It's WINDSday | March 13, 2024

Celebrating the Power of Wind, Clean Energy and a Green Environment

This was my fourth Kid Wind competition but first as a judge. My assignment was to join Dominion Energy sales rep Emily Smith and Avangrid’s Nikki Ackerson, project manager for their Kitty Hawk windfarm, to hear 17 teams of 4^th and 5^th graders tell us how they designed, adjusted, tested and finally agreed on the blades and gears that would power their mock wind turbines.

OMG. Did we receive an education on both how ten and eleven-year-olds collaborate (amazingly well) and present (both brilliantly and chaotically at times) but also on how much they know about physics, math, and engineering. Terms like “axial force, newtons, joules, angles of attack, and coefficients” often left Emily and I, and even the smarter Nikki, scratching our heads.

Some of the boys looked and sounded like mini-Einsteins, but it wasn’t just them. Djakata from the “Eagles” of Bettie F. Williams said there were nights “when I got no sleep,” worrying that the blades for their turbine were not large enough to catch sufficient wind. And you thought these youngish adolescents only cared about braids and basketball.  

There were several high school squads (and not enough middle school ones) vying for trips to the state tournament, but it was the elementary level that really showed up March 4 for KidWind regionals held at the Advanced Technology Center in VA Beach. The favorite going in was from Windsor Elementary in Isle of Wight County because their team of fifth graders also competed as 4th graders. So rather than start from scratch, they simply improved on their award-winning 2023 entry.

All the other schools (except for Kiptopeke on the Eastern Shore) were from VA Beach (Cooke, Thalia, Strawbridge, Three Oaks, Hermitage, Bettie F. Williams, Lynnhaven, Seatack, Christopher Farms).

Kudos to superintendent Don Robertson and CTE Director Sara Lockett for their encouragement.

KidWind Judges Joel, Nikki and Emily

The kids were dogged in trying everything from balsa to sliced water bottles and Solo cups for blade material to achieve the right drag and lift to generate sufficient voltage while not causing their towers to collapse in KidWind’s “wind tunnels,” basically four box fans. One team hung a cup of washers around their turbine for stability. Almost all used protractors to gauge angles. Remember those?

One vivid memory of many from our five hours in the judges’ chamber? I asked a 4th grader from Achievable Dream Academy in VB whether his crew’s cardboard-based blades were superior to the 5th graders’ wooden ones. “Oh yes, they are,” he replied confidently. By 2025, when he and his colleagues are older and wiser grade school “seniors”, they may have chosen differently. And speaking of growing into their roles, one teacher said her 5th graders mentor her Little STEAMers (K-3). Now that’s how to build a farm system.

Every public and private school across Hampton Roads, heck Virginia, should enter KidWind. From my vantage point, this is a STEM exercise that young scholars can handle, as complex as the material sounded to us. Find the right instructor or club and go for it. The kids might earn a trip to nationals, which this May will be in Minneapolis. We’ll keep you posted on how our local ones fare.  www.kidwind.org

Because of concerns from residents of Sandbridge, where its power would come ashore, Avangrid Renewables still awaits a sign off by Virginia Beach City Council on a 176 turbine wind farm it wants to build well off Kitty Hawk, NC. While the members debate, they now have some impressive fiscal figures to consider.

According to an economic study prepared by Chmura Economics and Analytics on behalf of Avangrid, the development will create or support:

• $1.2 billion in economic impact through “direct, indirect and induced” spending
• $270 million in tax revenue for VB over 30 years
• 12,000 jobs in the city, region and state
• Enough clean electricity to power a million homes

Regional leaders would like to have a second wind farm off our coast, along with Dominion’s CVOW, to attract more companies to serve the nascent clean energy industry. “If you look at Virginia’s maritime assets and its business-friendly climate,” wrote Ken Kimmell, Avangrid’s chief development officer, “it’s ready to be the mid-Atlantic cluster, but it needs more than one project to do it.” Stay tuned. 

Jason Walker and Matt Rose were not particularly close friends at Cox High in VA Beach (Class of 2003) but after college at JMU and a 15-year career as a CPA, Jason reconnected with Matt, an ODU MBA alum, and a computer networking techie. “We talked about starting a small business and found a common interest in coffee,” says Jason, learning the “grind” from a mentor in Philadelphia.

Matt, who still works full time from home for Xalient, a UK-based IT consultant, is “the filter” for Jason, the “idea guy as well as the chief roaster in their manufacturing and retail space on the first floor of Norfolk’s Dominion Tower (where Vintage Kitchen once stood). Located on the Elizabeth River Trail with wonderful views of the water, vessels and drydocks, it’s an appealing location.

“Our primary audience is the 1,500 people working in the Tower, but walk up business is good enough that we have expanded from five to seven days a week (7:30am-2:30pm each day),” says Jason, who loves his new venture, which boasts flavorful beans from such locales as Ethiopia and Columbia and tasty items like Bagel Nutz to pair with your cup of Joe. 

The name “Neptune’s Fury” comes from nautical lore and is all over both a line of merch in the store and bags of blends, also available online or at Lori Golding’s farmers market in Ghent and Old Beach. “Park in the Dominion Garage, and we’ll validate your parking,” says Matt. No wonder we wanted these two Cox Falcons as WINDSday Partners. 

Neptune’s Café & Roastery

999 Waterside Drive | Downtown Norfolk

www.neptunesfury.com

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