Exeter competition encourages students to kick-start a renewables revolution

The budding scientists showcased their burgeoning science skills to design and create a working wind turbine using only paper, drawing pins and paperclips.

The innovative model performed so well that it won the inaugural ‘Revolutionise Renewables” competition, organised by the University of Exeter.

The winning team, students Efe Otobrise and Ayobobola Apampa from the Loreto Sixth Form College in Manchester, secured a weekend trip to Cornwall as first prize, where they will visit the Penryn Campus during the forthcoming Open Day, on Saturday 14 June.

Efe said she was “surprised, but delighted” to win the competition. She said “I felt a great deal of accomplishment and satisfaction that the research and long conversations with my partner about blade shapes paid off. It shows that a little bit of creativity and time can go a long way.

“We worked out that the blade shape would be the most difficult and prominent factor of the turbine and with the current world moving in the green direction we thought it would be best to incorporate this in our designs which led to round cup like blades. For me working out how we could use paper folding to create this natural shape was the most exciting part.”

The competition, judged by a panel of experts from Exeter’s Renewable Energy department, challenged the scientists of tomorrow to make a wind or hydro turbine using everyday items.

Open to every student in England aged between 15 and 18, the competition tested students’ ability to create a turbine to meet the strict criteria of innovation, design, and effectiveness and then post a video of their work on YouTube.

Richard Cochrane, Director of Education for Renewable Energy at the University of Exeter, said he was delighted to see such pioneering designs produced by the students.

He said: “I would like to offer my congratulations to everyone who entered the competition, and in particular Efe and Ayobobola for such a magnificent effort. They effectively recreated a Savonius turbine using just 12 sheets of paper, which was a tremendous feat.

“We wanted students to really showcase their engineering talents, while also thinking about how Renewable Energy can be revolutionised to meet the challenges of tomorrow and I think everyone who took part met that challenge incredibly well.”

Loreto teacher Stephanie Law, who encouraged students in her Science Club to enter the competition, said she was delighted with the success. She said : “We were all excited about entering a national competition. The Science Club students designed the turbines in one lesson, built them in the second and then fine-tuned and then finally videoed in the third.”

Ayobobola added: “We decided to create something inspired by nature. More specifically the amazing curves and shapes found in nature. Finding out that we won was a big surprise because we weren't expecting to, but it was good to know that the time we spent thinking and researching and then making it paid off.”

The competition comes as the University of Exeter launches its ground-breaking Energy Engineering programme, for students seeking a professional role in the rapidly expanding and strategically important energy sector. The new programme will build on the University’s pioneering Renewable Energy teaching, which has been running since 2003.