Clara Altemus, Arianna Hall, and Zoe Maxwell, seniors, have won the chance to present their winning International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) project to the National Applied Superconductivity Conference in Portland after their performance at last year’s ISEF awards. They presented their project on Oct. 9 to an audience filled with employers, college representatives and graduate students who all work in the scientific field.

The trio’s project involves turning rainwater into mechanical energy by running the water through a waterwheel.

“Our goal with last year’s project was to be able to use the mechanical energy from the wheel to turn it into electrical energy that could be used to power appliances,” Altemus said. “For this year’s ISEF, our plan is to work on a way to store that energy so it could be practical for at home use.”

The trio has already begun to work on this plan by meeting with their ISEF mentor, who works as an applied physicist. Altemus, Hall and Maxwell are hoping that they can build on their ideas from last year to make this year’s project patentable. If they succeed, the trio will have made a new way to produce energy out of a natural source.