“If you don’t know, you don’t know. Exposure is key; students need to know what options they have and what careers they can pursue,” Dan Houck said on why he volunteered to teach students about renewable energy at a STEM-focused summer camp.

Several Sandians echoed this sentiment as they shared their time and expertise with 25 students who attended the camp. In partnership with Explora, an Albuquerque science center and children’s museum, Sandia engineers introduced students to different types of renewable energy sources and grid integration and systems control technologies using a combination of lectures and hands-on activities.

Expanding on last year’s success, Explora offered two camps this year: one in June for junior high students and another in July for high school students. Each day focused on a specific technology with lectures and activities geared toward different age groups. Explora’s Carlos Gonzalez ran the camp assisting Sandia’s engineers with their demos and activities.

Mechanical engineer Dan Houck, intern Danial Anwaar-Maximo and mechanical engineer Jon Berg taught campers about the various engineering disciplines involved in designing wind turbines. Armed with CDs, paper, popsicle sticks and hot glue guns, the campers set out to create their own wind turbine rotors, tested their designs with a box fan, measured how much voltage was generated, then redesigned and tested again. They learned how blade angle and weight impacted energy output, plus the tradeoffs of different design choices and importance of reiteration.

Electrical engineer Dan Riley’s session on photovoltaics brought the sun’s energy to the forefront. Campers learned about the pros and cons of solar energy, then designed and built solar-cell-powered cars. Using a 3D-printed frame, they soldered a small solar cell to a tiny engine. Once they attached wheels, they were ready to race. The students tested their cars on the sidewalk outside of Explora’s X-studio classrooms.

Systems engineer Miguel Lebya’s introduced campers to concentrated solar energy. Inspired by Archimedes’ legendary death ray, and with much coordination from Miguel, students used hand mirrors to focus sunlight in one spot. Miguel used a thermometer connected to an app to display the temperature change on the whiteboard. The highlight of the day was roasting marshmallows and hot dogs on a solar concentrator dish. Students learned that marshmallows burst into flames at 400 degrees Celsius and that the dish was able to reach 1,000 degrees Celsius. For one session, Miguel was joined by mechanical engineer Kathryn Small, who spoke about conducting tests and observing chemical reactions at Sandia’s solar oven, using concentrated solar to reach temperatures of 3,000 to 4,000 degrees Celsius.

Later in the week, mechanical engineer Kelley Ruehl and systems analyst Raquel Valdez guided younger campers through the world of water power. Joined by electrical engineer Jorge Leon-Quiroga for the high school camp, students used copper wire, fishing bobbers and magnets to reverse-engineer wave energy kits, measuring energy output with voltmeters. Kelley asked campers to draw their own designs for wave energy converters, illustrating the challenges and innovations in harnessing marine energy. These discussions highlighted the potential of marine energy to power homes and communities, especially in coastal areas.

The last day of camp was dedicated to grid integration, led by electrical engineer Rachid Darbali-Zamora, Raquel Valdez and Jorge Leon-Quiroga. Rachid shared his personal story of experiencing a three-month power outage after a hurricane in Puerto Rico, emphasizing the importance of stable electricity. The campers learned about microgrids and the importance of battery storage. They then played a card game developed by Rachid, Raquel and Jorge called “Keep the Lights On,” where they balanced renewable energy sources against various threats to the grid, including squirrels, who have been responsible for several historical outages.

Throughout the camp, the presenters emphasized the significance of STEM outreach to show students their career possibilities.

“I am a mechanical and ocean engineer by training and have been working on marine energy R&D for over a decade,” Kelley said. “But growing up in Ohio, far from the ocean, I didn’t know what marine energy was, or that Ocean Engineering was a career field until I started applying to graduate schools.”

Rachid echoed this sentiment, saying, “Programs like this help break down barriers and build bridges between the national labs and the communities we serve.”

Raquel expressed her hope that the campers would see themselves in the volunteers from Sandia, inspiring them to pursue careers in science and engineering.

This work was funded in part by the DOE Water Power Technologies Office and was supported by Sandia’s Community Involvement office.