For the second time in three years, Alkwin Kollege has won the KNAW education prize for the best profile papers of 6-year-olds. Two years ago, two students from the Uithoorn school came in first place, this year Annika (18, Kudelstaart), Wouter (18, Vinkeveen) and Wolf (17, Uithoorn) came in second with their research into the aerodynamics of airplane wings.
In their sixth final year, VWO students have to complete a final assignment, on which they spend at least eighty hours and with which they prepare for scientific education. “At first I thought that I wanted to do my PWS (profile assignment, ed.) alone, because freedom is nice,” says Annika, “but I found it much more fun to do it together.”
Glider
So it happened that Annika joined Wolf and Wouter, with whom she has been friends since 3 vwo. The two boys had already decided that they wanted to do something with aviation, but the final idea came later. “For a long time we had planned to build a glider ourselves, but then it would have become more of a design project”, Annika explains why that plan was ultimately rejected.
Finally, the three decide to examine the efficiency of airplane wings. But while Wouter and Wolf have a lot of affinity with airplanes and aviation, that is not the case for Annika, she admits.
“Because all three of us live close to Schiphol, we know what it’s like when planes are constantly flying over”
“But it’s always nice to learn about many things and to do something to make aviation more sustainable. Because all three of us live close to Schiphol, we know what it’s like when planes are constantly flying over. We are used to it, but when friends come over, they hear them every five minutes.”
leaf blower
For their research, they attended a workshop on ‘aircraft wings’ at TU Delft, where they were also allowed to do experiments in a wind tunnel. For their own research, they were able to use a school wind tunnel. “But it was so ramshackle that we upgraded it, including with a leaf blower.”
For the connoisseur/enthusiast
Annika’s, Wolfs and Wouters research question is: what is the highest possible ratio between the lift coefficient and the drag coefficient of a wing?
To answer that question, they calculated the ideal ratio between the length and width of the wing, the ideal curvature of the wing, and the ideal angle of the wing in relation to the wind.
The study showed that the highest possible ratio between the lift coefficient and the drag coefficient is 7.1. This value has been achieved with the wing with NACA code 4420 and an aspect ratio of 4:1 at a angle of attack from 5.
read here’s the whole report and watch a presentation of the three students about their research in the video below (from 2.37)
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Earlier this year, the three already won the Alkwin Award, with which the school annually rewards the student(s) behind the best profile assignment. And now second place in the KNAW Research Prize.
“When we started in 2021, we said to each other that it would be funny if we also won the prize”, she refers to the first place of Fyor Klein Gunnewiek and Winstijn Smit, who researched artificial intelligence for self-driving cars†
This year, the first prize in the Nature and Technology profile went to a student from Amsterdam who investigated whether an artificial ear can determine who composed a piece of music. “A deserved winner”, says Annika.
Anyone who thinks that the three high flyers are now going to study Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft is wrong. “Wouter are going to do Mechanical Engineering, and I’m going to do Psychology & Technology in Eindhoven,” says Annika.
The three had previously heard that their profile paper was among the best three profile papers in the Netherlands. Last night was the presentation of the education prizes, and the Uithoorn students heard that they had finished in second place. The prize money – 1,500 euros – is intended to partly finance your first year of study. “Dan will come in handy,” she concludes.