Wind energy is booming in the United States. There’s now more than 89,000 megawatts of installed wind capacity, enough to power 24 million homes for a year! And it’s just the beginning.

Over 100,000 people work in the U.S. wind industry, and those numbers are expected to keep growing; wind turbine technicians are the second fastest growing jobs of the decade. That’s why it’s more important than ever to prepare America’s future workforce with the real-world skills they need through efforts like the U.S. Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition, which challenges undergraduates to design and build a wind turbine. Teams also develop a business plan to market their project.

This year’s competition runs May 8 through 10 in Chicago , coinciding with the annual American Wind Energy Association WINDPOWER Conference and Exhibition. Here are a few more facts about the competition: