Guelph - Ontario high school students will come together at the University of Guelph April 22 -- Earth Day -- to put their engineering skills to the test at WindENG 2009.

This year's event has attracted students from Windsor to Sudbury to Brockville – about 200 in all, making up 35 teams – who will showcase their energy-generating wind turbine designs and compete for cash prizes.

“Our goal is to engage young people in engineering and design and get them to think about ways that engineering can be fun and contribute in positive ways to society,” said engineering professor Warren Stiver, one of the organizers of the event.

“Having the event on Earth Day is perfect because engineering needs to be about serving the needs of society as a whole, especially given the environmental challenges we’re facing.”

The students’ wind turbine designs will be judged by a panel of practising engineers and tested in the University’s wind tunnel. The top prize will go to the team whose windmill produces the highest average power output. Teams will also be evaluated for their design decisions and video presentation.

The first-place team will be awarded $2,000, with $1,000 going to the team that places second and $500 to the third-place team. There will also be awards for best video, spirit, creativity and workmanship, as well as a Toyota Challenge prize for the team that makes the cleanest, greenest transportation choice for travelling to the competition.

New this year is a workshop for teachers, which has drawn participants from as far away as New York State and New Brunswick. The workshop is intended for middle/high school science and technical education teachers who are interested in renewable energy, physics, engineering and design.