WELLS — On Sept. 3, one day after the start of the new school year, a small group of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard personnel and a member of the USS Scranton, a Los Angeles-Class submarine currently dry docked for an engineering overhaul at shipyard, visited with students of at Wells High School.

The newly formed class is called “Hydrofoils Engineering,” and is a year-long course co-taught by Jason Hludik and Chrys Demos. The objective and focus of the class is for students to create ”“ from scratch ”“ a functioning, human-powered hydrofoil boat, approximately 16 feet long. The water craft will be capable of achieving lift over water, thereby significantly reducing drag and increasing speed, the instructors said.

The advisers from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard are mechanical engineer Trevor Thompson, mechanical engineer Dave Hawk, Outreach Program Manager Rick Cecchetti and Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Steven Weston of the USS Scranton.

The guests introduced themselves and then spoke about their day-to-day work at the shipyard. They also discussed how they can assist the students with their project as the design and construction moves forward. The four advisers plan to be available for email questions and to visit the class. Later this fall, the students will tour the PNSY facility in Kittery.

The hydrofoil project will require design, creation and integration of a hull, propulsion, stabilization and foil systems. It is the foil system that ultimately will allow the craft to elevate over the water’s surface. Hludik said the class will combine math, technology, engineering and science. The project will require students to study chemistry, physics, Newton’s Laws, engineering design process, 3-D design and printing as those subjects pertain to the design and function of a hydrofoil.

The hydrofoil project is expected to be completed and tested in Wells Harbor in late May or early June of 2015. Hludik and Demos also plan to have the students create a presentation for their fellow students and the school committee documenting their work.