High school students from across the country flocked to the MUN campus in St. John’s Thursday to show off their green energy creations.
Sixty-four students set up at the R. Gushue Hall for the event, which is the culmination of the month-long Shad program.
Students were tasked with creating a 20-page business plan, video pitch, presentation and prototype, which was on display at the university.
Aidan Schreder and his team figured out a way to use energy burned at the gym to generate electricity.
They have created the Omni Bar, a weightlifting machine that generates electricity with each push and pull. It consists of a bar that is connected to two large towers and a chain. The chain then helps power a generator.
Schreder says the contraption could be used both at home and at gyms.
Arielle Chung and her team devised a turbine system for rain gutters.
She says they install compact turbines inside the gutters. Water flowing through the gutter can then be used to power batteries inside the home. She says it can also be used as a source of backup power, and can be useful for rural communities that don’t have access to larger grids.
Conceived in Aurora, Ont. in 1981 as Shad Valley, Shad Canada offers a widespread STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) and entrepreneurship program for students in grades 10 and 11.
It’s offered at university campuses across Canada and has benefited more than 22,000 students who are part of its alumni network.
There is a selection process to determine participants, with a limited number of spots available each year.
Shad itself is not an acronym but actually named after a creek in Aurora.