1 February 2025
National Physics Olympiad
With my team, I took part in the National Physics Olympiad focusing on a very practical subject: the Rance tidal power station. We qualified in Angers for the final in Marseille, and then we received an award for the project's originality. What stood out to me most about this journey was the length of the work, the independence required and the rigour needed to explain our results.
The subject
Our project focused on the Rance tidal barrage, one of the few dams of this type operated on an industrial scale. We studied the conversion of tidal energy into electricity, using experiments and models to understand the physical constraints of the system.
Working method
The project began in May 2024, which gave us time to test several approaches. We worked on numerical simulations, practical experiments and simplified models to link our observations to actionable results.
- To understand the physical operation of a tidal power station.
- To build models simple enough to be explained clearly.
- To present our choices, limitations and results in front of a panel of judges.
Teamwork
The most educational part was working as a team over a long period. We had to divide up the tasks, compare our ideas and remain consistent between the experimental part, the calculations and the presentation. Our teachers supported us without doing the project for us, which forced us to defend our own choices.
Qualification and final
We qualified in Angers against five other teams, and then we presented the project at the national final in Marseille. Receiving an award was important recognition, but the most interesting thing was seeing how other teams had tackled very different scientific subjects.
What I take away from it
I am not necessarily heading towards fundamental physics, but this experience has given me a useful method for the future: setting out a problem, testing hypotheses, accepting the limitations of a model and explaining a technical approach clearly. This is precisely the type of reasoning I will need on an engineering path.