29 Students Attend STEM Camp at Northwestern Focused on Renewable Energy

June 16, 2025

Twenty-nine students from across the state of Oklahoma and 10 staff members took part in the recent STEM Camp at Northwestern.

Terry Benton with NextEra Energy helps students at the recent STEM Camp at Northwestern measure the amount of power generated by the solar panel. The students adjusted the panel to face direct sunlight, then used a multimeter to measure the voltage.

The 2025 STEM Camp at Northwestern Oklahoma State University took place from June 1-6 on the Alva campus, welcoming 29 high school students in grades 9-12 from across the state to engage with the theme of "Renewable Energy, The Future is Here: Exploring & Learning Today."

In partnership with NextEra Energy, the world’s largest producer of renewable energy, High Plains Technology Center of Woodward, OG&E, and a grant from the Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education, the camp provided students with a week of hands-on learning experiences in the fields of wind, solar and hydroelectric power.

Throughout the week, students engaged with Northwestern faculty and students, industry professionals and technical experts to explore renewable energy technologies.

Activities for the students included designing and testing wind turbine blades, measuring solar energy output with photovoltaic panels, working with renewable energy training devices (including micro-inverters and energy storage systems), experiencing simulators, climbing towers and viewing the inside of an operational nacelle.

Students also took several educational field trips. They went for a guided tour of the Spirit Wind site near Mooreland, visited the High Plains Technology Center in Woodward and took a trip to Alabaster Caverns State Park near Freedom.

Students attending this year’s camp included Camila Ayala Bernal (Laverne), Natalie Bettes (Chandler), Katelyn Bettes (Chandler), Alex Delano (Waynoka), Azumi Garcia (Hooker), Oliver Gillham (Edmond), Andrew Glad (Edmond), Sophie Gossen (Edmond), Tyriauna Hankins (Newcastle), Levi Hanna (Edmond), Elliott Hattaway (Oklahoma City), Aryan Kadapa (Edmond), Aiden Lorenzo (Guymon), Ena Martinez (Woodward), Sofia Martinez (Laverne), Chrissa McConnell (Tulsa), Nicole Medina (Woodward), Kenzie Miller (Hunter), Gabriella Mukisa (Bartlesville), Trinity Nero (Newcastle), Siddharth Pandit (Oklahoma City), Abigail Redman (Arcadia), Aanchal Regmi (Norman), Luis Rodriguez (Laverne), Promise Roger’s (Oklahoma City), Kinason Schieber (Kremlin), Peter Sherdis (Bixby), Victoria Tenna (Tulsa), and Leigha Vineyard (Woodward).

Casey Heiser with NextEra Energy talks to students about wind energy during the 2025 STEM Camp at Northwestern, where 29 students learned more about renewable energy.

Camp staff included Dr. Tim Maharry, professor of mathematics and chair of the mathematics and computer science department; Mark Bagley and Evan Vaverka, instructors of computer science; Dr. James Auld, Terry Benton and Casey Heiser from NextEra Energy; and Northwestern students Coy Bullard, Carter freshman; Greysan Ioerger, Jet junior; Ashlan Light, Enid junior; and Lindsay Olson, Alva senior.

For more information on this camp or the mathematics and computer science department at Northwestern, contact Maharry at tjmaharry@nwosu.edu or call (580) 327-8583.

Additional information about degree programs in STEM fields at Northwestern is available at www.nwosu.edu/school-of-arts-and-sciences/math-and-computer-science and www.nwosu.edu/school-of-arts-and-sciences/natural-science.