Get Into Energy Innovation Challenge

The Virginia Chamber of Commerce and VEWC high school and industry company members participated in the Get Into Energy Innovation Challenge during the 2018-19 school year.

Students were asked to answer the following Problem Statement:

The Virginia energy grid requires modernization to become more sustainable, reliable, and flexible. The current grid is limited by pre-existing technology and infrastructure. The Virginia Grid Transformation and Security Act of 2018 provides a road map to prioritize and strengthen Virginia’s renewable energy and harden the energy grid for security and reliability. What innovative, renewable energy or sustainability solutions do you recommend to create Virginia’s “self-healing” energy grid?

The objectives of this challenge were to:

  • Provide authentic experiences through solving problems that are important to the field or industry
  • Build student awareness in Energy careers
  • Link to academically rigorous science and mathematics requirements and address important student learning outcomes
  • Allow students to apply technical knowledge and skills through assessing information, testing hypotheses, and problem solving
  • Result in project management experiences relevant across industries, including teamwork, developing solutions, and presenting results orally or in writing

Eligible students were those taking the Energy & Power course or Energy Industry Fundamentals course framework at their high school, as well as other students as determined by the school’s teacher or staff. Students were placed on teams of no more than 10 by their school representative / teacher.

Industry partners assigned staff member(s) to serve as point of contact and industry mentors.

The final competition took place on April 16, 2019, at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond, VA.