Alva Review-Courier -

ORONO, Maine (AP) — Students in Maine are getting ready to harness the wind.

More than 250 middle school and high school students are expected to participate in two science competitions involving wind at the University of Maine on May 19. The contests will feature hands-on projects created by the students.

One of the competitions is the Kleinschmidt Windstorm Challenge, in which teams of high school students will design and build a scale-model floating wind turbine platform and deliver a sales pitch to a panel of judges.

The other contest is the Maine Wind Blade Challenge, which the university says will connect students with composites companies to construct a functional set of wind blades. The teams will try to manufacture wind blades that generate the most energy in three minutes or less.