Five engineering students at Robert Gordon University have won a group project award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), which allowed them the opportunity to present research at an international energy conference in Berlin.
The £2,500 grant meant the students were able to attend the second International Conference on Advances in Clean Energy Research, where they delivered their paper on a wind turbine design – winning ‘Best Presentation’ on the day.
For the successful project, the team members designed and built a small turbine, and by using deflectors to optimise the airflow, they were able to increase performance levels when they tested it at RGU’s wind tunnel facility.
The team worked on their project with RGU School of Engineering staff members, Dr Sheikh Islam, Dr Ghazi Droubi, Dr Yashwant Sinha and Dr Nadimul Faisal.
Speaking on behalf of the team, Morven commented: “We selected this project as there was a lack of research within this area of the renewable sector, as most studies have looked at horizontal axis rather than vertical axis wind turbines. This project aimed at developing a new turbine, for rooftop applications, with increased performance over similar designs.
“We feel that any advancement in the field of renewable energy is extremely beneficial to the current market.
“The applications of small devices, such as our turbine design, have applications in the form of small household power generation to urban environments. The turbine design was unique, with a novel aerofoils design used and with the research of deflector plates; two areas of study that can be further researched by future RGU students.”
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