The Floating Beast is a scale model of a wind turbine platform designed to float 20 miles off shore.

For an image and to see more info, check out the Maine Sunday Telegram‘s story.

Image via Windstorm Challenge website.

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Tags: floating wind turbine platform, floating wind turbines, offshore wind turbine platforms, Offshore Wind Turbines, quickies, University of Maine, Windstorm Challenge

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.