By Sherri Shields
COCOA, May 8, 2025–Minimal clouds and a slight breeze made it a perfect day to see just how fast model solar sprint cars could race, how hot solar ovens could get, and how many laps electric go-carts could complete.
Nearly 400 students from 31 schools across Florida—from Tallahassee to Tampa to Boca Raton—converged at FSEC®, Florida’s premier energy research center at the University of Central Florida, on April 26th to compete at EnergyWhiz.
Students have the chance each year to compete in FSEC’s Junior or Senior Solar Sprint, Solar Energy Cookoff, Energy Inspired Art, Critter Comfort Cottage, and Energy Transfer Machine. And the Electrathon of Tampa Bay provides their high school, college, and adult teams a chance to race their electric go-carts at EnergyWhiz.
“EnergyWhiz provides an opportunity for youth to showcase innovative energy concepts in a fun, creative, and purposeful format,” said Brooks Rumenik, director of Florida’s Office of Energy. “It is evident that these young scientists are ready, willing, and determined to tackle any number of energy challenges they may face.”
One of the Critter Comfort Cottage middle school teams stepped out of the box and demonstrated how to sequester carbon using salps (gelatinous marine creatures) and phytoplankton.
Have you ever wondered if student-built solar ovens actually work? A high school-designed solar oven reached 165ºC (325ºF) at 11:30 a.m. Some kids threw some water in to verify, and cheered when the water boiled off,” said Brent Thompson, Solar Energy Cookoff judge.
In the Energy Inspired Art competition, a variety of eye-catching works of art were on display.
“It’s great to hear from students who are excited to talk about their projects and see the hard work and effort they put into them,” said Kaileen Schleith design judge and professional illustrator. “I always learn something new from the students, and it’s great to see the next generation’s passion for environmentalism.”
EnergyWhiz’s pioneering event, the Junior Solar Sprint (JSS), had 39 teams from 18 schools participate. “Each year, the cars seem to get better and better,” said Philip Fairey, FSEC’s deputy director and JSS timekeeper. “This year, we had five cars race down the 20-meter-long track in less than seven seconds. Now that’s fast.”
The first-place winning team from Rodgers Middle School, the Solar Racing Rays, said they worked on their car every day for several months. The all-girl team—Jaden, Holly and Cheyanna—said they built two different cars and would test them to see which one performed the best as they made changes.
As a first-place winner of the Blue Division Junior Solar Sprint, the Rodgers team will compete at the national JSS event in Nashville, TN, on June 27th-July 1st. This opportunity is made possible through a partnership with the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) and the Technology Student Association (TSA), which coordinates JSS at the national level.
Their instructor, Mr. Wilson, has a long history attending EnergyWhiz, first entering a Junior Solar Sprint team in 2008. A former student of Mr. Wilson’s, Kayla Pagan, attended EnergyWhiz this year too, but this time as a spectator. Kayla participated in JSS from 2014 to 2017, but came back to the middle school classroom to mentor other students while she was in high school and college.
“I’ve always enjoyed giving back my knowledge,” said Pagan. Relationships and having fun appear to be important ingredients for success. “Mr. Wilson let us figure out things on our own,” said Pagan. “But the students seem to relate to the older students who have done it before, better than the teachers.” Positive energy is contagious. “And when they have fun, they tend to do better,” added Pagan.
Pagan graduated in December with her degree in mechanical engineering. She now works at TECO (Tampa Electric) and is the only female engineer in her department.
“EnergyWhiz is a great way to help foster excitement about engineering and efficiency in the next generation, and I’m happy to be a part of it,” said Brent Lesson, JSS design judge.
A teacher from Lockmar Elementary, Jennifer Lucas, said, “The new students and families loved seeing all the amazing projects at this event. Returning students enjoyed trying something new and exploring different energy, climate, and Earth projects. It’s always a blast and one of my favorite programs to participate in.”
“EnergyWhiz is a worthwhile event that is always in need of volunteers and funding. Thankfully, we have FPL SolarNow as a Supporting Partner again this year, which has helped tremendously,” said Susan Schleith, director of energy education at FSEC.
If you or your company would like to sponsor any event at EnergyWhiz, please contact Susan Schleith at susan@fsec.ucf.edu.
Winners List & Photos
A complete list of winners can be seen here: https://blog.energyresearch.ucf.edu/2025/05/energywhiz-2025-winners/
EnergyWhiz photos are available at: https://fsec.zenfolio.com/ew2025
Videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSRCbVKK_jLI4avhgtJz7mtOlQpjGtmoq
Electrathon results and winner photos available at: https://electrathonoftampabay.org/www/
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PR25-03