
NEWS
December 15,2017 - Winners Announced for the 6th Annual IMAG Solar Energy Cook-Off
Gulf Main Magazine online
Dec 08, 2017 08:46PM ● Published by Melanie Heisinger


Students from grades K-12 worked together in teams to design and build a solar cooker, demonstrating the utility of their inventions by cooking an original dish.
Organized by DEP’s South District Office and the IMAG (History & Science Center), the Solar Energy Cook-Off has grown in popularity since its inception in 2012.
The Solar Cook-Off challenge is a two-part competition encompassing design of a functional solar cooker and the creation of a dish cooked in the same cooker. This competition was developed to provide a real world solar thermal challenge for elementary, middle and high school students, facilitating creativity, critical thinking and awareness of alternative technology.
The Annual Solar Energy Cook-Off Challenge brings students from grades K-12 together, working as teams to design, build and cook their original dish in their solar “cookers” demonstrating the performance of their inventions. This design and cooking event is an excellent opportunity to combine the teaching of many scientific and social principles in an atmosphere of fun and excitement.

Four awards were given this year for the Best Oven Design and Top Solar Chefs, with a final “WOW” Award given to the best overall design and original dish.
And the Winner Is …
- Babcock Neighborhood, Elementary School 1st Place- $500.00
- Bishop Verot, High School 2nd Place- $300.00
- Saint Michael Lutheran, Middle School 3rd Place- $200.00
- Saint Michael Lutheran WOW!- $400.00
“Each year the students continue to amaze us with the quality of their recipes and innovative cooker designs. Each teams’ phenomenal creativity produced a variety of innovative technologies that involved extraordinary design of solar cooker boxes, fresnel lens panels, and parabolic dishes,” said Martha.

The WOW Award has been designated by Carol Newcomb as the WOW Judge throughout the years. “My life long passion and devotion to help others better understand the benefits of harnessing the abundant, free, non-polluting energy that radiates from the sun each day is why make me stays involved in the Solar Cook-off” said Carol.