Students at St Ignatius College, Boys’ Secondary School, Tal-Ħandaq, Qormi, have taken on a project through which they are developing a working model of a wind turbine to be used within their school.

This project, coordinated by the school physics department, the Learning Support Zone and two technology teachers who are also working with the students, is being supported by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST), who are funding this initiative.

The ‘Wind Turbine Project’ aims to increase students’ awareness of sustainable energy sources and also aims to be a stepping stone in view of the introduction of vocational training in the coming years.

The wind turbine project involved a large amount of research. Robert Farrugia, from the University’s Institute of Sustainable Energy, helped the students conduct this research.

Once the design and requirements were identified, the students, guided by technology teachers Joseph Falzon and Marco Sciberras, started construction on the wind turbine.

Through this project, students are learning to combine theoretical ideas discussed during lessons and apply these concepts in practice. They are also becoming more aware of key rules and practices that enable tradesmen to work safely in a workshop.

MCST followed the development of the project and offered €1,000 to enable the students and teachers to buy the required material in order to build the wind turbine.

MCST CEO and vice-chairman Nicholas Sammut visited the school workshop to observe the students at work. During the visit, the students explained how they managed to devise the components that will form the wind turbine and explained how the assembly is progressing. The students are aiming to use the energy generated from this turbine to power a number of computer units.

Dr Sammut also visited the Learning Support Zone within the school, and also presented a cheque to college principal Horace Caruana and head of school Carmel Micallef.