Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School engineering students described a collaborative offshore wind-energy project on Wednesday that placed a 1,600-watt turbine on Cuttyhunk Island for a one-year field trial and installed a second tower on the school roof for ongoing comparison.

The project was funded by a $73,000 grant from the South Coast Community Foundation, co-written by Michelle Carvalho of the Cuttyhunk STEAM Academy, said Bob Sutherland, teacher in the senior engineering and robotics shop. “Tonight, you will hear from some of our engineering students about a collaborative project between Greater and Veterinary Tech and the Cutty Hunt Steam Academy to study offshore wind energy,” Sutherland said.

Students described a curriculum that combined generator construction, blade design, wind-tunnel testing and field studies. Aidan Cardoso, a senior in engineering and robotics, said the class made two towers—one installed on the school roof and the other on the island—and collected comparative data on power output, wind speed and rotations per minute. “The project all began when Michelle Carvalho approached the GNDVT engineering program,” Cardoso said.

Student teams made four trips to Cuttyhunk in 2024—March (wind study), May (field study), October (preparations) and November (installation)—and chose a site adjacent to the island’s solar farm to minimize ecological and visibility impacts, student Lily Sharples said. Sharples described community outreach on the island, including two presentations to island residents and displays at the school open house.

Students and staff said the island turbine will remain in place for one year under an agreement with Cuttyhunk residents; the tower on the school will remain permanently. “The wind turbine will be on Cuttyhunk for one year,” Sutherland said in answer to a committee question. Data from the island turbine will be collected continuously during the yearlong deployment.

Technical details presented by students included generator coil-count experiments (groups tested 200 vs. 300 coils and saw higher outputs from more coils), blade-shape testing in a wind tunnel, electrical schematics captured with Multisense software, and use of a monitoring app for real-time data. Students also described cross-trade collaboration—welding for the mast, carpentry for electrical kiosks, and help from facilities and community partners to pour concrete for the anchor.

Teachers and district staff involved in the project provided engineering and site-permitting guidance. The committee asked about permitting and proximity to the airport; staff responded that facilities had reviewed the roof installation and determined the turbine would not be the tallest rooftop structure and therefore did not require additional permitting.

Students said the program will expand next year, with plans to build a second turbine on school grounds to compare performance between unobstructed and suburban locations and to trial a Starlink terminal on Cuttyhunk to relay island data. Three students were selected to present findings at the SkillsUSA statewide competition this spring.

The committee praised the presentations and the students’ work; the district noted the project as an example of CTE (career and technical education) partnerships and experiential learning.

Provenance: The presentation appears in the meeting transcript beginning with the Cuddyhunk project introduction and runs through the student Q&A and committee comments during the engineering presentation.