{"id":3630,"date":"2026-04-22T11:17:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T15:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/naval-science-technology\/?p=3630"},"modified":"2026-04-22T11:19:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T15:19:48","slug":"ri-middle-school-students-complete-wind-turbine-engineering-challenge-at-uri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/naval-science-technology\/ri-middle-school-students-complete-wind-turbine-engineering-challenge-at-uri\/","title":{"rendered":"RI Middle School Students Complete Wind Turbine Engineering Challenge at URI"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences (SMILE) Program hosted their Wind Turbine Middle School Engineering Challenge on April 7, 2026 at the URI main campus. For the students who participated, it was an exciting and engaging day of hands-on STEM learning and exploration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/smile\/about\/\">SMILE Program<\/a> is an after school academic enrichment program for students in fourth through twelfth grades. The purpose of The SMILE Program is to increase the numbers of Rhode Island students who graduate high school well-prepared to enter higher education and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The Navy STEM Program at URI is proud to provide significant funding to the SMILE Program through its ANCHOR contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the challenge, students designed, built, and tested their own wind turbines, experimenting with blade angles, speed, and power output as they worked to optimize performance. The challenge encouraged critical thinking, teamwork, and iterative problem-solving, with students refining their designs based on real-time results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to the engineering challenge, students had the opportunity to experience campus life at the University of Rhode Island. The day included a guided campus tour, lunch at Hope and Butterfield Dining Halls, and a spirited sail car competition that added an extra layer of fun and friendly competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A highlight of the day was the opportunity for students to connect with URI students, who shared their experiences studying engineering and the sciences. These conversations provided valuable insight and inspiration, helping participants envision future pathways in STEM fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you to all of the students, educators, and volunteers who made this event such a meaningful and successful experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Students designed, built, and tested their own wind turbines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5015,"featured_media":3631,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/naval-science-technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/naval-science-technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/naval-science-technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/naval-science-technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5015"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/naval-science-technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3630"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/naval-science-technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3634,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/naval-science-technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3630\/revisions\/3634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/naval-science-technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/naval-science-technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/naval-science-technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/naval-science-technology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}