NREL's Water Power Newsletter, The SPLASH, Spring 2024

Welcome to the first edition of the Student-Professional Learning and Sharing Hub (SPLASH)—NREL’s Water Power Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Newsletter.

This quarterly newsletter highlights the latest from NREL's Water Power STEM program.

Announcements

Please share with your friends and colleagues so they can get the latest highlights and news from NREL’s water power STEM programs.

As a special thank you for viewing the first edition of The SPLASH, we’d like you to help us rename the four regions of Renewable Energy Discovery (REDi) Island. Please complete this short survey on Microsoft Forms to provide your input.

News and Updates

Apply Now: Application Period for the 2025 Marine Energy and Hydropower Collegiate Competitions Closes Soon

College students are invited to take a deep dive into the marine energy and hydropower industries through two exciting annual competitions—now accepting applications. The competitions provide students with resume-boosting experience, a closer look at these high-potential water power fields, industry connections, and a chance to win cash prizes.

The third annual American Made Challenges Hydropower Collegiate Competition and sixth annual American Made Challenges Marine Energy Collegiate Competition, both funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE's) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO), are open for applications now through May 6. New to the 2025 competitions, NREL is calling on hydropower and marine energy industry members to apply to be mentors to the competitions' student-led teams. Check out this video on YouTube to learn how these competitions address real-world problems.

Winners Announced in the 2024 Hydropower Collegiate Competition

DOE announced the winners of the 2024 American Made Challenges Hydropower Collegiate Competition. Northern Arizona University, Johns Hopkins University, and California Polytechnic State University took home top honors as overall winners, while six other schools were awarded for their success in individual contests within the competition. Read more about the 2024 competition and this year’s winners in a DOE announcement.

NREL Launches Toolkit To Help Hydropower Industry Prepare for Workforce Transitions

To help the hydropower workforce weather high rates of retirement, NREL introduced a toolkit that addresses evolving worker needs and identifies potential knowledge gaps during the succession planning process. As current workers retire and many new workers enter the industry, there’s risk of organizational knowledge loss—which can have financial implications—as new employees take time to come up to speed on organizational practices. These knowledge gaps can also increase pressure on existing employees, causing dissatisfaction, reduced productivity, or even turnover. Dive into the OpenEI toolkit to evaluate your organization’s potential for knowledge loss.

Why You Might Love a Career in Marine Energy

Recently, NREL joined other marine energy professionals for a Marine Energy Career Panel hosted by NREL and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and funded in part by WPTO. Panelists shared why they fell for this nascent field of renewable energy. Each of the five panelists works at one of three national laboratories: NREL, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, or Sandia National Laboratories. The five panelists also represented diverse research areas, skill sets, and day-to-day work in marine energy (or even the broader field of offshore energy).

Could a New Renewable Energy App Help Inspire Future Climate Crusaders?

NREL, WPTO, and IKM 3D released the long-anticipated Renewable Energy Discovery (REDi) Island app, an educational virtual world powered entirely by renewable energy. REDi Island is designed for students from high school and beyond (and eventually from kindergarten on up), educators, or anyone curious about how we can build a more sustainable world powered by clean energy. Students can learn about water power technologies and explore clean energy careers through waystations, videos, 3D visualizations, and more. Teachers can access curriculum resources and activities, such as a scavenger hunt and career mapping. And everyone can get to envision what a clean-energy-powered world could look like.

STEMapalooza: Empowering Tomorrow’s STEM Leaders

NREL is hosting its first STEMapalooza in November at NREL. The 2-day event is designed to increase public interest in STEM fields, engage stakeholders in dialogues and program planning, and inspire the next generation workforce. Funded by WPTO, STEMapalooza will include:

• Annual fall kickoff meetings with the 2025 American Made Challenges Hydropower Collegiate Competition and American Made Challenges Marine Energy Collegiate Competition teams and faculty advisors
• A demonstration of the REDi Island web-based app
• A prep event for the National Ocean Sciences Bowl's Trout Bowl, occurring during the spring semester of 2025, with high school students and faculty
• Hands-on activities and presentations with our STEM industry partners for all grade levels.

Register for STEMapalooza now.

Events and Opportunities

Julie Keil Scholarship Award

Application deadline: May 15, 2024

The Hydropower Foundation is now accepting applications for the Jule Keil Scholarship Award. The scholarship is awarded to women who are enrolled in an accredited college or university and majoring in a discipline relevant to entering the hydropower field. Two $3,000 scholarships are awarded annually.

Marine Energy Collegiate Competition Final Event at Ocean Renewable Energy Conference

May 20–23, Portland, Oregon

American Made Challenges Marine Energy Collegiate Competition Final Event: The fifth annual Marine Energy Collegiate Competition culminates at the Pacific Ocean Energy Trust’s Ocean Renewable Energy Conference May 20–23 in Portland, Oregon. The 2024 teams were required to complete a business plan challenge, a technical design challenge, a community connections challenge, and a build and test challenge.

Also at the Ocean Renewable Energy Conference, NREL researchers will be attending sessions and discussions focused on a range of subjects describing the marine energy sector, including developments in testing infrastructure and the blue economy.

HYDROVISION

July 15–18, Denver, Colorado

Because HYDROVISION is in Denver this year, NREL will offer a preconference tour at our Flatirons Campus on July 16. During the full-day tour, participants will visit the electrical hydropower lab and controllable grid interface and view a demo of the REDi Island interactive app.

STEMapalooza at NREL

Nov. 8–9, 2024, Golden, Colorado

The 2-day event is designed to increase public interest in STEM fields, engage stakeholders in dialogues and program planning, and inspire the next generation workforce.

Want More?

Subscribe to The SPLASH to get the next water power STEM newsletter in your inbox.

For the latest from the DOE Water Power Technologies Office, sign up for its water power newsletters. Have a more general question or can’t find what you’re looking for? Send us an email at water.power@nrel.gov.