Engineering Extension wraps up 2026 KidWind Challenge with four Kansas teams named national champions

In a thrilling finish to its 2026 KidWind Challenge season, the Kansas Energy Program, or KEP, within K-State Engineering Extension, saw four Kansas teams recognized as national champions on the world stage in May at the 2026 World KidWind Challenge in Madison, Wisconsin.

The KidWind Challenge is an energy-related STEM education event organized by the Kansas Corporation Commission and K-State Engineering Extension, made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Funding from corporate sponsors — Enel Green Power North America, Kansas Electric Cooperatives, ITC Great Plains, NextEra and Vestas, to name a few — helps KEP reimburse schools for mileage and substitute stipends and provide lunch during the challenges.

The K-State program has conducted the Kansas KidWind Challenge since 2018, and this year set a record with 57 schools, 106 teams and 387 students participating from the U.S., Taiwan, Thailand and Estonia. Since its inaugural KidWind Challenge, more than 2,000 students have competed in this STEM competition and put their skills to the test.

Student teams work together to design, build and test a wind turbine using the materials of their choice. Each team's turbine was tested in a series of wind tunnels, including low-speed, efficiency, yawing, high-speed and super-high-speed.

A Kansas student has been crowned national champion in five of the last eight competitions, but 2026 marks the first time Kansas has had a national champion in each of the three age categories at the same competition.

The winning teams include:

• Untied Shoelaces, Prairie Ridge Elementary School, Shawnee
• Mavericks, Allen STEM Magnet School, Hutchinson
• WINders, Nemaha Central Middle School, Seneca
• Burlington Wind Company-Yin Yangs, Burlington High School, Burlington

KEP held six regional KidWind Challenges, each of which fed into a Statewide Challenge and ultimately, the World KidWind Challenge. KEP sent a record 35 teams to the Statewide Challenge, with nine Kansas teams participating in the World KidWind Challenge. Additionally, several schools held their own internal KidWind Challenge, resulting in more than 880 students participating in the Kansas KidWind Challenge.

Students compete by age categories: fourth-fifth grade, sixth-eighth, or ninth-12th grade. Scoring is based on turbine performance, a knowledge quiz, a team presentation to judges explaining the design process and an instant challenge.

— Submitted by David Carter