Blade assembly design and optimization for the 2025 Science Olympiad division C wind power event

A wind power device converts the wind’s kinetic energy to electricity. Wind power has been a frequent event at the Science Olympiad for the last 15 years (2009, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2024 and 2025). The objective of the event is to inspire middle and high school students to explore green energy and physics. However, few documents or research articles provide technical guidance for students on making an efficient blade assembly while complying with the event rules. Thus, all the teams are challenged to make their own devices at the most fundamental level. This paper discusses basic steps, including blade shape design, 3D printing, and experiments to construct a high-performance assembly for the 2025 Science Olympiad Wind Power Event, Division C (9-12 grades). In this study, it was found that, in compliance with the construction rules, (1) a tip speed ratio of 4.2 be used for blade shape design, (2) the two-blade assembly device be adopted, and (3) during testing, the blade assembly be positioned about 10 cm off the 20” box fan’s center to achieve the maximum voltage output.