The SUNY Poly Offshore Wind Training Team SPOWT², established last year to prepare SUNY Poly students for careers in the offshore wind industry, recently conducted their first K-12 summer camp, “Renewable Rangers” from July 8-12 on campus, as part of the Summer Spotlight Series.

The camp was conducted by Dr. Aarthi Sekaran, Dr. Zhanjie Li, Dr. Jiayue Shen, and Dr. Kazi Imran, with the assistance of three undergraduate student aides. The camp was primarily a hands-on approach to renewable energy and had different sessions for each module where campers (11-13 years old) were given short introductory lectures to the topics on renewable energy sources, hydroelectric, solar, and wind energy complemented by energy-themed games. Each of these sessions was followed by hands-on activities where campers could build and test models of hand-crank generators, wind turbines, hydroelectric turbines, and solar-powered cars. Students were encouraged to explore and were challenged by testing different designs and modifying their models for better performance.  

This camp was free to attend for students via a recently awarded Offshore Wind Training Institute (OWTI) grant. The nearly $4 million in funding, announced by New York Governor Kathy Hochul in early 2024, supports 12 programs at eight State University of New York (SUNY) campus-led programs.