Knights Templar get a visit from PPL PWR

On Tuesday morning, we were lucky enough to have a workshop visit from PPL PWR, an organisation teaching about engineering and renewable energy, more specifically wind energy and how it is used in the modern world. They began by teaching us about what engineers do and all the different skills that they use to help make the world a better, greener place.After this, we got to build our own wind turbines, using plastic bottles, hot glue and small generators and we began by thinking up a good design using everything we had learnt  from the presentations we had been given. After much deliberation, we opted for the simple idea of splitting out bottle down the mouth into 5 arms that we could twist to create propellers, following the simple is better principal.The practical side of things did not go entirely to plan, we learned how difficult it can be to cut open thick plastic bottles with nothing but a pair a safety scissors; but eventually we managed to cut it open with enough time to bend and tweek the blades to optimum angles, for maximum aerodynamics. Soon it was testing time, and after finishing top of our group stage, with a whopping power output of 7.86 millivolts, we advanced to the finals.The time came and we laid our beloved contraption in front of a fan. It fired up, and instantly the more powerful fan began to blow our turbine with immense speed, almost to the point of taking off.. The measurement quivered on 17 millivolts, before tipping over to 18 for a split second, but it was all we needed to secure our victory, beating the next best group with a score of 17, and winning us the title of the Wind Turbine World Cup 2018.On behalf of 10M1 and the Knights Templar School we would very much like to give a huge thanks to PPL PWR for visiting us and teaching us what it is really like to be an engineer.By Tom and JasonKnights Templar School