Cal Maritime cadet-athletes key in wind team's success
Numerous cadet-athletes helped Cal Maritime's collegiate wind team finish fourth overall at the U.S. Department of Energy's Collegiate Wind Competition.
Following a two-year hiatus, this national event welcomed 12 universities, and an additional four teams from across the country, to the CLEANPOWER Conference and Exhibition which took place in San Antonio, Texas, in late May.
Jackie Garcia (women's soccer), Andrew Cavinta, Ryan Martinez, Jacob Pina, Will Tucker (rugby), Quinton Cacal and Kenny Shin (men's soccer) represented Cal Maritime; another pair of rugby cadetathletes, Miles Krauter and Matthew Rizzi, are part of the wind team but were unable to attend.
During the turbine testing portion of the competition, Cal Maritime finished third, choosing to refine its design from recent competitions after resolving issues with pitch control and braking. New to this year's submission was an element that included a foundation, with an efficient installation procedure, to support this year's turbine project in a tank filled with water and a sandy bottom, which mimicked a real-world offshore foundation — an element added by U.S. DOE organizers for the first time this year.
Also incorporated in Cal
Maritime's design was a quadra-pod jacket structure that used sand screw anchors to hold tension loads in the sand. This element successfully prevented movement of the team's turbine throughout the 30-minute test period.
Outside of formal judging, Cal Maritime's innovative foundation design, highly efficient custom-made generator, variable pitch system and trademark aerodynamic (and structurally sound) blades drew rave reviews from various professionals and other competitors.
The second portion of this year's competition included a detailed plan to install a 154 MW wind farm in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast from Galveston. This plan involved selecting precise locations of 11—14 MW turbines based on wind resources, bathymetry, existing oil/gas infrastructure and shipping lanes.
Undersea transmission infrastructure, installation, operating costs, maintenance plans, mitigation of environmental issues and detailed financial model were included in Cal Maritime's submission.
The wind team's final competition element involved a presentation that detailed outreach events, a list that included visits to Benicia High School and Mare Island Technology Academy, and highlighted industry connections created throughout the previous year.