Powering Up the Next Generation of Offshore Leaders at the BSEE Tech Challenge
By John Northington, Advisor to the Director
February 29, 2016 - The school may be fresh off a successful football season and bowl game win, but on Friday March 4th, a new kind of #HTownTakeover will arrive at the University of Houston’s TDECU stadium. At kickoff time, 120 local students will take the field to compete in a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) battle that will see them using cutting-edge electronics to fly helicopters across the Gulf of Mexico.
Well… almost.
At the inaugural High School Offshore and Technology Stars Challenge, co-hosted by BSEE and the Ocean Energy Safety Institute (OESI), teams of competitors will design an energy harvesting system that could be used to capture and recycle soundwave energy created by offshore oil platform operations. They will be working with futuristic NASA-developed piezoelectric technology, a material that can generate an electrical charge when it bends or vibrates, to build a harvesting circuit that will power a remote control helicopter. The teams will also develop a flight plan to a fictional offshore drilling operation, and each team’s helicopter must then navigate through a course on the football field meant to simulate travel to the offshore platform.
The students are competing for a total of $10,000 in prize money and grants, which will be divided among the top four high-scoring teams and their schools, as well as the chance to be recognized at this year’s Offshore Technology Conference in May.
The piezoelectric technology featured in the competition has never before been adapted for use offshore, which means that the Tech Challenge teams will be breaking new ground as they develop their energy harvesting systems. It is an exciting opportunity to activate the technical know-how and creativity of the participants, as well as to highlight the growing importance of STEM education.
In fact, the Tech Challenge fits under the umbrella of the Department of the Interior’s youth initiative, introduced by Secretary Jewell in 2013 and aimed at increasing engagement with the next generation in four key areas: play, learning, service, and work. Here at BSEE we are particularly mindful of the need to cultivate future leaders and professionals for the energy industry, and are always looking for ways to better connect and communicate with young people. BSEE and our partner OESI are proud to host this first-of-its-kind event in Houston, a city that is home to over 3,700 energy-related businesses.
Next year will see the Tech Challenge grow to include another energy-centric city, New Orleans, and plans are in the works for further expansion in the years to come. For more information about the 2016 event and the students who will be taking their passion for science to the gridiron, you can visit www.bsee.gov//sites/bsee.gov/files/fact-sheet/fact-sheet/techchallenge.pdf.